Building performance and commissioning services

As a project approaches completion, commissioning, or preparing it for active use becomes an important task. Arup provides building performance evaluation, helping developers and owners to reduce initial operational costs while creating more comfortable, appealing and productive environments for occupants. The service also helps to ensure that all systems are commissioned robustly and operated efficiently to provide services required across all building types.

This evaluation is becoming increasingly  important as organisations are under increasing pressure to demonstrate the commercial value of their buildings and compliance with their ESG and net zero carbon obligations. Our building performance and commissioning services establish that comfortable, productive spaces are being provided cost-effectively and while meeting sustainability commitments. 

Commissioning

Commissioning is a vital final stage of the building development process, readying the environment for its users. It provides an opportunity to enhance the occupant experience and improve a facility’s management systems to ensure efficient operation from day one.  

Our building performance commissioning team helps clients to ensure this process doesn’t become a casualty of the compressed schedules typical at the end of the construction process. We define a comprehensive approach to commissioning and integrate into the programme from an early stage. This creates cost effective ways to improve a building’s performance and reduce both operational and capital costs.

The service is valuable for new buildings and existing assets:

New building commissioning 

This is the only way to ensure a new building’s systems perform as efficiently and effectively as they were designed to do. It also a requirement of green building rating systems such as LEED and BREEAM. During commissioning, we use our wide-ranging expertise to significantly improve performance of buildings – giving more value for your investment. We have specialist skills such as BMS/controls, fire engineering, acoustics, façades (building envelope) and audio visual in-house. We deliver against the latest commissioning guidelines and standards from the relevant professional bodies.

Existing building retro-commissioning 

Also referred to as seasonal commissioning, continuous commissioning and ‘building tuning’, we draw on our extensive knowledge and expertise on operational buildings to identify, troubleshoot and resolve issues; often reducing energy consumption in the process and frequently working with our Facilities Management experts to embed improved practices.

Ongoing building performance evaluation

We use insights from performance data and occupant engagement to understand in detail how a building is currently performing and produce actionable insights to make and sustain improvements.

Performance metrics

We assess various performance metrics, including energy consumption, indoor air quality, thermal and acoustic comfort, lighting efficiency, and water usage, by drawing on data from both existing systems and supplementary solutions such as IoT sensor networks. Using measurement and verification (M&V) we validate improvements in these metrics, including through methods and standards such as NABERS operational energy ratings, WELL Certification and the application of the international recognised International Performance Measurement & Verification Protocol (IPMVP).

Occupant satisfaction evaluation: Some of the most powerful insights come from engaging with occupants and facilities managers. Our experts conduct surveys using the internationally recognised Building Use Studies (BUS) Methodology. Feedback on comfort and user experience can identify opportunities to improve both an existing building and inform future designs.