Man 05 Aftercare

Aim

To provide post-handover aftercare to the building owner/occupants during the first year of occupation to ensure the building operates and adapts, where relevant, in accordance with the design intent and operational demands.

Assessment criteria

This issue is split into three parts:

• Aftercare support (1 credit)
• Seasonal commissioning (1 credit)
• Post occupancy evaluation (1 credit).

The following is required to demonstrate compliance :

One credit - Aftercare support

1. There is (or will be) operational infrastructure and resources in place to provide aftercare support to the building occupier(s), which includes the following as a minimum:
   1. A meeting programmed to occur between the aftercare team/individual and the building occupier/management (prior to initial occupation, or as soon as possible thereafter) to:
      1. Introduce the aftercare team or individual to the aftercare support available, including the Building User Guide (where existing) and training schedule/content.
      2. Present key information about the building including the design intent and how to use the building to ensure it operates as efficiently and effectively as possible.
   2. On-site facilities management training, to include a walkabout of the building and introduction to and familiarisation with the building systems, their controls and how to operate them in accordance with the design intent and operational demands.
   3. Initial aftercare support provision for at least the first month of building occupation, e.g. on-site attendance on a weekly basis to support building users and management (this could be more or less frequent depending on the complexity of the building and building operations).
   4. Longer term aftercare support provision for occupants for at least the first 12 months from occupation, e.g. a helpline, nominated individual or other appropriate system to support building users/management.
2. There is (or will be) operational infrastructure and resources in place to coordinate the collection and monitoring of energy and water consumption data for a minimum of 12 months, once the building is occupied. This is done to facilitate analysis of discrepancies between actual and predicted performance, with a view to adjusting systems and/or user behaviours accordingly.

One credit - Seasonal commissioning

3. The following seasonal commissioning activities will be completed over a minimum 12-month period, once the building becomes substantially occupied:
   1. Complex systems - Specialist Commissioning Manager:
      1. Testing of all building services under full load conditions, i.e. heating equipment in mid-winter, cooling/ventilation equipment in mid-summer, and under part load conditions (spring/autumn).
      2. Where applicable, testing should also be carried out during periods of extreme (high or low) occupancy.
      3. Interviews with building occupants (where they are affected by the complex services) to identify problems or concerns regarding the effectiveness of the systems.
      4. Re-commissioning of systems (following any work needed to serve revised loads), and incorporating any revisions in operating procedures into the operations and maintenance (O&M) manuals.
   2. Simple systems (naturally ventilated) - external consultant/aftercare team/facilities manager:
      1. Review thermal comfort, ventilation, and lighting, at three, six and nine month intervals after initial occupation, either by measurement or occupant feedback.
      2. Take all reasonable steps to re-commission systems following the review to take account of deficiencies identified and incorporate any relevant revisions in operating procedures into the O&M manuals.

One credit - Post occupancy evaluation

4. The client or building occupier makes a commitment to carry out a post occupancy evaluation (POE) exercise one year after initial building occupation. This is done to gain in-use performance feedback from building users to inform operational processes, including re-commissioning activities, and maintain or improve productivity, health, safety and comfort. The POE is carried out by an independent third party (see Man 01 Project brief and design – Relevant definitions) and needs to cover:
   1. A review of the design intent and construction process (review of design, procurement, construction and handover processes).
   2. Feedback from a wide range of building users including Facilities Management on the design and environmental conditions of the building covering:
      1. Internal environmental conditions (light, noise, temperature, air quality)
      2. Control, operation and maintenance
      3. Facilities and amenities
      4. Access and layout
      5. Other relevant issues
      6. Sustainability performance (energy/water consumption, performance of any sustainable features or technologies e.g. materials, renewable energy, rainwater harvesting etc.).
5. The client or building occupier makes a commitment to carry out the appropriate dissemination of information on the building’s post occupancy performance. This is done to share good practice and lessons learned and inform changes in user behaviour, building operational processes and procedures, and system controls.
   Refer to compliance notes CN3.1 and CN3.2 for a definition of appropriate dissemination. This also provides advice on appropriate dissemination where the building or building information is commercially or security sensitive.

Exemplary level criteria

The following outlines the exemplary level criteria to achieve one innovation credit for this BREEAM issue:

6. There is (or will be) operational infrastructure and resources in place to coordinate the following activities at quarterly intervals for the first three years of building occupation:
   1. Collection of occupant satisfaction, energy consumption and water consumption data.
   2. Analysis of the data to check the building is performing as expected and make any necessary adjustments to systems controls or to inform building user behaviours.
   3. Setting targets for reducing water and energy consumption and monitor progress towards these.
   4. Feedback any ‘lessons learned’ to the design team and developer for use in future projects.
   5. Provision of the actual annual building energy, water consumption and occupant satisfaction data to BRE.

Checklists and tables

None.

Compliance notes

Methodology

None.

