Dataset for A new way of thinking about environmental building standards: developing and demonstrating a client-led zero-energy standard

Data collection method:

A client group was identified that was about to commission a low/zero energy/carbon building. The proposed building was a 450 pupil school. The client group where defined as the head teacher, 16 members of teaching staff, three members of non-teaching staff, five parents and six representatives of the local authority (who were paying for the construction of the building). The client group were given a lecture (approximately 30 minutes) on climate change and UK energy policy, and a lecture (also approximately 30 minutes) on zero and low energy building standards from around the world with terms such as embodied energy and emission factor being explained. The purpose of the lectures was to inform the group about the concepts and language surrounding energy, CO2 emissions and building standards, in order that they could meaningfully consider what a zero-energy building meant to them. They were then asked to complete a questionnaire designed to determine what they thought should and should not be used as criteria for the zero-energy/carbon standard used for the new building. Nineteen possible endings to the statement “the criteria for the definition of a zero-carbon building should…” were presented along with a scale allowing the respondent to indicate how strongly they agreed with the criteria. The five-point scale ranged from minus 2 (strongly disagree) to plus 2 (strongly agree) with 0 expressing neutrality. The final question asked the respondent to indicate what they thought was an appropriate balance period.