The UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) has embarked on a new drive to ensure the country's commercial buildings live up to the performance standards promised by developers.
The trade body yesterday launched a research project to examine how better design and construction practices can boost the performance of non-domestic buildings during their lifetime.
In a statement the UK-GBC said there is an increasing body of evidence that shows buildings "all too often" fail to live up to predictions of building performance - a phenomenon known in the industry as the "performance gap". As a result, many buildings are thought to be using more energy and water than intended by the architects.
The issue is thought to be so widespread some experts have warned the building industry could be vulnerable to a "VW-style" scandal, whereby commercial tenants could take legal action against developers or landlords if a building fails to live up to its promised environmental performance.
The task group's research - which is being sponsored by BuroHappold, Saint-Gobain and Tarmac Group - will try to address this performance gap by considering alternative design and construction strategies.
Julie Hirigoyen, chief executive of the UK-GBC, said the research could help deliver greener, more efficient buildings. "Huge cost, carbon and productivity benefits can be gained through a closer focus on the performance of buildings as we design, construct and operate them," she said in a statement. "Following the COP21 deal, this is just one of the ways in which the UK industry is showing its leadership and ambition."
The research topic has emerged from an earlier project that was slated to look at how the building sector could deliver a viable zero-carbon policy for new non-domestic buildings by 2019. After the government scrapped the zero carbon policy agenda in July 2015, the group refocused on building performance as an avenue for delivering reliable carbon savings in the building industry.
The task group is expected to report its findings in April 2016.
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