Module 9

Can you guarantee that the completed building will match the performance predicted by the analysis in its day-to-day operations?

• Not necessarily, because the future of a company and how the building is used is not predictable 10, 20, 30 years etc. down the line. Keep in mind the pandemic, when everybody left office spaces to work from home. Those buildings' day to day operations changed drastically, and will in some parts never be the same. Designers and builders need to be flexible, because everything is always changing.

When choosing settings for each of the building performance factors, should you always choose the setting that gives the absolute lowest predicted energy use?

No, it's good to have options in mind, though. Something to strive for, i.e. lowest predicted energy use, is really good to have on hand, but it's important to consider that the building's overall energy use may be higher. Just calculating lowest energy use is a little idealistic, especially if the building has a strict budget. In the end, having some factors that have a slightly higher energy usage may be more efficient in the budget up front than lower energy usage.

4D simulations are often used to show the construction sequence for an entire project, but shorter simulations that focus on a specific period of time are also useful.

• The planning process almost never sticks to an exact schedule. By doing shorter simulations, it allows for more details to be more accurate. Doing shorter bursts gives flexibility, because you can adapt and change certain aspects without worrying how it's going to affect the simulation that you have set up for 6 months from then. It creates smaller chunks for people to bite off, allowing them to be able to focus more on the now instead of neglecting all of the detail that's required of the present to focus on aspects of future planning which may end up changing entirely. The process is very fluid, and the planning and simulations should reflect that.