Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
energy plants and efficient HVAC and lighting (UNI EN ISO
2006
). The use of
such an approach was very successful and potentially transferable to other contexts
of building retrofit study.
The energy and environmental assessment allowed the partners to select the
retrofit actions which could involve the highest energy saving and the lowest
environmental impacts to the eco-profile of refurbished buildings.
The environmental burdens of retrofits were assessed to estimate the order of
magnitude of the impacts and to identify environmental 'hot spots' of retrofits, i.e.,
materials and components with the highest environmental burdens.
3 Description of the Retrofit Actions in the Assessed
Buildings
The following six European buildings are the selected case studies; each one
underwent proper sets of retrofit actions:
1. Old Brewery, Brno (Total floor area after the intervention: 2,660 m
2
). The
retrofit was applied to the old 'Brewery' located in the historical centre. The
former brewery has been transformed into a modern social and cultural centre
for students and academics, including a structural renovation of the building
and an energy retrofit by installing several innovative components, such as new
thermal insulation of the surfaces, high-efficiency windows, high-efficiency
HVAC systems, condensing gas boilers and PV panels.
2. Hol Church, Gol (Total floor area after the intervention: 555 m
2
). The retrofit
was performed on an ancient Norwegian timber church. The actions included
removing rotted timber, installing rock wool insulation, introducing an inno-
vative solar-assisted heating system, and installing PV panels and energy-effi-
cient light bulbs.
3. College, Plymouth (Total floor area after the intervention: 5,794 m
2
). The
retrofit was performed in the existing city college in Plymouth and included
specific energy-saving actions. The existing building was erected using a
simple cavity wall construction and single glazed windows, all of which results
in very low insulation values. The existing walling is typical of its time with an
outer façade of imperial-sized bricks and a 50-mm dry cavity with no insula-
tion. Existing window units are single panes in metal frames. The external
façades, as in most buildings of the same kind and age, are now in a poor state
of repair, and suffer particularly because of their close proximity and exposure
to the South West coast line weather. Available data on wind exposure and
prevailing wind direction in addition to the outlook of the site suggested that it
would be appropriate to install wind turbines. Thus, two wind turbines (with a
nominal power of 6 kW each) were installed on the roof of the building, 21 m
above ground level. Other modifications for heating, cooling and lighting
