Building Diagnostics

FEATURE

www.elmhurstenergy.co.uk

Chris Ricketts, Business Manager for Elmhurst Energy Consultancy

Let me tell you a story; it’s a story that I hope demonstrates what our multidisciplined Consultancy Service has been getting up to with regards to building performance evaluation (BPE) and product performance evaluation.

BPE for us is where we use and combine our services, tools and techniques to determine how well a building and its elements are performing. Quite often this is done to help diagnose a problem, highlighted by a short fall in its performance. We are often picking this up posthandover in the building’s occupancy stage so we are validating its in-use performance vs its predicted As Built stage. A recent case involved a developer contacting us because one of the tenants in a newly developed set of four flats has a significantly increased energy bill than that predicted on his As Built EPC.

The first tool out of our array to inform our investigation is our Measured Energy Performance Report, easily conducted with the resident in situ providing analysis and indications on how the dwelling is performing. It is an essential report and set of metrics for understanding overall building performance, running costs and carbon emissions.

On that initial site visit, alongside the design and documentation review, we may uncover other areas/ issues that could benefit from a more detailed investigation such as an occupancy audit, a water audit, a Pulse air tightness test or even a Thermography inspection.

Informed with this we can then further investigate and follow up using appropriate assessment tools and techniques so that the energy performance is looked at in conjunction with fabric performance, heating systems and occupant behaviour.

In the instance of our Developer, concerns over build quality performance and air tightness were identified. Following up on our Measured Energy Performance we conducted a Pulse air test, Pulse is air permeability measurement system, less disruptive than blower door fan testing particularly in occupied homes.

It helps inform us on changes to airtightness that may have occurred in the first stages of occupation as the building ‘settles’ and also improves the accuracy of SAP ratings. It uncovers issues with the air tightness and concerns with build quality - hence onto another tool in our diagnostic tool kit: thermography and the carrying

The mantra of BPE is Test Measure, Model and Improve.

out some spot checks with a thermographic camera in parallel with reviewing the thermal bridging. Thermal bridges are not just a location of heat loss, but the resulting colder surfaces are often linked to mould formation.

The mantra of BPE is Test, Measure, Model, and Improve. And it’s a virtuous circle that can be adapted for projects of any size - where the focus can be on building or product performance.

The versatility of this model made BPE a natural fit for the research, measurement and monitoring of new and innovative products for the Energy Company Obligation (ECO). ECO has either centred on pre and post works EPC assessments and more recently, very basic level Deemed Scores. But neither of these approaches are readily able to assess the true impact of measures (energy, CO2 , running costs), nor are they well suited to assessing new and emerging technologies. Under the ECO3 Innovation strand, Elmhurst Consultancy has been supporting a number of innovative energy saving product suppliers alongside sponsoring energy companies to measure the real world performance of an existing, usually poor, SAP rated dwelling before and after their energy saving product is installed in a number of pilot properties. We will also measure and monitor in a number of control properties as well. Again, Measured Energy Performance is the key service and tool that is deployed as it is a quick low cost, low disruption assessment of overall fabric thermal performance. In these circumstances we often monitor for longer periods to obtain more data for in depth analysis.

As part of the measurement and monitoring process we carry out air tightness testing, and because Pulse tests are much less disruptive than blower door tests, a benefit it offers is that it can be carried out on existing homes. All this is alongside tools such as Heat3D, for U-Value measurement and thermography are often employed to build a baseline of data to robustly demonstrate the measurable benefits of a manufacturer’s or supplier’s energy saving product or device.

So what next? Where do all these tools and services lead us? Well, one call to action could be all ECO works and perhaps wider public funded energy efficiency investment activity could soon require real world measurement (our Measured Energy Performance Service) separate to or in addition to an EPC. So if you are interested in delivering measured performance projects and bettering the return offered by Deemed Scores, get in touch! Whether you’re looking to offer this service independently or in partnership with Elmhurst Energy Consultancy, we’ll see what we can do to support you.