retrofitting

Work carried out in the UK, on behalf of, and fully funded by the Department Transport and Regions, has produced guidelines for the cost effective refurbishment of offices for natural and low energy ventilation. The aim of the work is to counteract the current trend towards the installation of air conditioning when other low energy strategies will provide suitable comfort conditions. This paper shows ways in which comfort conditions can be achieved with zero or minimal energy use in a range of office types, using natural ventilation or simple mechanical low energy systems.

The UK government has signed the Kyoto Protocol and it has committed to reducing C02 emissions to 20% below 1990 levels by 2010. As buildings are responsible for approximately half of the UK C02 emissions, of which the domestic sector accounts for 50%, meeting this target will require a significant contribution from the domestic sector.

A comprehensive technical and social refurbishment of a housing estate built in the seventies is carried out in the Gardsten project. Well thought out traditional measures are combined with newenergy technology which was initiated through participation in an EU project which, in turn, is based on IEA collaboration.

As the ratings industry in the United States shifts from a subsidized market to an unsubsidized one, we look at four areas of opportunity for home energy raters. Will these opportunities be growing or collapsing in the 21st century?

The Manchester Project involved the energy efficient rehabilitation and retrofitting of existing housing units plus the construction on vacant lots of new dwellings incorporating energy conservation measures. This project, in the Manchester neighbourhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, began inthe late 19 70s and was completed in 1983. Energy use and air quality monitoring were carried out for one year after the completion of the project. It was found that in comparison to detached single-family houses using standard construction, energy savings of 75 to 80% were being realized.

The ventilation system of a 60 seats conference room was retrofitted to improve indoor air quality. The old, mixing type installation was replaced by a displacement ventilation system. However, the building layout did not allow an optimum location of air inlets and outlets. It was therefore interesting to measure the actual performance of the new system. Using tracer gas techniques, the age of air was mapped within the room, and the ventilation effectiveness was measured in various configurations. The actual air flow rates were also measured in the ventilation system.