BUILDING PERFORMANCE AWARDS | WINNERS REPEAT PERFORMANCE An exemplary housing retrofit in Wales is the 2023 CIBSE Building Performance Champion. Judges thought the collaborative approach by the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University could provide a template for decarbonising other existing homes Building Performance Champion and Collaboration, and Project of the Year Domestic Winner: Low Carbon Built Environment Team, Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University The Low Carbon Built Environment Team, Welsh School of Architecture (WSA), Cardiff University took the 2023 Building Performance Awards by storm by being named overall Building Performance Champion for the project: Working together to deliver whole house energy system retrofits at scale, which also won the Collaboration category. It also scooped the coveted Project of the Year Domestic for its entry Towards Net Zero Evidence from six whole house energy retrofits. The Judges said Collaboration winning entry was: an exemplar project, demonstrating true collaboration with multiple stakeholders on a challenging retrofit. Retrofitting existing building stock for energy efficiency is one the UKs most challenging issues, and the learnings from this collaboration will have far-reaching impacts in Wales and beyond, said the awards judges. The WSA team collaborated with Wales and West Housing to plan, design, procure, 22 March 2023 www.cibsejournal.com install and commission whole house energy systems for a range of social housing across South and West Wales. The systems combined reduced energy demand, renewable energy supply and storage, including batteries. The retrofits resulted in reduced energy consumption and net site energy, as well as more comfortable indoor environments. The Project of the Year Domestic was a collaboration between Swansea Council and the WSA. Six homes off mains gas were selected, as they were energy inefficient and expensive to heat, with damp and mould problems. The team worked with residents and the supply chain to plan, design and install efficient, replicable solutions to drive towards zero carbon targets. Carbon emission reductions are significant. Post-retrofit, the net operational carbon emissions are 197 Kg CO2e per year compared to 3,312 Kg CO2e previously. Building Performance Champion, sponsored by Tamlite Collaboration, sponsored by Lochinvar Project of the Year Domestic, sponsored by Crane Fluid Systems This pioneering retrofit project in Wales was a clear winner