ABSTRACT
The operational performance is compared to reference points such as established energy benchmarks that represent energy performance of similar buildings to gauge the operational energy efficiency of the building. In the built environment, benchmarking is employed as part of an energy management practice in existing buildings to improve the level of efficiency at which energy is used during the operation. By normalising various determinants of energy use, the index can be used to compare energy performance between buildings to highlight the inefficiency of a building or building services. Top-down methods involve deriving energy benchmarks from a distribution of energy performances of a sample of buildings. The simplicity of the method is beneficial in that there is minimal requirement for information both to derive the benchmarks and to evaluate the performance of buildings. In the UK, buildings are commonly grouped based on the type of activity that takes place in a building.
