Activity: Building survey

This activity is a simplified version of what energy efficiency consultants do during a site survey. During it, the group will fill out a form with basic information about the building and take photographs that relate to heating, heat loss, and ventilation.

• Session 2 Survey Form

There are three purposes to this activity.

The first is to familiarise the group with aspects of the building they may never have considered. Many groups will have members who have never thought about things like the windows or how ventilation works.

The second is as a memory aid and for some groups, to serve as a record of some aspects of the building’s heating, ventilation, and heat loss features. Community buildings often lack any documentation of the heating system, for instance. Even if there is a diagram from the original installer, it will fail to convey its current state. Surveys often make use of photography to highlight issues and both heating professionals and architects have told us that having them available would help them use their time more effectively.

The third is so that where it is necessary, we and our Energy Adviser can provide more helpful comments about likely problems. This especially applies to the boiler room, where we see design flaws in many boiler rooms, for multi-boiler installations especially.

If the building is very simple, they may be able to do this activity for the entire building. If it is very complex, they may only be able to think about one of the major spaces. Before the session, you will need to decide on a strategy for attacking the problem.

We’re assuming that groups will need to split into two to cover even small buildings in the time. That means you’ll want two smartphones or cameras available, if you can get them.