What is 'building performance'?
You may have seen the term ‘performance’ on our website or in other architectural content, but you’re wondering: what does it really mean? We’re here to help!
When you build, decisions are made about the materials that will be used and how they will be put together in the construction process. These decisions have an impact on how much energy the finished building will use on a day-to-day basis and how comfortable it will be to live or work in. In other words, your comfort and wellbeing as you occupy that space is determined by how well it ‘performs’ at filtering and ventilating the air to keep a stable temperature in hot and cold seasons without too much heating/cooling cost per month.
How well a building performs on that front is becoming more and more important at the level of legislation and building codes. This means higher quality insulation and ventilation systems, as well as thoughtful building methods that block escape routes for that warm air.
With thicker walls, for example, you can pack more insulation in to trap heat in winter. Or you can use Structural Insulation Panels that have a prefabricated sandwich design, streamlining the construction and insulation processes. Corners of buildings need to be insulated where possible, as over-use of studs (those upright two-by-fours you’re used to seeing continuous widths of on construction sites) means too many solid timber areas where heat leaks through. The result of avoiding these “thermal leakage” sites is that in winter the warm air generated inside stays inside, and in summer the heat of the sun doesn’t transfer to the interior making it a stuffy oven.
Mechanical ventilation systems filter and circulate the air coming into the building. These systems take the heat from the air inside the building as it is extracted, and transfer that heat to the fresh air being introduced from outside - without mixing the stale and fresh air together. Clever tech! The result is a building that doesn’t need high use (if any) of AC units and other heating or cooling methods. These ventilation systems are used to bring buildings up to Passive House standards, but can be used for other energy efficiency criteria.
Utilising these approaches means your home or commercial space can be filled with fresh dry air all year round. It’s better for your lungs, reduces ongoing power expenses, and perhaps most importantly: it means you walk into a space that instantly feels comfortable - a relaxing space where rest is easy and work is productive.
At Reform Architecture prioritising high performance design is really important to us. We give our clients the information and opportunity to consider the performance of their build so they can be pioneers of quality and enjoy the long-term benefits.
“Beware those designers and builders that try to talk you out of higher performance: misconceptions abound and not everyone has kept up with building science developments.”
- PHINZ (Passive House Institute New Zealand)
The bottom line…
You can have a space that conserves energy and supports your wellbeing! Find out how to make your building perform better for you by clicking the ‘Get in touch’ link on this page.
**Featured image credit “No, not that kind of performance!”: Ian Thompson
