UK-GBC unveils plans to close
green building 'performance gap'

The UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) has unveiled its latest research initiative, designed to explore how building performance can be improved and refined through better design and construction methods.

As part of its drive to ensure the nation’s commercial buildings live up to performance standards promised by developers The UK Green Building Council new project will examine how better design and construction practices can boost the performance of non-domestic buildings during their lifetime.

In a statement the trade body alluded to growing evidence that buildings “all too often” fail to live up to predictions of building performance – a phenomenon known in the industry as the ‘performance gap’. A growing number of new buildings tend to use more energy and water than intended by developers.

The task group’s research will seek to address this performance gap by considering alternative design and construction strategies.

Julie Hirigoyen, chief executive, UK-GBC, hopes the initiative can deliver greener, more efficient properties: “Huge cost, carbon and productivity benefits can be gained through a closer focus on the performance of buildings as we design, construct and operate them.

“Following the COP21 deal, this is just one of the ways in which the UK industry is showing its leadership and ambition.”

The research topic has emerged from an earlier project that was slated to look at how the building sector could deliver a viable zero-carbon policy for new non-domestic buildings by 2019.

The task group is hoping to report its findings by the end of April 2016.

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