Evidence

Additional information

Relevant definitions

Complex systems

These include, but are not limited to, air-conditioning, mechanical ventilation, displacement ventilation, complex passive ventilation, building management systems (BMS), renewable energy sources, microbiological safety cabinets and fume cupboards, cold storage enclosures and refrigeration plant.

Specialist Commissioning Manager

The Specialist Commissioning Manager is a specialist contractor rather than a general sub-contractor.

Independent third party

To comply with criterion 4 relating to the use of an independent third party, the client/design team needs to demonstrate either of the following options:

1. They have used a third party independent of the design process to conduct the necessary Post Occupancy Evaluation exercise using a compliant method. Or alternatively;
2. If the Post Occupancy Evaluation is to be carried out by an organisation involved with the design of the building e.g. the project architect, then they must present the assessor with the evidence that demonstrates the independence of the Post Occupancy Evaluation process from the design process. BREEAM has not attempted to define what form this exercise must take, the onus is on the design team/relevant individual to clearly demonstrate to the BREEAM assessor a credible level of independence.

Actual vs predicted performance

In most cases it is not feasible to accurately compare predicted vs actual performance due to variances in the assumptions used in predicted vs actual models. Figures reported via the Carbon Buzz website show that on average, buildings consume between 1.5 and 2.5 times predicted values. When comparing predicted with actual, an analysis should be carried out to understand why there may be discrepancies in performance. These discrepancies can be for a number of reasons including:

• Predicted energy consumption is normally based upon building regulation compliance models which only focus on ‘regulated’ energy use, therefore additional unrelated energy use may not have been modelled in the design prediction model
• may be extended use due to extra occupancy and operating hours, not accounted for in predicted models
• Inefficiencies from poor control, bad commissioning or poor maintenance
• Additional special functions such as cafeteria, server rooms etc. not accounted for in the predicted model
• Variances in actual occupant behaviour that vary from predicted such as use of small power and lighting

CIBSE TM54, Evaluating Operational Energy Performance of Buildings at the Design Stage, CIBSE, 2013 provides guidance on how to improve the accuracy of the model for operational energy use of buildings at the design stage. The Carbon Trust guidance, ‘Closing the gap: Lessons learned on realising the potential of low carbon building design’, also provides additional guidance on this issue.

Absence of predicted performance data

Where building occupiers do not have predicted performance models, it may be more appropriate to benchmark actual building performance data with other sources of Building Performance Evaluation Data and benchmarks. Sources of benchmarking information can be found here:
Building performance benchmarks can be found in CIBSE Guidance including:

• Guide F: Energy Efficiency in Buildings
• CIBSE TM46: Energy Benchmarks
• CIBSE TM47: Operational Ratings and Display Energy Certificates

Actual building performance data can also be found here:

• CarbonBuzz: www.carbonbuzz.org
• Technology Strategy Board Building Performance Evaluation: https://connect.innovateuk.org/web/building-performance-evaluation/overview
• Centre for Sustainable Energy, Display Energy Certificate Data, http://www.cse.org.uk/resources/open-data/Display Energy Certificate data

Post Occupancy Evaluation Methodologies

The BUS methodology was developed following a series of government funded ‘PROBE’ building performance evaluation studies in 1995. The BUS methodology is used by independent licensed partners following a four part process. Further information can be found at http://www.busmethodology.org.uk/
BRE’s Design Quality Method (DQM) is a tried and tested, independent, post occupancy evaluation (POE) method used by all UK auditing authorities, and many funding bodies. Further information can be found at http://www.bre.co.uk/dqm
Further guidance on POE

• The BCO guide to Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE), British Council for Offices, 2007
• BRE Digest 478, Building performance feedback: getting started, Building Research Establishment, 2003
• Guide to Post Occupancy Evaluation Report and Toolkit, HEFCE, AUDE & University of Westminster, 2006

Other information

Soft Landings Framework1The Soft Landings Framework, for better briefing, design, handover and building performance in-use, Usable Buildings Trust (UBT), BSRIA BG 4/2009.

A framework written and produced by Usable Buildings Trust (UBT) and Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) that seeks to promote improved briefing, design, handover and building performance in-use. Embedding the principles of this framework within a project should ensure that the evidence is available to demonstrate compliance with particular aspects of the criteria under this BREEAM issue. Please also note that BSRIA has produced a BREEAM New Construction/Soft landings interpretation note2BREEAM 2011 and Soft Landings, an interpretation note for clients and designers, BSRIA BG 28/2011 for clients and design teams.

The Government Soft Landings (GSL) is a version of the Soft Landings concept tailored for use on public sector related projects to link in with the work of the government’s Building Information Modelling Task Group. It is to be mandated in 2016 alongside Building Information Modelling (BIM) Level 2 and is to be implemented by central government departments. It should be noted that the GSL programme will become compulsory for local government developments after 2016. Further information is available from: http://www.bimtaskgroup.org/Government Soft Landings

BREEAM UK New Construction non-domestic buildings technical manual 2014
Reference: SD5076 – Issue: 5.0
Date: 23/08/2016
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