For products, it is common practice to build prototypes after a development phase and test them under real-life conditions. What is a reality for cars and household appliances and guarantees a comparatively high level of operational reliability is impossible for buildings. The costs for prototypes would be too high and realistic testing, including operators and "real" use, is not even feasible.
The failure of this quality-assuring phase is all the more significant as each building is largely a one-off, at a unique location, with a planning team that often only works together for this one project and is developed with an individual concept.
Reporting and documentation on innovative office buildings usually end with completion, so that there is hardly any reliable knowledge of the actual performance of the building in full operation and thus during most of its life cycle.
The research project "EVA - Evaluation of Energy Concepts" is intended to help remedy this deficit. The project was launched at the beginning of 2004 with funding from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and was completed at the end of 2007. The report contains results on energy efficiency, user comfort and operating experience from 19 current office buildings.