This handbook holistically summarises the principles for the energy retrofitting of historic buildings, from the first diagnosis to the adequately designed intervention: preservation of the historic structure, user comfort, and energy efficiency. The content was developed by an interdisciplinary team of researchers. The wide range of different expertise, design examples, calculations, and measuring results from eight case studies makes this manual an indispensable tool for all architects, engineers, and energy consultants.
This guidance is for anyone who wishes to improve energy efficiency in an historic building. There are many reasons to do this. Improving energy efficiency will lower carbon emissions and fuel bills and often increase comfort. It also might be necessary to ensure that a building complies with legal requirements. More broadly, improving energy efficiency forms a part of the wider objective to achieve a sustainable environment. It is a widely held view that older buildings are not energy-efficient, and must be radically upgraded in order to improve their performance. In reality, the situation is more complicated, and assumptions about poor performance are not always justified. Even so, the energy and carbon performance of most historic buildings can be improved, which will help them remain viable and useful, now and in the future. But striking the right balance between benefit and harm is not easy. The unintended consequences of getting energy efficiency measures wrong (or doing them badly) include: harm to heritage values and significance, harm to human health and building fabric, and failure to achieve the predicted savings or reductions in environmental impact. Getting the balance right (and avoiding unintended consequences) is best done with a holistic approach that uses an understanding of a building, its context, its significance, and all the factors affecting energy use as the starting point for devising an energy-efficiency strategy. This 'whole building approach' ensures that energy-efficiency measures are suitable, robust, well integrated, properly coordinated and sustainable. In addition, this approach provides an effective framework for communication and understanding between the various parties involved in the process. These include assessors, designers, installers and the people who occupy and manage the building. A logical and systematic process of energy planning underpins the 'whole building approach'. This guidance describes the key stages of the process, illuminating any problems that might occur and providing solutions. It also includes checklists of practical measures that might be considered, along with links to sources of more detailed information about how to install these measures.
This book is the result of recent research that deals with the built environment and innovative materials, carried out by specialists working in universities and centers of research in different professional fields ─ architecture, engineering, physics ─ and in an area that that spans from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf, and from South Eastern Europe to the Middle East. This book takes the necessity of re-shaping the concept of building design in order to transform buildings from large scale energy consumers to energy savers and producers into consideration. The book is organized in two parts: theory and case studies. For the theoretical part, we chose from the wide range of sources that provide energy efficient materials and systems the two that seem to be endless: the sun and vegetation. Their use in building products represents a tool for specialists in the architectural design concept. The case-studies presented analyze different architectural programs, in different climates, from new buildings to rehabilitation approaches and from residential architecture to hospitals and sports arenas; each case emphasizes the interdisciplinarity of the building design activity in order to help readers gain a better understanding of the complex approach needed for energy efficient building design
The role and influence of building services engineers is undergoing rapid change and is pivotal to achieving low-carbon buildings. However, textbooks in the field have largely focused on the detailed technicalities of HVAC systems, often with little wider context. This book addresses that need by embracing a contemporary understanding of energy efficiency imperatives, together with a strategic approach to the key design issues impacting upon carbon performance, in a concise manner. The key conceptual design issues for planning the principal systems that influence energy efficiency are examined in detail. In addition, the following issues are addressed in turn: Background issues for sustainability and the design process Developing a strategic approach to energy-efficient design How to undertake load assessments System comparison and selection Space planning for services Post-occupancy evaluation of completed building services In order to deliver sustainable buildings, a new perspective is needed amongst building and services engineering designers, from the outset of the conceptual design stage and throughout the whole design process. In this book, students and practitioners alike will find the ideal introduction to this new approach.
