Design for Performance / NABERS UK

The Design for Performance (DfP) initiative from the Better Buildings Partnership

The Better Buildings Partnership is a membership organisation for commercial property owners.  It has been working for over a decade to help its members improve the energy performance of their property portfolios. It found that a significant hurdle was the UK’s design-for-compliance culture, leading to the ‘performance gap’ that exists between original design intent and how a building truly performs in-use.

In contrast, Australia has had a system to measure and rate the operational efficiency of its commercial offices since 1999 - NABERS.  The DfP initiative worked to bring the knowledge and success of NABERS to the UK by applying the same principles that have been so effective in Australia to a certification scheme for new UK office developments. This worked culminated in the launch of NABERS UK in October 2020.

Various documents here:

www.betterbuildingspartnership.co.uk/our-priorities/design-performance

For NABERS across the world, see www.nabers.gov.au