Energy
provides safety, comfort and mobility to people, and is essential for
industrial, commercial and societal growth. However, generation and consumption
of energy give rise of greenhouse gases and various air pollutants, which have
a negative impact on the natural environment and global climate. The building
sector is responsible for about 40% of the energy consumption and related CO2
emissions worldwide. In order to
reduce the environmental impact of buildings, energy efficient measures must be
taken into account when designing, operating and retrofitting buildings.
It is imperative that holistic consideration is given to the structural,
environmental and energy aspects in buildings through their life. In order to
maintain safe, healthy and comfortable sustainable buildings, assurance of the
structural and environmental building performance must be given not only at the
design, but also commissioning and operation stages of its life cycle.
This
paper presents the motivation, objectives and method description of the
measurement framework developed at the National University of Ireland Galway in
order to continuously monitor the structural and environmental performance of
operating buildings. The proposed real-time monitoring provides rich
information about the building performance, offering opportunities for better
control strategies for operating buildings. This may lead to safer, healthier,
more comfortable and productive indoor environments, at the same time ensuring
the reduced/optimised energy consumption in buildings.