The Architects’ Journal Architecture News & Buildings
In this episode, we continue our focus on building performance; AHMM sustainability lead Craig Robertson shares important lessons from a building performance study of 2015 Stirling Prize-winning Burntwood School in southwest London. It is still much too rare for architects – and clients – to transparently share post-occupancy data, especially when it flags up a significant performance gap, so kudos to AHMM for sharing this study with us.
In the case of Burntwood School, heating loads were nine times the design prediction, while electricity loads were four times as much. Shocking as this may sound, it is not unusual. Craig explains why and what we need to do about it. A key premise of the study was to investigate the relationship between energy performance and indoor environmental quality. These must be looked at in tandem. Our conversation with Craig reveals, in practice, the many building performance issues we discussed in our last episode with Judit Kimpian.
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About Craig Robertson
While working as an architect after completing his Part 3 in 2006, Craig felt the need for a stronger evidence base in environmental design and enrolled in a part-time MSc at the Bartlett where he became fascinated by iterative performance-based design. This led to a PhD at the UCL Energy Institute where he explored how energy data could inform both the strategic and detail design of buildings.
Craig joined AHMM after completing his PhD in 2014. Since then, he has led the practice’s investment in more sophisticated environmental modelling tools and design processes and now heads a team of five. He has proactively promoted building performance studies across AHMM’s project portfolio, including a detailed study of the practice’s own offices at Morelands and co-authoring a post-occupancy study of AHMM’s Stirling Prize-winning Burntwood School, Balancing energy and indoor environmental quality in a UK school building.
Burntwood School. photograph: Timothy Soar
Show notes: Projects and resources mentioned in this episode
Innovate UK: Knowledge Transfer Partnership
UCL Energy Institutute TOP (The Total Performance of Low Carbon Buildings in China and the UK, 2016)
The current Angel Square building (left) and AHMM's proposed replacement
Credits
Climate Champions is produced in association with ACAN, the Architects’ Climate Action Network
Podcast produced and edited by Concept Culture
Music: Edmilson do Pífano, Forró de dois Amigos. Interpretation: Felipe Tanaka e banda Balaio de Baião