SGA Consulting was crowned CIBSE’s Building Performance Champion following the retrofit of the historic York Guildhall. Andy Pearson explains how the project team exploited the nearby River Ouse while protecting the listed site
Tag: retrofitting
High hopes: overcoming challenges with high-temperature heat pump integration
Retrofitting with high-temperature heat pumps can pose significant challenges if buildings are not properly investigated first. Baxi’s Ryan Kirkwood navigates the highs and low of swapping boilers for heat pumps in hard-to-heat buildings
The balance of power: the bivalent approach to heat pumps
Using a boiler to top up peak space heating in heat pump systems can save CO2 and costs, says Mitsubishi Electric’s Chris Newman, who gives examples of two configurations
Luxury awaits: turning the Old War Office into an upmarket hotel
Transforming the 1,000-room Old War Office building in London into a luxurious Raffles hotel has been a momentous project for Aecom engineers. Andy Pearson discovers how an extensive services refit was in keeping with the magnificence of the makeover
Boxing clever: retrofits in Ireland
With Dublin planners now requiring that building re-use is considered over demolition, innovative office retrofits will soon become the norm. Andy Pearson looks at two: Tom Johnson House and the Tropical Fruit Warehouse
The big picture: embodied energy at 100 Gray’s Inn Road
With a new development at 100 Gray’s Inn Road, in central London, set to become the UK’s largest full-timber, net zero carbon office building, Phil Lattimore finds out how the building’s whole life-cycle carbon impact has been assessed
Clear decisions: whole life carbon for façades
By applying the CWCT embodied carbon calculation methodology to a Croydon office, Patrick Ryan Associates estimated whether selecting a new high-performing façade is better for reducing whole life carbon than retaining elements of the original. Anri Doda and Jill Wang explain
Case study: Comberton Village College heat network
The installation of a new heat network at Comberton Village College is set to significantly reduce the heating bill and save 248 tonnes of CO2. Andy Pearson speaks to Bouygues Energies & Services about how two 500kW ground source heat pumps replaced oil-fired boilers scattered across 16 plantrooms
Targeting net zero ventilation for schools
The Monodraught HVR Zero ventilation unit won a product of the year award at the CIBSE Building Performance Awards because it targets both embodied and operational energy use. Schools are one sector benefiting from the costs savings that the heat recovery unit brings
LSBU’s cool new hub
More than half of all UK building services engineers studied at London South Bank University, so BDP’s services retrofit of the main building on the campus had to demonstrate best practice in every function. BDP’s Laura Smith reports on the steps taken to transform a tired teaching facility into the collegiate LSBU Hub