The OHL RESSEEPE Team visited the Coventry demo site last 7th of April and met with representatives from Coventry University, IES and Exergy Ltd. The main goals of the site visit were to identify and minimize the potential retrofitting barriers at the early stages of the development and enhance the project delivery process.
During the first day of the meetings, Mark Gaterall and Danny McGough (Coventry University) have provided valuable insight about the George Eliot Building and the university campus. Two different UK-based suppliers, Polysolar and IntelligentGlass also had the opportunity to provide a short technical overview of their products closely linked with the RESSEEPE project brief. During the second day of the meetings, the OHL team surveyed the George Eliot Building and collected technical information in order to be able to develop an accurate construction plan in the following months.
The next meeting (12M Steering Committee) and the first workshop of the RESSEEPE project, which will bring all the participants together, will be held in Barcelona, Spain in July. Details of the workshop will be announced next month.
Mind the gap
Many research studies show that there is a clear evidence of a performance gap between design and operation stages of new and refurbished buildings. This gap represents a number of risks to government, industry and end-users. A recent study carried out by Zero Carbon Hub (UK) identified the causes of the well-known performance gap. The priory research areas found by the Zero Carbon Hub research team are based on the following issues:
• Lack of communication of design intent through work stages
• Insufficient design information provided for building fabric and building services
• Product and system design issues
• Insufficient information regarding critical energy performance criteria of components to procurement team
• Product substitution at procurement without due regard for performance criteria
• Lack of designer input available to site if issues arise
• Full design information or installation guidance produced by not available on site
• Unclear construction responsibilities for energy performance
• Limited tests and agreed protocols available for in situ fabric performance measurement
This study clearly shows that lack of communication among stakeholders, lack of knowledge transfer and inefficient project management are the main reasons of the performance gap. RESSEEPE therefore aims to minimize the risk for the performance gap by implementing an integrated design and development approach. Through the collaborative development of dynamic energy models, building information models and business plans, RESSEEPE will minimize the risks for management and communication problems and ensure that the design targets are achievable throughout the building lifetime. Project results that will be made available to public and industry practitioners will enhance continuous knowledge transfer and stimulate delivery of energy efficient buildings.
Further information on this research study of Zero Carbon Hub can be found at: http://www.zerocarbonhub.org/recent-publications
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