Investigating the energy performance of a multiuse venue building

This research documents an investigation into the building energy performance of a case study multi-use venue building that hosts several different types of events, each with their own demands of the building and its energy end uses. Such buildings have high occupant diversity factors and inconsistent occupant-building interaction leading to highly changeable demands of the building services. The feasibility of using existing energy performance tools was initially tested against these building types. Through this approach and a critique of the body of knowledge surrounding energy performance analysis of buildings, it was argued that macro level tools cannot consider the high variability of energy use inherent in the operation of these buildings. Consequently, there is a need to develop on existing micro-scale occupancy focused Post Occupancy Evaluation and apply their learning to these buildings on which there is currently scarce literature. The next stage of this research therefore used mixed methods to monitor and analyse thirteen different events hosted in a case study building, to identify useful and wasteful energy for each different use. In doing so, this research provided rich and valuable context behind the energy consumption, to both identify drivers for energy use during different uses of the building, and also quantify energy efficiency opportunities for multi-use venue buildings. Results identify multiple energy waste streams, centred on the numerous building actors that engage with the building, as well as a disconnect with the needs of the building occupants and the decisions made surrounding its energy management. Categorising energy waste to identify its cause and attributing energy waste directly to different actors lead to more targeted recommendations for energy management for multi-use venue buildings.