Public Funding for The Chartered Institute of Building Benevolent Fund

The OPTIMISE tool will be specifically designed to give better guidance on design decisions and will enable the delivery of low impact and zero carbon buildings in the UK. The innovative approach will be applicable at every design stage, with the most significant gains in building performance resulting through its application to the concept design stage (during which there is the greatest potential to explore alternative design solutions). The tool will be able to optimise complex design factors such as glazed area, choice of construction materials, building orientation and compliance based on objectives such as energy consumption, carbon emissions and cost and constraints such as achieving specific daylight factor values. The developed technology is a software tool that provides designers with a set of alternative optimised design solutions that aid decision making at any design stage. This takes advantage of existing 3D dynamic simulation modelling software (IES) and optimisation algorithms, designed specifically for use with a dynamic building design process (Loughborough University).

CarbonBuzz is the result of collaborative project between architects, engineers, professional bodies, policy makers and academics to develop more effective measures to reduce the energy consumption of existing and new building. This unique online platform, offers users a graphical interface to benchmark and track the energy use of building and building portfolios from design to operation. It encourages users to share expertise and compare forecast and actual energy use against CIBSE benchmarks as well as live data anonymously. CarbonBuzz provides a robust foundation for comparing energy use and CO2 emissions from different measurement and reporting standards spanning acquisition to operation (Part L, EPC, planning, DEC, CRC, Carbon Trust Standard). The project will broaden CarbonBuzz’s scope to create an authoritative database on design and actual energy use of buildings by: continuing to champion transparency in reporting energy use and fostering communication between experts, clients and operators; delivering a mechanism to manage energy use expectations for both publicly and privately funded projects from acquisition to design and operation; informing future policy making by providing evidence for scientific research into the factors affecting the real energy use of buildings; and delivering a collaborative interface that will link the database and reporting framework to other research, commercial and governmental programmes working towards the reduction of energy use in buildings.