India has one of the largest registered green building footprints in the world, yet there are limited studies investigating whether actual energy use and occupant satisfaction in such buildings is meeting expectations. This paper uses a socio-technical building performance evaluation (BPE) approach to assess the actual energy and environmental performance (during monsoon season) of two LEED platinum certified green office buildings located in the composite climate of India. The in-use energy and environmental performance of the buildings was examined using a technical building survey, energy data, environmental monitoring, along with occupant satisfaction surveys. Interestingly results showed that the two case study buildings used less energy annually than design predictions and performed better than comparative benchmarks. Building energy use had a high correlation with cooling degree days. However energy generation systems (rooftop photovoltaic systems) did not perform as intended. Indoor temperatures were found to be lower and CO2 levels higher in cellular offices, as compared to open plan offices. Occupant survey results revealed that users were satisfied with the overall design of the building, comfort levels and indoor air quality, but perceived indoor lighting to be more than required. Such empirical studies will help to build trust in the Indian building industry, which is currently shy of exposing itself to liability risk resulting from actual building performance.
Gupta, RajatGregg, MattSingla, Sajal
Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment\School of Architecture
Year of publication: 2019Date of RADAR deposit: 2019-04-08
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