Abstract

It is widely acknowledged in the construction sector that buildings do not perform as well in reality as their design calculations predict, creating what is commonly known as the “performance gap”.  The low-carbon consultancy firm, XCO2 Energy, alongside a selection of their clients and collaborators, will discuss how the performance gap is being addressed from different perspectives within the construction industry.

Programme: Talk #1 – What is the performance gap and why does it exist? – Tom Kordel , XCO2 Energy

Talk #2 – A client’s perspective – Ben Brakes, Whitbread

Talk #3 – The design team’s role – Tom Kordel, XCO2 Energy

Talk #4 – The occupant’s role – Lisa Pasquale, Six Cylinder Limited

Speaker Bios: Tom Kordel is a Senior Consultant at XCO2 Energy.  Tom is a building services engineer who now specialises in Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) and environmental modelling and is one of the expert evaluators on the Technology Strategy BPE programme and is part of the Zero Carbon Hub Services group.    Ben Brakes is the Environmental Manager for Whitbread.  He graduated from the University of Derby in 1998 with a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Monitoring. He now manages the Environmental Performance of the Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants business and is the Lead Manager on the Whitbread Group Carbon Reduction Commitment.   Lisa Ann Pasquale is the director of Six Cylinder Limited, a specialist consultancy in building performance & built environment research. She specialises in how the buildings work after handover and the actual energy behavior of buildings. This perspective is an asset to clients and project teams, helping to de-risk projects and buildings from in-use failures, performance shortfalls and unintended consequences.