Low Energy Buildings Database

Tower Hamlets - naturally ventilated Passivhaus Retrofit

The property is a 3 bedroom mid terrace single family residence built in the 1960 s. Our proposals seeks to upgrade the property to Passivhaus energy standards, but taking advantage of the UKs milder climate (versus Passivhaus colder German origins), design out much key mechanical equipment complexity, turn reduced energy demand into smaller simpler plant configurations and develop simpler installation techniques.

Construction type	Solid Brick	Project type	Refurbishment
Property type	Mid Terrace	Sector	Public Residential
Location	London London	Project owner	Bere Associates Limited (in association with Ove Arup & Partners)
Retrofit for the future	ZA521E

Tunbridge Wells Retrofit

Retrofit of a 1950s, 3-bed, semi-detached property in Tunbridge Wells. Focus on improvement of the building envelope to a very high level, with high-performance insulation and airtighting. Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and a boost from independent solar collector. Heat provided by solar thermal and woodburning stove to a thermal store, ensuring minimal dependence on gas and electricity grids, and provision of sustainable wood supply chain. Sophisticated remote controls and monitoring provided to tenant. All works carried out with tenants in-situ, to minimise disruption.

Construction type	Masonry Cavity	Project type	Refurbishment
Property type	Semi-Detached	Sector	Public Residential
Location	Tunbridge Wells Kent	Project owner	Town & Country Housing Group
Retrofit for the future	ZA636L

Tuxford - A1 Housing Association.

The existing pre-cast concrete panel construction and orientation led us to a solar strategy, which utilises the inherent thermal mass of the internal walls. The fabric solution was detailed to ensure there is no de-bonding of the concretes ability to absorb and radiate heat contributing to internal temperature regulation and a comfortable environment for the tenant. Combining an air source heat pump, low temperature distribution system, whole house mechanical ventilation (MVHR) and photovoltaic electricity generation into a coherent renewable strategy complements the solar/ thermal mass approach. Thermaskirt heating distribution was selected due to its innovative delivery of heat low down in the room avoiding inefficient convection.

Construction type	Other	Project type	Refurbishment
Property type	Mid Terrace	Sector	Public Residential
Location	Tuxford Nottinghamshire	Project owner	Connaught Partnership Limited
Retrofit for the future	ZA525R

Wakefield and District Housing Kettlethorpe retrofit

We are to carry out retrofit work to FOUR PROPERTIES on the Kettlethorpe estate. The properties selected for the works are 1945 - 1965 post war 3 bed semi-detached which account for a high proportion of Wakefield and District Housing stock. It is therefore fair to assume that a significant proportion of properties in the UK are built to these levels and standards and therefore these units will give excellent replicability to the works. The two pair of semis selected will be on the same estate, but on different roads as we want to compare units with gas to those without gas. The tenant profiles are also considerably different so there is the added advantage of monitoring not only different technologies but also different lifestyles

Construction type	Masonry Cavity	Project type	Refurbishment
Property type	Semi-Detached	Sector	Public Residential
Location	Wakefield West Yorkshire	Project owner	Bramall Construction
Retrofit for the future	ZA644T

Wakefield and District Housing Kettlethorpe retrofit 2

This project represents results from the matching semi-detached property adjoining the original project entry Wakefield and District Housing Kettlethorpe retrofit. Please use this entry currently to compare performance figures between these two similarly treated properties - all other information in this entry is the same as the original entry.

Construction type	Masonry Cavity	Project type	Refurbishment
Property type	Semi-Detached	Sector	Public Residential
Location	Wakefield West Yorkshire	Project owner	Bramall Construction
Retrofit for the future	ZA644T

WHISCERS - Whole House, In-Situ, Carbon & Energy Reduction Solution

Differences in type, location and dimensions, effectively result in 20 million different houses in the UK. The WHISCERS process (Whole House In-Situ Carbon and Energy Reduction Solution) aims to deliver mass-produced one-off retrofit solutions tailored to each individual dwelling, so reducing costs, time, disruption and re-work and allowing the work to be undertaken with residents in place. For the purposes of the retrofit competition we will be aiming for a carbon reduction of some 80%. However it should be noted that the ground-breaking solutions used in this project will allow for different scenarios in different properties, thereby allowing the costs and feasibility of each renovation to be individually optimised.

Construction type	Solid Brick	Project type	Refurbishment
Property type	Mid Terrace	Sector	Public Residential
Location	London -	Project owner	The Sustainable Energy Academy
Retrofit for the future	ZA157H

Whole house retrofit of a typical Victorian solid wall detached property in Brighton

The aim is for a realistic, replicable and robust whole house solution to retrofitting solid wall Victorian housing to dramatically reduce carbon loads through space and water heating, and electrical consumption. The project will use established technologies that when combined offer the best carbon return per spent and when used together are more that the sum of their parts. The project will focus on upgrading the thermal envelope of all the external elements walls / floors / roof / glazing to achieve the optimum balance of u-values and air tightness in the context of existing building. Energy efficient services for space and water heating and appliances are the other elements of our whole house.

Construction type	Solid Brick	Project type	Refurbishment
Property type	Detached	Sector	Public Residential
Location	Brighton East Sussex	Project owner	Earthwise Construction Ltd
Retrofit for the future	ZA467S

Wimpey No-Fines retrofit upgrade - Crawley Homes

This system built Wimpey No-Fines unit typical of many properties built in Crawley in the 1950s and 1960s. Our chosen approach to energy saving and CO2 reduction is to follow a lean-clean-green hierarchy: seeking to minimise heat losses from the property thermal fabric and ventilation method; to supply residual space and water heating using replicable, low carbon technology; to minimise lighting energy loads; and finally to consider micro-generation using proven renewable energy systems. The package of measures proposed included external mineral wool insulation, triple-glazed windows and doors, heat recovery ventilation with a retrofit airtightness strategy, low energy lighting, PV and a micro-CHP heating and distribution system.

Construction type	Other	Project type	Refurbishment
Property type	Mid Terrace	Sector	Public Residential
Location	Crawley West Sussex	Project owner	Crawley Borough Council
Retrofit for the future	ZA630V