Academic project: Bridging the gap between designed and real consumption: energy reporting and monitoring at the University of Cambridge | Status: Completed | Date: 2013/14
Person: Tom Norris, Pembroke College | Subject: Architecture BA | Supervisor: Minna Sunnika-Blank
Project summary: Analysis of energy consumption data from three new buildings rated as BREEAM ‘Very Good’ or ‘Excellent’; comparison of this data to estimates made at the design stage; and assessment of the monitoring and reporting methods used for recommending improvements.
Key findings: The buildings studied (Alison Richard Building, Kavli Institute of Cosmology, Hauser Forum) do not perform as designed.
Recommendations: Develop building consumption targets that are based on typical usage patterns and average consumptions as well as standard assessment methods; initiate widespread, high-resolution, long-term monitoring of energy consumption; store data for longer and make it more accessible; ensure current data is reported in an accessible format.
How has it been used? This work is informing the upcoming options assessment on the provision of energy data to building users (such as energy dashboards) across the University.