Future-proofing buildings: optimising facility management in building design to achieve high performance for occupants
Buildings in general are large contributors of global greenhouse emissions and environmental deterioration. Climate adaptation of existing and new buildings is crucial in reducing their impact on climate change.In order to achieve this, efficient performance evaluation and operational management of buildings is required for future proofing buildings and other built environment assets.In particular, owner occupied buildings, including educational buildings offer unique opportunities.
To meet legislative requirements and offer sustainable built environments, universities are now striving to be ‘Green Star Education’ enterprises or of an equivalent standard. This paper reports on the performance evaluation of two Green Star rated educational buildings in Victoria, Australia providing a best practice model based on the learnings from the respective case study buildings. Evaluation of the building case studies were undertaken using a mixed method research approach. Post occupancy evaluations (POE) were carried out in each of the two buildings to measure occupant satisfaction, complemented by internal stakeholder interviews and energy performance data. Analysis of the data highlights the importance of creating a link between building performance measurement and performance management of buildings. The paper recommends strategies to assist facility managers to analyse the gap between the actual and expected building performance for better and more efficient management of buildings.
