Technical and practice - Practices compare energy use anonymously

The RIBA has set up the CarbonBuzz carbon emissionsmonitoring project, chaired by Aedas Architects, to provide a comprehensive database of UK buildings' energy use.
Information collected in the initiative, launched last month, will also provide the framework for an RIBA accreditation of 'carbon-conscious' practices.
Participating practices, who include HOK, BDP, Make, dRMM and Sheppard Robson, anonymously submit details of projects' design and operational energy use, and these figures are set against industry standards and CIBSE benchmarks.
The anonymity of the project is key to its success, as this means that the fingerpointing which frequently undermines postoccupancy studies can be avoided.
An online forum will be set up to accumulate data, and participating practices will publish project sheets with data on predicted and actual energy use, which will serve both as a database for future benchmarking and as a means to reduce the discrepancy between design and operational energy consumption.

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Reader Response

If you wish to know more details about the RIBA CarbonBuzz, please contact me:

Anna Gagliano
Knowledge and Research Manager
RIBA
66 Portland Place
London
W1B 1AD

Email: research@inst.riba.org
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