Comfort over compliance – designing to maximise outcomes - Build 206 (2025)

Abbreviation: Comfort over compliance – designing to maximise outcomes - Build 206 (2025)
Valid from: 1/07/2025

Only by looking at a building as a whole can optimum performance be achieved, and that means looking beyond compliance.

At a glance:

Buildings work as a system and only by looking at the performance as a whole can we ensure good outcomes.
Schedule and calculation methods focus on thermal resistance only, so a house that complies with H1/AS1 may have issues with overheating if solar heat gains are not controlled.
Verification Method H1/VM1 considers other factors such as heat gain and occupant loads. It gives a more reliable understanding of how the building will potentially perform.
H1/VM1 is still linked to a reference building, which does create some challenges in getting the best from a design.
Prioritising occupant comfort using computer modelling means compliance with H1 is achieved as part of the process rather than being an afterthought tacked on at the end.

The article includes:

Only by looking at a building as a whole can optimum performance be achieved, and that means looking beyond compliance.

At a glance:

Buildings work as a system and only by looking at the performance as a whole can we ensure good outcomes.
Schedule and calculation methods focus on thermal resistance only, so a house that complies with H1/AS1 may have issues with overheating if solar heat gains are not controlled.
Verification Method H1/VM1 considers other factors such as heat gain and occupant loads. It gives a more reliable understanding of how the building will potentially perform.
H1/VM1 is still linked to a reference building, which does create some challenges in getting the best from a design.
Prioritising occupant comfort using computer modelling means compliance with H1 is achieved as part of the process rather than being an afterthought tacked on at the end.

Only by looking at a building as a whole can optimum performance be achieved, and that means looking beyond compliance.

At a glance:

Buildings work as a system and only by looking at the performance as a whole can we ensure good outcomes.
Schedule and calculation methods focus on thermal resistance only, so a house that complies with H1/AS1 may have issues with overheating if solar heat gains are not controlled.
Verification Method H1/VM1 considers other factors such as heat gain and occupant loads. It gives a more reliable understanding of how the building will potentially perform.
H1/VM1 is still linked to a reference building, which does create some challenges in getting the best from a design.
Prioritising occupant comfort using computer modelling means compliance with H1 is achieved as part of the process rather than being an afterthought tacked on at the end.

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