Closing the performance gap
Inbuilt's DREAM for buildings that live up to energy
promises
Sustainability consultancy Inbuilt has launched a new tool to
reduce the so called 'performance gap' of modern buildings - the
critical issue of a building consuming more energy in operation
compared to the promises made in design.
The tool, called DREAM (Demand Risk Evaluation And Mitigation), is
already being used on the £4.5million redevelopment of the Roden
Rehoming Centre for Dogs Trust, which will feature as a
Demonstration Project for Constructing Excellence.
It will now be offered to all Inbuilt's clients concerned about
the impact of poor energy performance of new buildings. Inbuilt is
also developing a second version that supports the refurbishment of
existing buildings.
Using DREAM will benefit any project with specific energy or
carbon targets as it reduces the risk of missing the targets. It
also reduces overall project costs by dropping the extent of
redesign, recommissioning and remedial works and by avoiding any
contractual carbon penalties.
Inbuilt uses DREAM as part of its 'whole system thinking' approach
and to encourage greater collaborative working between the
development, design, construction and operational management
teams.
Dr Rick Holland, senior consultant at Inbuilt, says:
"Everyone is talking about how vital it is to address the
performance gap. The issue is so significant that PFI Contractors
can face penalties running into hundreds of thousands of pounds if
their buildings fail to live up to the promises made at design
stage.
"That's why DREAM is particularly valuable for anyone commercially
affected by poor performance, including owner occupiers,
contractors working on procurement programmes such as Building
Schools for the Future, green lease landlords, housing associations
and registered social landlords. Anyone who picks up the tab for
energy bills, or whose reputation could suffer from the harsh
reality
of the performance gap."
The DREAM process is very fast and generates reports that detail
the top priority risks and required actions, timelines of risks
(useful to project managers), location of risks (to help designers
pin-point areas for attention) and ownership of the mitigation
strategies (to support team integration).
Rick Holland continues:
"We indentified the need for DREAM on a project where I am the
client's Soft Landings Champion. The project has exemplary
aspirations that include achieving an EPC 'A' rating. Delivering an
equally impressive DEC brings with it new risks that need to be
mitigated, which we believe can only be achieved through team
integration. DREAM promotes collaborative working between the
development, design, construction and operational management
teams.
"We promote the first use of DREAM at RIBA Stage C as this enables
potential risks to operational performance to be identified up
front.
"However, many of the risks only appear in construction or the
eventual occupation of the building, so it is never too late to
start using DREAM."
* Read more about DREAM in
this article from Building
magazine, June 2010 (sorry, online subscription to Building may
be required to access this article)