Part of the BRE Trust

Refurbishing public buildings: a UK perspective Richard Hartless

BRE Academy

7th June 2016

Scope

• UK public building stock

• Barriers and incentives

• Faltering steps to zero carbon

• Schemes to encourage sustainable refurbishment of

non-domestic buildings

• nZEB refurbishment of a public library using public

sector finance

UK public building stock

• 86,000 buildings

• Floor area: 140 million m2

• Social housing not

included

UK public building stock

• Key message: wide variety of building types and built forms due to

broad age range, wide variety of construction and hence very

different energy performance levels

•Stone walls

•Solid brick

•Pre-cast concrete

•Rainscreen cladding

Walls

•Flat timber

•Pitched timber

•Sheet metal Roofs

•Solid concrete

•Suspended timber Floors

•Single glazed

•Double

•Wood, metal, uPVC frames Windows

Display Energy Certificates for public buildings in E&W

Example office types

Typical energy consumption in offices

Barriers to nZEB buildings in UK

Drivers for nZEB buildings in UK

EP requirements for existing buildings in UK

• Existing public buildings covered by Part

L2B to the Building Regulations in England

(equivalents in Wales, Scotland and N

Ireland)

• Must meet minimum EP requirements when

‘building work’ is undertaken, e.g.

Change of building’s use

Extension to building

Work on thermal element (wall, roof, etc.)

Replace controlled services (heating, lighting

etc.)

• Estimate that buildings only refurbished

once every 25 years and current EP

requirements do not demand nZEB

Tightening of EP (Part L) requirements

100

7569

100

75

60

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

2006 2010 2013

Dwellings

Non-domestic buildings

-25% -25%

-8%

-20%

Faltering steps to zero carbon

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

• Zero carbon

homes proposed

• ZCH established

• Revisions to EP (Part L)

requirements

• New homes

proposed

zero carbon

• ZCH

closed • Allowable

solutions

postponed

• 2016 Part L

revision

cancelled

• Definition of

zero carbon

refined

• New public

buildings

proposed

zero carbon

• Allowable

solutions

proposed

???????

Is zero carbon too expensive?!

• Latest addition to BRE’s Innovation Park is the Zero Bills house

where the cost to construct (1,700 Euros/m2) compares

favourably with cost to meet current EP requirements!

Non-domestic policies

• Climate Change Levy (CCL) - Tax on the supply of electricity,

gas and coal for use as fuels (for lighting, heating and power) by

business consumers. High energy using sectors can reduce CCL

payment by agreeing to saving targets under a CCA

• CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC) – This is a mandatory

scheme aimed at improving energy efficiency and cutting

emissions in large, but non-energy intensive, public and private

sector energy users. It encourages organisations to prioritise

investment in energy efficiency and cut carbon emissions through

mandatory standardised monitoring and reporting of energy

consumption and the publication of emissions data

• Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) - Places a new

legal requirement on large enterprises to conduct energy audits

which meet the requirements of Article 8(4) and Annex VI of the

Energy Efficiency Directive

BREEAM Our internationally recognised measure

of a building’s sustainability helps drive

sustainable performance and value.

www.breeam.com

Whole life assessment

What is BREEAM In-Use?

• Online environmental assessment method for existing (in-use) non-

domestic buildings

• Holistic approach

• Internationally recognised

• Independent third-party certification

Can be used worldwide (excluding NSO territories)

BREEAM In-Use: An International Scheme

BREEAM In-Use registered assets (May 2014)

BREEAM In-Use Assessment Sections

• The performance of the asset’s built form, construction, fixtures, fittings and installed services

Asset Performance (Part 1) – Building owner

• Assessment of how the building is managed

Building Management (Part 2) – Building manager

• The management of building users and services

Occupier Management (Part 3) – Building occupier

Key sustainability categories measured

Management Health &

Wellbeing Energy

Transport Water Materials

Waste Land use &

Ecology Pollution

BREEAM In-Use aims to…

Change behaviour

Reduce running costs

Improve staff productivity

Demonstrate commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Provide a genuine badge of proven sustainability

Protect and enhance asset value

Assess and monitor building and management improvements

Benefits of BREEAM In-Use

Improvement planning

‘The [BREEAM In-Use] assessment has mapped our progress so far

and highlighted areas for future focus in our drive for continuous

improvement.’

Howard Parsons, Project Manager

10 Downing Street

BREEAM for Refurbishment and Fit-out

• Focus on non-domestic retrofit

• Minimum EPC targets

• Reduce operating costs and risk

• Assessed only on issues that can be

influenced

• Still stretching targets and

organization.

Scheme structure

• Four distinct Parts for assessment

• The modular structure allows a mix and match type approach

• Certification against the parts relevant to their scope of work

• Flexible to apply.

Base build issues Fit-out issues

Case study - One Southampton Street, London

A 90 year old building in a conservation area,

requiring improvement in accessibility, energy

efficiency, IT/services, staff facilities.

All eight floors refurbished as open plan office

space, taking advantage of natural light with

new glazing throughout. The floors were raised

for new services including ‘local’ air

conditioning, allowing access to be made DDA

compliant. Staff transport needs were

addressed with showers on each floor, and

both cycle spaces and lockers.

Achieved BREEAM Excellent rating

– highest ever for a UK office refurbishment

JB Priestley Library refurbishment for the University of

Bradford

• Constructed in 1970s the library was an inefficient building in terms of

energy use

• The University had earmarked the building for refurbishment and

secured HEFCE and Salix funding. Funding was awarded on the

basis of the proposal to raise the building from rating of “D” to “A”

• The scheme is being used as a benchmark project by HEFCE as an

example of sustainable development and is proof that it is possible to

transform outdated buildings and that refurbishment is a realistic and

viable option to re-building

Library refurbishment

• Insulation – fabric insulation is approximately three times thicker

than the standards required by building regulations, and the library

has been made air-tight

• Ventilation – the mechanical ventilation delivers fresh air to match

occupancy. The system is mixed mode and BMS has the capacity to

open and close windows automatically to improve comfort

• Passive cooling – ‘solar chimneys’ have been created within the

atria for cooling and a large concrete core provides thermal mass to

moderate fluctuations in internal temperature

• Improved daylight - each floor has been designed so that occupied

areas are in the lightest parts of the building around the light wells

and windows. Book shelves have been designed so that light can

pass into those areas where it is most needed

• Renewable heat – biomass boiler has been installed to supplement

conventional heating sources

JB Priestly library

JB Priestly library

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IEiLfDWL2l

• The first year of operation showed a decrease in gas consumption

of 73% and an 18% reduction in electrical consumption

• The Display Energy Certificate (DEC) rating for the library has

been raised from Band E to B at a fraction of the cost of a new

build library

Conclusions

• Wide variety of public buildings but significant scope for energy

savings from nZEB refurbishment

• Barriers arising from lack of legislative drivers and no clear

definition of nZEB

• Public sector meant to be an exemplar for private sector to follow

and there are legislative requirements and financial incentives (e.g.

no/low cost loans, reduced VAT etc.) to improve energy efficiency

• Voluntary schemes to monitor and facilitate sustainable

refurbishment of buildings

• We are seeing some examples of nZEB!