Assessment of building envelope refurbishment options to achieve sustainable energetic performance in a high thermal mass office building

In the United Kingdom (UK), buildings represent almost 50% of energy demand (electrical, heating, cooling and lighting). In terms of non-domestic building stock, the majority of 1960’s buildings have poorly insulated facades and so consume a disproportionate level of energy per m2 compared with more modern buildings. This paper assesses options for building envelope refurbishment of high thermal mass office buildings, which were commonly constructed in the 1960’s, in the so called ‘international style’. The aim is to achieve a reduction in energy consumption coupled with an improvement in environmental quality for building users. A typical 1960’s office building on the main campus of Southampton University, UK has been investigated in terms of its existing energetic performance. Various solutions for refurbishing the building envelope are presented and evaluated by thermal simulation studies. The potential application of utilising the large thermal mass of such buildings combined with smart fa?e systems to facilitate night cooling in particular is discussed. The predicted energy savings in terms of both heating and cooling that can be achieved represent a 60% reduction from present levels.