FMJ.CO.UK NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY CASE STUDY
MAY 2019 25
behave once occupied. As a result, it is
normal for energy consumption to be around
2.5 times higher than originally modelled. For
our team, however, closing this ‘perfomance
gap’ was a critical objective.
During the early design stages of the
project, we developed a series of bespoke
sustainability targets for the contractor
design team, Bowmer & Kirkland and NG
Bailey, to take forward. One target was to
carry out operational energy modelling,
using detailed calculations to predict the
actual energy usage. We reviewed these
calculations a er the first 12 months of
occupation and found that the building
was performing within three per cent of the
predictions. Quite an improvement on the
250 per cent industry average.
This focus on the operational performance
of the building was also supported by the
university’s adoption of the BSRIA So
Landings process. The objective of So
Landings is to bridge that gap between good
©Kristen McCluskie
There are over 4,000 digital sensors
installed throughout the building to
constantly monitor environmental conditions
and energy usage.”
design intent and actual performance by
encouraging design teams and their clients to
continue to work together once construction
has been completed.
What’s good about So Landings is
that it isn’t just focused on snagging or
finding defects but on raising awareness
of design intent from the earliest stages
of the project, as well as fine-tuning and
increasing understanding of how energy
and environmental performance can be
improved in use – it could be described as
professional a ercare.
For the first year a er the USB was handed
over to the university, there were monthly
So Landings meetings with the estates
team to review, analyse and make tweaks to
improve how the building was performing.
Taking this positive, collaborative approach
has enabled us all to not only focus on the
continued energy management of the USB,
but also to learn valuable lessons that we can
apply to future projects.
CREATING A DIGITAL TWIN
Newcastle University is known for its
pioneering spirit. With innovation a core
element of our brief for the USB, a number of
PhD researchers have their hands on the data
from the building and are already creating
some fascinating outputs we believe are a
first in facilities management.
There are over 4,000 digital sensors
installed throughout the building to
constantly monitor environmental conditions
and energy usage. Through a collaboration
between the university’s estates team and
PhD researchers with support from the
project team, a 3D digital twin of the entire
building has been created. This enables us to
feed data from the thousands of sensors to
what is e ectively a BIM visualisation model
in real time.
Using this digital twin, building managers
can focus in on a specific room, floor or area
of the building and look at how systems
such as heating and cooling are performing
to within seconds of reality. So if someone
complains that an environment is too
hot, they can instantly review whether
the temperature in that space has in fact
increased and adjust it accordingly, or
whether they just need to take o their
jumper.
©Kristen McCluskie Importantly, the digital twin also helps the
©Kristen McCluskie