Meta-study of energy use, occupant satisfaction and productivity

This paper presents a comparative evaluation of datasets on modelled and measured energy use, air permeability, and perceived productivity across nine office buildings, gathered as part of the Innovate UK’s Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) programme. Despite being designed to high sustainability standards, it is found that measured air permeability rates of four case study office buildings are much higher than the design target, while energy-related CO2e emissions of three office buildings are over double the predicted CO2e emissions rate. Statistical analysis of occupant feedback indicates that overall comfort and summer temperatures are strongly associated with perceived productivity. Surprisingly, perceived control over ventilation and heating has weak correlations with perceived productivity. Such findings can help to provide foresight for improving future building design, specifications and performance