Who owns the Performance Gap?

Tickets prices:

£5 for members

£10 for non-members

Free if joining online

Who Owns the Performance Gap?

The gap between predicted and actual building performance is one of the most persistent—and costly—challenges facing the built environment. Despite increasingly sophisticated standards, tools and technologies, many projects still underperform once occupied. But why does this happen, and where does responsibility truly lie?

Who Owns the Performance Gap? is a full‑day conference bringing together designers, engineers, contractors, operators, policymakers and researchers from all across the industry to explore how decisions made across the project lifecycle contribute to performance shortfalls—or deliver better outcomes.

The conference will examine the impact of modelling assumptions and software choices at design stage, the growing risks of overheating, and the real‑world performance of natural ventilation and passive cooling strategies. It will also address the consequences of over‑ and under‑sizing plant and equipment, the role of heat network design, and how controls, commissioning and metering can either enable or undermine operational efficiency. The day concludes with a focus on energy performance measurement and post‑occupancy evaluation (POE), asking how feedback loops can drive accountability and continuous improvement.

By cutting across disciplines and stages, we aim to move beyond problems, clarify ownership, and identify practical actions to close the performance gap—for good.

Agenda:

• Intro - Ellen Salazar, Bill Bordas and Adrian Leaman (Keynote Speakers)
• Sessions -

1. How the Performance Gap is Affected by Modelling and Software at Design Stage
2. How the Performance Gap is Affected by Overheating, Natural Ventilation, and Passive Cooling
3. How the Performance Gap is Affected by Oversizing/Undersizing Equipment
4. How the Performance Gap is Affected by Heat Network Design
5. How the Performance Gap is Affected by Controls and Metering
6. How the Performance Gap is Affected by Energy Performance and POE
7. Owning the performance gap