Refurbishment of old buildings for sustainable use

REVIVAL is an energy demonstration project supported by the European Commission under the THERMIE programme. There are six demonstration sites in five EU countries. Ventilation and cooling of non-domestic buildings, even in northern Europe, is one of the main issues and REVIVAL contains both naturally and mechanically ventilated and cooled buildings. It also has a strong emphasis on architecturally important buildings and how changes can be made without damaging the appearance. The project lasts for five years from 2003 to 2008 and covers design, refurbishment, monitoring and dissemination. Common Tasks bring all the sites together and include Design Forums, common monitoring protocols, CO2 and environmental assessments, design monographs and finally a new Refurbishment Design Handbook. REVIVAL will demonstrate how existing buildings can be refurbished to give good internal comfort conditions, especially in summer, with low energy consumption using a mixture of best practice and innovative measures.