Customized performance evaluation approach for Indian green buildings

Figures & data

Table 1. Building performance evaluation in an Indian context (I-BPE) framework showing the building performance evaluation (BPE) study elements and associated methods and tools.

Number	Time and expertise required
	BPE study elements	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
1	Review of design intent	Collection of available design data, metering strategy, details of building and its use	Review of building services and energy systems	Interviews with key stakeholders, e.g. designer, owner, developer	Walkthrough with key stakeholders, e.g. designer, owner, developer
2	Technical building survey	Inspection of build quality and services using photographic/video documentation	Controls interface survey	Review of installation and commissioning of services – performed as a walkthrough with (or without) a knowledgeable guide (e.g. facility/building manager, owner, designer)	Assessment of the building fabric using infrared thermography
3	Energy assessment (consumption and generation)	Meter readings/energy bills for one year	Monitoring of utility meters: analysis of energy demand profiles	Sub-metering of energy use, e.g. energy generation, cooling/heating, hot water, lighting, equipment	Electricity plug load monitoring of individual appliances
4	Environmental monitoring	Temperature and relative humidity (RH) spot readings (internal and external) (coincide with the occupant survey)	Temperature and RH loggers/monitoring (internal and external, including weather station data download)	Additional parameters spot read/logged, e.g. CO2, lux, noise, wind speed	Additional parameters spot read/logged, e.g. carbon monoxide (CO), PMx (particulate matter), bio-aerosols, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (depending on objectives, e.g. indoor air quality (IAQ) studies)
5	Occupant feedback	Occupant satisfaction survey (perception of indoor environment and control), e.g. building use studies (BUS)	Semi-structured interview (individual occupants)	Thermal comfort diary (thermal sensation and thermal preference of occupants)	Focus group (collective) with occupants to discuss common questionnaire findings in more depth

Figure 1. Delivery routes for building performance evaluation in an Indian context (I-BPE) framework for industry and academia.

Figure 2. City, state and climate zones represented by respondents.

Note: NCT = National Capital Territory; one city, Chandigarh, is shared by both Punjab and Haryana; cities located in the cold climate zone are on the border of the cold zone and another zone; cities and states with only one representation are grouped into ‘other’ categories.

Figure 3. Professional expertise of respondents, experience in energy efficiency/green building and prior knowledge of building performance evaluation (BPE) for the respondents.

Note: Many respondents had multiple categories of professional expertise. Acad./Ind. = academic/industry professional; Arch./consult. = architect/green building consultant; Policymaker/ind. = policy-maker/industry professional. Industry refers to the building industry. Prior knowledge classifications: Limited = ‘I have only studied the concept and methods’; Moderate 1 = ‘I have some applied knowledge of the methods’; Moderate 2 = ‘I have performed at least one BPE/POE’; and Extensive = ‘I have performed more than one BPE.’

Figure 4. Case study green building in Jaipur, India.

Table 2. Building performance evaluation in an Indian context (I-BPE) implementation plan for case study building.

Timeline	Activity
Day 01	Walkthrough and interviews with the facility manager
	Photographic survey
Day 02	Installing data loggers
	Thermal imaging – building envelope
Day 03	Survey – ground and first floors
Day 04	Survey – second and third floors
Day 05	Survey – catch up
	Check data loggers
Day 06	Visit and recording details of the photovoltaic system
Days 07–08	Spot measurements and illuminance over the grid
Days 09–10	Survey of controls and user interfaces and illuminance over the grid
Days 11–12	System installation and commissioning review
Day 13	Catch-up day
Day 14	Removing data loggers

Figure 5. Challenges for embedding building performance evaluation (BPE) in higher education (architectural, engineering).

Figure 6. Scope of embedding building performance evaluation (BPE) education in undergraduate and master’s programmes (n = 66).

Figure 7. Relative importance of building performance evaluation (BPE) methods as perceived by the experts (n = 68).

Note: TI = thermal imaging survey.

Table 3. Weighted importance by respondent experience (n = 68).

Table 4. Weighted importance by respondent climatic zone (n = 68).

Table 5. Building performance evaluation (BPE) methods and tools used for evaluating the performance of the case study green building.