The Rise of High-Performance Buildings
High-Performance Building Definition
You hear this term more and more these days – High-Performance Building. But just what does it mean? An article in Facility Executive traces the original definition back to 2005, when the U.S. Congress defined a high-performance building for the first time, explaining it as “a building that integrates and optimizes all major high-performance building attributes, including energy efficiency, durability, life-cycle performance, and occupant productivity.” Congress further clarified the definition in 2007 when it issued the Energy Independence and Security Act: The term “high-performance building” means a building that integrates and optimizes on a life cycle basis all major high-performance attributes, including energy conservation, environment, safety, security, durability, accessibility, cost-benefit, productivity, sustainability, functionality, and operational considerations. Fast forward to June 2018 – there was an entire week dedicated to the advancement of High-Performance Buildings in Washington, DC. The week was sponsored by the High-Performance Building Coalition (HPBC), which was founded by ASHRAE, and was supported by some 200-member organizations that came together to lobby for policies and laws to boost energy efficiency and healthy workplaces and employees. A series of white papers from Legrand, a global provider of electrical and digital building infrastructure solutions, examines high-performance buildings in detail. The most recent 2016 document highlights the growing range of performance attributes buildings are expected to achieve and observes that significant gaps remain in the influential “mechanisms” that shape this landscape. “Our white papers share all of the current trends taking place in High-Performance Building construction,” said Susan Rochford, V.P of Energy Efficiency, Sustainability & Public Policy for Legrand, North & Central America. “We publish them to encourage dialogue within the building community about the path to achieving the full potential of high-performance buildings, ultimately leading to the development of effective solutions that will meet the unique needs of all stakeholders in the industry.”Factors Driving High-Performance Buildings
Legrand’s research was also cited in an article in Buildings Magazine titled “7 Factors Driving High-Performance Buildings.” The host of factors that are driving a paradigm shift in performance expectations within the built environment include:- Market and Economic Forces
- Homeland Security & Natural Disasters
- Energy Security and Climate Change
- Social Equity – Design for Accessibility
- Changes in Building Design, Delivery, and Management
- Information Technology
- Codes and Standards