For an edge over the competition in the development industry, then high-performance building is the way to go. The idea of building performance is often used by many people. There are however few who can provide a good definition of the concept. Here we discuss what it is and the key requirements for high-performance buildings.
What is performance in building construction?
Building performance or efficiency, is a measure of how well it functions in relation to specific criteria, such as physical, social or environmental considerations. It is a data-driven assessment of the operational success of a property. It is about optimizing energy use during the design and operation of new and existing buildings. It aims to arrive at sustainable, healthy, productive and comfortable buildings beyond simple energy efficiency metrics.
What building performance does is that it measures how well a building carries out a particular function. Performance aspects are the categories that require attention. It is important to keep in mind that most buildings have their own specific reason for its specific performance aspects. To track the progress of a building one can use key performance indicators (KPIs). They can be used to monitor costs, track progress, assess client satisfaction, identify strengths and weaknesses, assess specific areas of a project such as sustainability, safety, waste management, and more.
What does an underperforming building mean?
When a building is not functioning to the best of its ability in what it was built to do and not producing the desired results, it is seen as underperforming. This can be attached to various different reasons, including a skills shortage, slow technology uptake, and labour and material costs, and each blames the previous link in the construction supply chain to be the reason things go wrong.
There should be a demand for the building’s use of function, should there be little or no demand, then the use should change to cater for the demand.
Green buildings are sought after and in demand. Investing in green building technologies could be costly, but the return on investment is normally good.
For the future of construction, it’s time for the companies to embrace new technologies, and construction methods that are redefining the industry, and the analysis thereof.
What are some key requirements of high-performance buildings?
Analysis of building performance refers to quantifying building performance. Meaning, to put numbers on how well a building does what we want it to do. For this approach there are four main approaches: physical measurement or monitoring, computer simulation, expert judgment and stakeholder evaluation.
Things to keep in mind include sustainability, for example, are the materials environmentally friendly, and how much energy is used to heat and cool the building. Regarding comfort, can air temperatures, humidity and ventilation achieve a healthy environment? When it comes to ecology, what kind of impact does it have on different habitats? And other factors such as acoustics, running costs, layout, accessibility, society, and more.
At K Architects we incorporate sustainable solutions that are fundamental to our designs. Meaning that each project will be able to economically sustain itself into the future, with the six steps we follow to enact a natural process of design and implementation of a project.
Every building has unique factors that help improve its functionality. This is the responsibility of each one involved. One should never compromise on quality to save time and money. Book a consultation with Ken Webster at K Architects for a wide range of sustainable solutions.