Surveying and Monitoring
Buildings do not always perform as planned and this can impact negatively on running costs, staff and client satisfaction and performance, health, safety and comfort. BRE Scotland is vastly experienced in the sustainable and efficient construction and operation of buildings, and can work closely with clients to:
- Determine if the constructed building meets the original building specification;
- Highlight problems with the building operation that can be addressed and solved;
- Identify and rectify any gaps in communication and understanding that impact on the operation of the building and its systems;
- Demonstrate compliance with relevant health and environmental standards; and
- Provide vast knowledge and examples that can be used to improve performance of current and future projects.
Evaluate the performance of your building
By measuring the performance of your building you can highlight areas where operational efficiencies can be increased. This can lead to reduced energy bills, reduced carbon emissions and improved occupant satisfaction.
Monitoring and benchmarking energy consumption
This provides companies with an understanding of how their building is performing in comparison with best practice and buildings of a similar nature. Through this, opportunities and areas where energy consumption is higher than expected can be identified, with the potential to reduce wasted energy and costs.
Internal environment monitoring
Studies have shown that a user’s internal environment can have a significant impact on their productivity. Internal Environment Monitoring allows building owners to scientifically monitor and benchmark the internal environment and its potential influence on occupants, while also highlighting areas for improvement. This includes air quality, temperature, humidity, light and noise levels.
Case Study – Scottish Enterprise Bellshill Office
Brief: As part of Scottish Enterprise’s ambition to be seen as an ‘exemplar in environmental management’ and also to reduce their impact in terms of energy and carbon, BRE Scotland was commissioned to undertake a survey of the Scottish Enterprise Office in Strathclyde Business Park in Bellshill, Glasgow.
The purpose of the survey was to determine what improvements could be made to the existing heating management system, to improve the overall management of the heating system for the office facilities team and to increase the operational efficiency of the building.
Work undertaken: Through the survey work, it was established that there are a number of operational inefficiencies with regards to the management of the heating system within the building. These included:
- Inefficiency of existing boiler plant;
- Lack of understanding and ‘buy-in’ from building users regarding the operation of the existing system;
- Restricted user controls for heating management;
- Lack of operational integration between heating and ventilation systems; and
- Disconnected external weather sensor / weather compensation controls.
Conclusions: Following the identification of the operational inefficiencies, a series of improvement options were investigated and analysed, with reference to the following aspects:
- Capital cost;
- Installation cost;
- Payback period;
- Installation timescale;
- Additional maintenance requirements;
- Reduction in energy costs; and
- Reduction in carbon emissions.
The following solutions were considered as possible options that could be implemented in order to improve the overall management of the existing heating system:
- Building User Education and ‘buy-in’
- Improved Thermal Control
- Replacement and upgrade of existing systems over the next 5 years
These measures are currently under consideration by Scottish Enterprise, with a series of detailed options provided under each heading.
For more information
Call us on +44 (0)1414 474999 if you would like to know more, or email [email protected]