Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) within Skanska

Posted on: 31 March 2014
By: mackene
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This webinar aimed to provide the definition of Post Occupancy (Design) Evaluation from the Skanska perspective. A brief background and recent history of POE in the wider industry was also summarised. The reasons why POE is thought to be a cost effective means of providing useful feedback to improve designs for the benefit of clients was covered.  Also the description of how Skanska made the decision to engage with the process and the description of the methodology adopted. This also included defining limitations, articulating the risks and their mitigation and the alignment with the original brief for the project. A number of case study projects including hospitals, schools and office buildings were briefly described and the relevant findings summarised.  Technical issues and their interface with Building Information Modelling (BIM) will be introduced.  Similarly the social aspect of occupant behaviour weretouched upon. Behaviour has the capacity to influence the sensitive issue of energy consumption potentially more than the technical and design parameters.

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Cities and energy: Urban morphology and heat energy demand

Posted on: 27 March 2014
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LSE Cities has published a new report and paper on the impact of urban morphology on heat energy demand in cities in collaboration with the European Institute for Energy Research (EIFER) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The research focuses on heat energy efficiencies created by the spatial configuration of cities and is based on the identification of the five most dominant residential building typologies in each of the four largest European cities: London, Paris, Berlin and Istanbul.

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Hydraulic fracturing for shale gas in the UK: Examining the evidence for potential environmental impacts

Posted on: 19 March 2014
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This report, developed with the Angling Trust, RSPB, the Salmon & Trout Association, The Wildlife Trusts and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, sets out 10 recommendations for Government to make fracking safer. The recommendations are based on a full technical evidence report which has been peer reviewed by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, one of the UK’s leading ecological research institutes. It calls for all protected wildlife areas, nature reserves and national parks to be frack-free zones, for full environmental assessments to be carried out for each drilling proposal, and for the shale gas industry to pay the costs of its regulation and any pollution clean-ups.

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Government response to the Environmental Audit Committee report: code for sustainable homes and the housing standards review

Posted on: 17 March 2014
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This document is a response by the government to the Environmental Audit Committee report Code for Sustainable Homes and the Housing Standards Review, published on 20 November 2013.

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Approved Document Part L 2013 of the Building Regulations

Posted on: 14 March 2014
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This Special Edition of Technical Extra from the National House-Building Council looks at updated Part L of the Building Regulations which covers the requirements with respect to conservation of fuel and power. This issue of Technical Extra reviews changes to the Approved Document L1A (ADLIA) which refers to new dwellings, clarifies any new requirements, and identifies any sources of guidance on how to meet them.

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Closing the gap between design and as-built performance

Posted on: 14 March 2014
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The Zero Carbon Hub has released its latest report continuing the work on the Design versus As-Built Performance Gap Project. This report summarises the evidence gathering and assessment process undertaken between August 2013 and January 2014. It provides industry and government with a structured review of how and where the Performance Gap occurs within the current housebuilding process. This has involved a co-ordinated analysis of published literature and confidential industry research, and the development of a process review methodology to gather primary evidence from housebuilding delivery teams, including visits to live construction sites. The evidence collected so far has been used to prioritise which issues are considered to be the major contributors to the performance gap. It identifies 15 issues classified as ‘Priority for Action’ that require solutions in the very near future, by industry, and where necessary, involving Government intervention.

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Climate protection at municipal level: ten-point plan for the building sector

Posted on: 13 March 2014
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Climate protection starts at the local level, and energy efficiency in buildings is one of the more important tasks in this respect. To assist municipalities, the Passive House Institute has published a position paper on the topic. The paper sets out a ten-point programme with specific recommendations detailing how cities and communities can take their commitment forward in an effective way. One of the focal points is the Passive House Standard, which enables energy savings of up to 90%. In developed countries, over a third of the total energy consumption is used in the building sector. In recent years, many communities all over Europe have taken initiative, promoting the use of highly efficient Passive House technology. This successful approach has been supported by many, including by the EU through the PassREg project, coordinated by the Passive House Institute. Experiences gained by the various municipal partners during the project, whether in Brussels, Hanover, or Tyrol, formed the basis for the guidelines found in the paper. 

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Zero Carbon Hub at Ecobuild. London, 4-6 March 2014

Posted on: 11 March 2014
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Presentations from the Zero Carbon Hub, presented at Ecobuild 2014, are available online. They include: Bringing design and operational performance together in new homes; Mitigating overheating in dwellings; Selecting and designing low carbon heat systems; Near-zero domestic buildings; Design vs as-built evidence review; Delivering low energy homes.

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Finland’s energy efficiency boom good for the climate, but trouble for cities

Posted on: 7 March 2014
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The author of this blog argues that while green buildings are increasing in Finland, their developers seem to be unable to integrate concepts in environmental sustainability and urban livability. To illustrate his concerns, the author  looked up some landmark initiatives for energy-efficient construction in the greater Helsinki area and photographed them.

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Sustainable energy for whom? Governing pro-poor, low carbon pathways to development: Lessons from solar PV in Kenya

Posted on: 7 March 2014
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This paper analyses the evolution of the Kenyan photovoltaics (PV) market. Considered by many to be an exemplar of private sector led development, the Kenyan PV market has witnessed the adoption of more than 300,000 solar home systems and over 100,000 solar portable lights. The notion of an entrepreneurially driven unsubsidised solar market has proved to be a powerful narrative amongst development actors who, paradoxically, have provided millions of dollars of funding to encourage the market’s development. This analysis gives important clues for designing climate and development policies, with implications for the governance of energy access pathways that are inclusive of poor and marginalised groups in low income countries.

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