Many existing, new and retrofitted buildings exhibit large gaps between design aspirations and real-world performance — affecting energy use, carbon emissions, occupant health and resident satisfaction. The Building Performance Network was established to address this directly.

The Building Performance Network (BPN) was established to address this directly. Its mission is to bring together people and organisations with an interest in building performance, advance the practice of building performance evaluation (BPE), and use data to drive change in policy, procurement and practice.

The BPN’s key objectives are to:

• Bring together practitioners, developers, researchers and policymakers with an interest in building performance.
• Improve how building performance data is collected, analysed and shared.
• Advance BPE practice to make it accurate and usable across the sector – Build a data-sharing platform and knowledge base to support evidence-based decisions.
• Use performance evidence to influence policy, procurement and funding programmes.

Since January 2023, BPN has been a programme of the Good Homes Alliance. This move has extended BPN’s reach, enabling closer collaboration across architects, developers, housing associations, local authorities, engineers, consultants and BPE specialists.

The Building Performance Network was founded in response to a clear and growing problem: the UK’s building performance evaluation sector was fragmented, data was inaccessible, methodologies were inconsistent, and decisions were routinely made on poor or limited evidence.

BPN grew out of work initiated through Innovate UK-funded building performance evaluation research programmes, which demonstrated both the scale of the performance gap and the need for a coordinating body to share knowledge and drive standards.

Over the years, BPN developed a resource hub of training and guidance, supported the creation of model employer’s requirements for BPE, and played a central role in developing BS 40101, the British Standard for Building Performance Evaluation, launched in 2022. The standard provides a consistent framework for evaluating occupied and operational buildings and is now undergoing its first review.

BPN has convened practitioners, researchers and clients through events, working groups and research projects, and has built a community of organisations committed to closing the performance gap in UK homes and buildings.

In January 2023, BPN became a programme of the Good Homes Alliance, strengthening its capacity to influence policy, expand its membership base and deliver a more integrated programme of activities alongside the GHA’s broader work on net zero, health and placemaking.