Featured Article
| Pay as you save |
In an ideal world every occupied building in Ireland would be energy upgraded to the highest standard, tapping into numerous benefits for the building occupant, the construction industry and society as a whole. Construct Ireland is calling for the introduction of pay as you save, a repayment model which offers the potential of making significant energy upgrade investments achievable in the vast majority of Irish buildings, as Jeff Colley reveals.
|
|
Read More >>
|
Latest Blog Comments
Official magazine of Easca  |
|
Page 7 of 7
Further application of T5 fluorescent lighting and secondary glazing could bring the BER to B1, the EPC to 0.653 and reduce the rated C02 emissions by 60 per cent.
When a comparison with current building regulations was undertaken at this stage, the EPC and CPC of the building complied with current 2007 building regulations even though the maximum elemental U-values for the walls and floor were exceeded. However these measures are more expensive and have more impact on the visual integrity of the building for a smaller improvement.
It is useful to compare the revised main calculation documents generated by iSBEM for the existing building with those for the fully upgraded building. The pie charts indicate that heating and hot water have dropped as a percentage of total energy demand. Lighting has increased correspondingly, even though the lighting system has been upgraded. C02 emissions from fuel and electricity have dropped significantly and there is a much greater proportional difference in C02 emissions between the two.
These results are tabulated in the following table, which illustrates the effect of the incremental upgrades:
Figure 6: incremental improvement packages to baseline building
The energy rating of the existing building was not as bad as expected largely due to the effect of terracing on the heat loss areas and as such would not apply to all buildings of this period. The usefulness of the software tool in determining the areas of high energy demand and C02 emissions in the building was demonstrated. The tool was also useful in comparing relative energy savings of different upgrading measures.
The measurement of in situ U-values resulted in values far lower than the default values in the software. In situ U-value measurements do not seem to be commercially available in Ireland at present, but the test should not be expensive and is non-invasive. As such the measurements could have a significant positive impact on the rating and perception of historic buildings if they were accepted by SEI and building control. Based on further research, a more accurate U-value library of typical Irish historic constructions could also be built into the software.
Based on the above, it has been shown that significant improvements can be made to historic buildings. The case study building was of typical Dublin 18th century stock and as such the results could apply elsewhere. The analysis methodology could however be applied to any historic building.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Fergal McGirl is an architect in private
practice in Dublin. The above article is
an extract from a thesis prepared for
the TCD Applied Conservation and
Building Repair Postgraduate Diploma
Course, entitled “Energy Efficiency of
Historic Buildings in Ireland in the
context of the EU Energy Performance
of Buildings Directive (EPBD) 2002”.
1 BRE Garston seminar, October 2007
2 Energy Heritage – A Guide to Improving Energy Efficiency in traditional and Historic Homes – Changeworks/English Heritage
3 Case study 2, CIBSE Guide to Building Services for Traditional Buildings
References:
Building Regulations and Historic Buildings, English Heritage, 2004
Energy Conservation in Traditional Buildings, English Heritage, 2008
Energy Efficient Historic Homes, Case Studies, Energy Saving Trust (CE 138)
Energy Heritage, A Guide to Improving Energy Efficiency in traditional and Historic Homes, Changeworks/English Heritage
Guide to Building Services for Historic Buildings, CIBSE 2002
In Situ U-Value Measurements in Traditional Buildings, Preliminary Results, Historic Scotland 2008
Microgeneration in the Historic Environment, English Heritage
Thermal Performance of Traditional Windows, Historic Scotland Technical Paper 1, 2008
Wind Energy and the Historic Environment, English Heritage
Trackback(0)
 |
Fergal McGirl |
| About the author: |
| |
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next > End >>
|
|
Issue 1, Vol 5 Out Now
The new look issue of Construct Ireland is available now. Click here to subscribe online and have the latest issue delivered to your doorstep
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide comment form