Designers behind the Ravelin Sports Centre have crunched its energy-use numbers down to an impressive 87kWh·m-2 per year, less than half that required to achieve a DEC ‘A’ rating. Andy Pearson discovers how an innovative mix of passive and active technologies produced a sector-leading building that won a CIBSE Building Performance Award
Tag: retrofitting
Plantroom pioneer: CIBSE Engineer of the Year Phil Draper
Phil Draper has been pioneering heat pump retrofits in commercial buildings since 2012 and has now been recognised as CIBSE’s Engineer of the Year. Andy Pearson finds out what the industry can learn from his innovative and collaborative approach
Science in the city: the challenge of retrofitting labs
Empty retail space in the UK is attracting the attention of the booming life sciences sector. Cundall’s Rob van Zyl looks at the trend for retrofitting laboratories and, in particular, the challenge of ventilating them in built-up areas
Momentum builds towards Building Services Forum
Forum to be held on 6 June at The Building Centre in London
Bridging the gap: the 2024 CIBSE Building Performance Champion
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
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
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