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Mind the Gap: Studying Actual Versus Predicted Performance of Green Buildings in Canada

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Building Performance Evaluation

Abstract

As the building industry moves towards embracing new sustainable practice, outcomes are less assured than in the past. “Gaps” are reported in predicted and actual outcomes, indicating that “green” buildings are not performing as expected (e.g. Fedoruk et al. 2015; Newsham et al. 2012; Bartlett et al. 2014). Are owners and occupants of such buildings getting what they paid for? Bordass et al. (2004) suggest that “credibility gaps” are not necessarily due to mistakes but rather assumptions made at the design stage are not well enough informed by monitoring buildings in-use. Akerstream et al. (2012) point out that most green building rating systems such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Green Globes, and Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) have focused on predicted performance at the design stage. Delivered performance is rarely voluntarily verified by building owners. Thus, measurement and monitoring of in-use performance of “green” buildings is crucial to advance confidence and innovation in sustainable design.

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Correspondence to Shauna Mallory-Hill .

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Mallory-Hill, S., Gorgolewski, M. (2018). Mind the Gap: Studying Actual Versus Predicted Performance of Green Buildings in Canada. In: Preiser, W., Hardy, A., Schramm, U. (eds) Building Performance Evaluation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56862-1_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56862-1_20

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