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Soft Landing, the new practice for the energy efficiency of buildings
At RE+build 2014, Ian Orme, Soft Landing expert at BRSIA, spoke about Soft Landing and Commissioning: two similar practices, oriented towards the energy efficiency of buildings, since their delivery to the tenant.
In the last edition of RE+build 2014, an Italian convention on real estate redevelopment and sustainable management, this year enriched by the intervention of a special guest, Mr. Rick Fedrizzi, green building guru, there was much talk about Soft Landing, a very common practice in the UK, but still unknown in Italy and Europe.
Soft Landing, formalised in 2013 in Great Britain, basically consists in assisting the tenant in the first months of settlement in the property, in order to ensure that the building is operating from the beginning at maximum efficiency with respect to the conditions of use.
As often happens in the UK and in Italy, the supposed building performance may be
different from paper to reality, in terms of energy performance, sustainability and economic costs. This leads the end-user to a sort of double investment: one at the time of purchasing the property, and the other one later, when more money is needed to fund operations of correction or repair of the energy discrepancies within the building than budgeted.
As explained by the rapporteur Ian Orme, Soft Landing expert at BSRIA (The Building Services Research and Information Association), the benefits of this methodology that guarantees a 'soft' transition between design, construction and occupation, are many:
• Better management of the end-user’s expectations, that is, the tenant who will occupy the building, both in terms of comfort and usability;
• A constant and regular monitoring of the real property conditions, as the project develops on the paper;
• An integration between design, functionality, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability;
• A considerable saving, both in terms of time and economically, for the end-user, guaranteed by the fact that the initial investment in Soft Landing will be recovered in the future, avoiding new rearrangements on the existing structure.
But how much does it cost? Ian Orme, who has participated in several real estate redevelopment projects in London and the UK, spoke about a small initial investment of approximately 1% on the total contract value, which is really small compared to the total contract value, especially considering what one may spend in the future without making a series of energy efficiency actions on the building beforehand.
The way to see buildings, on the other hand, has changed in recent years: it was said by Ian Orme and other speakers at RE+build 2014, then confirmed by Toyo Ito at Cersaie 2014, and finally signed by the British government itself, which is willing to make Soft Landing mandatory starting from 2016.
The British government commitment seems to go even further, as explained by the BRSIA expert during his speech: by funding training sessions in Soft Landing and Commissioning, two practices which are actually similar in many respects, in order to share and spread information among the entire industrial supply chain and its stakeholders, from the designer to the construction company, so that the end-user may not be abandoned at the time of property delivery and occupancy, living a house correctly and efficiently functioning.
Soft Landing, formalised in 2013 in Great Britain, basically consists in assisting the tenant in the first months of settlement in the property, in order to ensure that the building is operating from the beginning at maximum efficiency with respect to the conditions of use.
As often happens in the UK and in Italy, the supposed building performance may be
different from paper to reality, in terms of energy performance, sustainability and economic costs. This leads the end-user to a sort of double investment: one at the time of purchasing the property, and the other one later, when more money is needed to fund operations of correction or repair of the energy discrepancies within the building than budgeted.
As explained by the rapporteur Ian Orme, Soft Landing expert at BSRIA (The Building Services Research and Information Association), the benefits of this methodology that guarantees a 'soft' transition between design, construction and occupation, are many:
• Better management of the end-user’s expectations, that is, the tenant who will occupy the building, both in terms of comfort and usability;
• A constant and regular monitoring of the real property conditions, as the project develops on the paper;
• An integration between design, functionality, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability;
• A considerable saving, both in terms of time and economically, for the end-user, guaranteed by the fact that the initial investment in Soft Landing will be recovered in the future, avoiding new rearrangements on the existing structure.
But how much does it cost? Ian Orme, who has participated in several real estate redevelopment projects in London and the UK, spoke about a small initial investment of approximately 1% on the total contract value, which is really small compared to the total contract value, especially considering what one may spend in the future without making a series of energy efficiency actions on the building beforehand.
The way to see buildings, on the other hand, has changed in recent years: it was said by Ian Orme and other speakers at RE+build 2014, then confirmed by Toyo Ito at Cersaie 2014, and finally signed by the British government itself, which is willing to make Soft Landing mandatory starting from 2016.
The British government commitment seems to go even further, as explained by the BRSIA expert during his speech: by funding training sessions in Soft Landing and Commissioning, two practices which are actually similar in many respects, in order to share and spread information among the entire industrial supply chain and its stakeholders, from the designer to the construction company, so that the end-user may not be abandoned at the time of property delivery and occupancy, living a house correctly and efficiently functioning.