How should we go about making old houses energy efficient without devaluing future sustainability or the appeal and character of old homes by the use of inappropriate solutions? This practical and essential guide to retrofitting for energy efficiency seeks to provide answers to this and other the questions homeowners of old houses are asking. Whether your house is medieval and timber-framed or a Georgian, Victorian or Edwardian terrace, it can be made more energy efficient and sustainable, and this practical and comprehensive handbook will show you how. Revised and updated throughout, and with a foreword by Kevin McLoud, Old House Eco Handbook includes chapters on the building envelope; roofs and ceilings; windows and doors; walls; floors; paints; energy, airandwater; plus a brand newchapter on retrofit materials. In association with The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, this is a must have for owners of old houses looking to make their homes more energy efficient and sustainable. Chapters Include: 1. Old houses can be green 2. Old house to eco house 3. The building envelope 4. Retrofit materials 5. Roofs and ceilings 6. Windows and doors 7. Walls 8. Floors 9. Paints 10. Energy, air and water 11. Old house for the future
Cost-Effective Energy Efficient Building Retrofitting:Materials, Technologies, Optimization and Case Studies provides essential knowledge for civil engineers, architects, and other professionals working in the field of cost-effective energy efficient building retrofitting. The building sector is responsible for high energy consumption and its global demand is expected to grow as each day there are approximately 200,000 new inhabitants on planet Earth. The majority of electric energy will continue to be generated from the combustion of fossil fuels releasing not only carbon dioxide, but also methane and nitrous oxide. Energy efficiency measures are therefore crucial to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of the building sector. Energy efficient building retrofitting needs to not only be technically feasible, but also economically viable. New building materials and advanced technologies already exist, but the knowledge to integrate all active components is still scarce and far from being widespread among building industry stakeholders. - Emphasizes cost-effective methods for the refurbishment of existing buildings, presenting state-of-the-art technologies - Includes detailed case studies that explain various methods and Net Zero Energy - Explains optimal analysis and prioritization of cost effective strategies
How to reimagine existing buildings to create a more sustainable future The construction and operation of buildings is responsible for 41 percent of all primary energy use and 48 percent of all carbon emissions, and the impact of the demolition and removal of an older building can greatly diminish the advantages of adding green technologies to new construction. In Building Reuse, Kathryn Rogers Merlino makes an impassioned case that truly sustainable design requires reusing and reimagining existing buildings. Additionally, Merlino calls for a more expansive view of preservation that goes beyond keeping only the most distinctive structures based on their historical and cultural significance to embrace the creative reuse of even unremarkable buildings for their environmental value. Building Reuse includes a compelling range of case studies—from a private home to an eighteen-story office building—all located in the Pacific Northwest, a region with a long history of sustainable design and urban growth policies that have made reuse projects feasible. Reusing existing buildings can be challenging to accomplish, but changing the way we think about environmentally conscious architecture has the potential to significantly reduce energy consumption, carbon emissions, and waste.
Buildings are one of the main causes of the emission of greenhouse gases in the world. Europe alone is responsible for more than 30% of emissions, or about 900 million tons of CO2 per year. Heating and air conditioning are the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions in buildings. Most buildings currently in use were built with poor energy efficiency criteria or, depending on the country and the date of construction, none at all. Therefore, regardless of whether construction regulations are becoming stricter, the real challenge nowadays is the energy rehabilitation of existing buildings. It is currently a priority to reduce (or, ideally, eliminate) the waste of energy in buildings and, at the same time, supply the necessary energy through renewable sources. The first can be achieved by improving the architectural design, construction methods, and materials used, as well as the efficiency of the facilities and systems; the second can be achieved through the integration of renewable energy (wind, solar, geothermal, etc.) in buildings. In any case, regardless of whether the energy used is renewable or not, the efficiency must always be taken into account. The most profitable and clean energy is that which is not consumed.
Old House Eco Handbook is a companion volume to the authors' highly successful Old House Handbook, published in association with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). It seeks to answer the questions homeowners and others are asking about how to make old houses - medieval and timberframed, Georgian, Victorian or Edwardian terraces - energy-efficient and sustainable. The refurbishment or 'retrofitting' of old houses to meet new requirements into the future is now high on the Government's agenda. Old houses are, by their nature, a sustainable asset: their refurbishment is becoming a priority as attempts are made to address millions of energy-sapping, poorly insulated and far from airtight homes.
This guidance is aimed at homeowners and those managing or renting historic or older domestic buildings who may need to commission an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) or who have received one for an older property that has been purchased or rented. Details are provided on the type of information included in an EPC, how it is calculated, and its limitations as an assessment method when applied to older buildings. The guidance also covers the issues to be taken into account when commissioning an EPC and considering its recommendations. Almost every older building can accommodate some energy improvements without harming either its special interest or environmental performance. However, an appropriate balance needs to be achieved between building conservation and measures to improve energy efficiency if lasting damage is to be avoided both to a building’s character and significance and its fabric.
