Quantum is a new research project funded by the EU's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. It is aiming to close the estimated average 25% gap between designed and actual energy performance and 1.5% for comfort performance in European buildings.
A series of tools and services to boost performance will be demonstrated in a representative set of typical European buildings from seven countries. The tools will also be further developed over the course of the project and BRE will be looking to develop supporting tools and processes. "This project and its outcomes has the potential to make a significant difference to real world energy performance in buildings", Andy Sutton, associate director, BRE Wales.
BRE said that research indicates that poorly commissioned and operated building management systems are often responsible for this gap, generally caused by the lack of appropriate and coherent quality management systems for building performance.
The project is focused on developing and demonstrating pragmatic services and tools that support quality management for building performance in the design, construction, commissioning and operation phases. The core mechanism is to 'design for testability' by specifying transparent performance targets with cost-effective testing methodologies.
The project will apply three tools to enable effective quality management in all relevant services within a building's lifecycle. These involve in-situ energy metering devices with online data analysis; the specification and automated validation of building management system functions; and a web-based questionnaire for perceived user comfort.
The four-year collaborative project brings together 14 partners from 12 different countries within the EU. Along with BRE in the UK, partner organisations are from Germany, Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Greece, Latvia, Italy, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands.
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