Article
Creating actionable building diagnostics
Build Test Solutions (BTS) has received funding from Innovate UK to deliver a building diagnostics platform that aims to take building performance measurement and diagnostics capabilities to the next level.
Informed by BTS’ existing performance measurement products, the project aims to unlock more meaningful analysis into the performance of buildings and the impact that this has on decisions around building management and maintenance.
The platform will provide a one-stop solution for decisionmakers who are facing a growing range of regulatory and guidance requirements, such as BS40101, PAS2035 and anticipated changes to Building Regulations.
Commenting on the project, Luke Smith, managing director at BTS, said:
Until now, there has been no diagnostic package that delivers a joined-up solution to all the measurement requirements in these standards, which has reduced uptake in building performance measurements.
However, for meaningful impact, buildings must be measured holistically to see if they are performing as expected, and if not, why not.
This is what the new Building Diagnostics will deliver. By combining the outputs of BTS’ existing stable of innovative building performance measurement solutions we will provide actionable feedback and insights to improve both the energy performance and health of the internal environment.
The project is being funded via the Innovate UK Rapid Assessment of Building Fabric Performance competition. As part of the Net Zero Heat programme, the aim of the competition is to accelerate the shift to a net zero economy.
Mat Colmer, senior innovation lead at UK Research and Innovation, said:
This project promises to have a quick and scalable impact on the UK's journey towards net zero heat by combining innovative and potentially game-changing features with well-proven and established technologies.
The project will be delivered in partnership with The Building Energy Research Group (BERG) at Loughborough University and technical consultants SOAP Retrofit. This will combine commercial expertise and academic rigour with the ambition of creating an easily accessible and scalable product.
Dr David Allinson, Professor of Building Physics at Loughborough University, explained:
Working in an industry-led collaborative project like this is an ideal opportunity to apply our academic research in real homes. This will increase energy performance and improve risk management for indoor environments, helping reduce the impact of damp and mould growth on resident’s health.
To support the new diagnostics platform, BTS is building a centralised building performance database where measurements from its SmartHTC, Pulse and Heat3D products will be collected alongside post occupancy evaluation (POE) findings. This will create better contextual information alongside detailed data, helping specialists to identify the root cause of building performance issues.
Dr Richard Jack, technical director at BTS, added:
This project marks another vital step on BTS’ journey to making measurement mainstream in the retrofit and housebuilding industries and encouraging further regulations and guidance that encourage measurement.
To enquire about being involved in the field trial for this project please contact enquiries@buildtestsolutions.com.
