Christopher Gorse

Refurbishment and upgrading of buildings

Introduction 1. Why Refurbishment? 1.1 General 1.2 The Availability of Buildings Suitable for Refurbishment 1.3 The Quality of Buildings Suitable for Refurbishment 1.4 The Shorter Development Period 1.5 The Economic Advantages 1.6 The Availability of Financial Aid 1.7 Planning Permission May Not Be Required 1.8 The Effects of Plot Ratio Control 1.9 Listed Building Legislation 1.10 Conservation Area Legislation 1.11 The Architectural Advantages 1.12 Availability of the Existing Infrastructure 1.13 The Social Advantages 1.14 The Environmental Advantages 2. Upgrading the Fire-Resistance of Existing Elements. 2.1 General 2.2 Statutory Requirements 2.3 Fire-Resistance of Elements 2.4 Upgrading the Fire-Resistance of Timber Floors. 2.5 Upgrading the Fire-Resistance of Wrought-Iron, Cast-Iron and Steel Elements 2.6 Upgrading the Fire-Resistance of Doors 2.7 Upgrading the Fire-Resistance of Walls 3. Upgrading Internal Surfaces 3.1 General 3.2 Upgrading Wall Surfaces 3.3 Upgrading Ceiling Surfaces. 3.4 Upgrading Floor Surfaces 4. Upgrading the Thermal Performance of Existing Elements 4.1 General 4.2 Statutory Requirements 4.3 Upgrading the Thermal Performance of Walls 4.4 Upgrading the Thermal Performance of Roofs 4.5 Upgrading the Thermal Performance of Floors 5. Upgrading the Acoustic Performance of Existing Elements 5.1 General 5.2 Statutory Requirements 5.3 Upgrading the Acoustic Performance of Separating Walls 5.4 Upgrading the Acoustic Performance of Separating Floors 5.5 Upgrading the Acoustic Performance of External Walls 6. Preventing Moisture and Dampness within Buildings 6.1 General 6.2 Preventing Moisture Penetration through External Walls and Walls Below Ground Level 6.3 Preventing Rising Damp Walls 6.4 Preventing Rising Damp in Solid Ground Floors 6.5 Preventing Rainwater Penetration through Roofs 6.6 Preventing Condensation within Buildings 7. Timber Decay and Remedial Treatments 7.1 General 7.2 Fungal Attack 7.3 Insect Attack 7.4 In-Situ Injection Techniques for the Decayed Timber Window Frames and Other Joinery 7.6 Decay of Structural Timbers 7.7 Mechanical Repair of Decayed Structural Timbers 7.8 Epoxy Resin-Based Repair and Restoration of Decayed Structural Timbers 8. Strengthening of Existing Timber Floors 8.1 General 8.2 Replacing with New Timber or Steel Sections 8.3 Strengthening with New Steel Channel Sections. 8.4 Stiffening With Steel or Timber 8.5 Stiffening with Steel Plates 8.6 Strengthening with Steel Stiffening Reinforcement 9. Heavy-Lifting Systems 9.1 General 9.2 Movement of Complete Buildings 9.3 Movement of Building Elements 10. Underpinning Systems 10.1 General 10.2 Precautions Prior to and during Underpinning 10.3 Underpinning Techniques 11. Facade Retention 11.1 General 11.2 Temporary Support Systems 11.3 Facade Ties 11.4 Differential Settlement 11.5 Foundation Design 12. Index of Products and Systems index.

Investigating interpersonal communication during construction progress meetings: challenges and opportunities

Progress meetings provide a central forum for requesting and exchanging the information necessary for the successful completion of construction projects. Although common to the majority of projects, little is known about the interaction between participants during these meetings. Reviews appropriateness of methodologies for the study of group interaction and discusses the problems encountered when piloting them. The review led to a focus on Bales’ interaction process analysis (IPA) as an appropriate methodology for observing, analysing and interpreting social interaction in small groups. Pilot testing and subsequent use found the method to be reliable and robust. Bales’ IPA was used to categorise and quantify communication acts of 30 site‐based progress meetings. Results indicate that the management and design team interaction is subject to interaction norms: this is predominantly task‐based, but subject to outbursts of emotional interaction, which was found to be very influential on the groups’ behaviour.

Informal interaction in construction progress meetings

The small amount of published research into construction project meetings demonstrates some of the principal difficulties of investigating such sensitive business environments. Using the Bales Interaction Process Analysis (IPA) research method, data on group interaction were collected. A project outcome, namely whether the project was within contract budget, was used as a basis of enquiry between interaction patterns. Analysis was concerned with the socio‐emotional (relationship building) and the task‐based components of communication and the positive and negative socio‐emotional interaction characteristics. Socio‐emotional interaction was found to be significantly greater in the projects completed within budget. Socio‐emotional interaction is used to express feelings in relation to tasks and it serves as the flux that creates and sustains the groups social framework, which is crucial in a project environment. The data provide an indication of the importance of informal communication in the maintenance of relationships within project meetings.

Adding value and meaning to coheating tests

Purpose – The coheating test is the standard method of measuring the heat loss coefficient of a building, but to be useful the test requires careful and thoughtful execution. Testing should take place in the context of additional investigations in order to achieve a good understanding of the building and a qualitative and (if possible) quantitative understanding of the reasons for any performance shortfall. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Leeds Metropolitan University has more than 20 years of experience in coheating testing. This experience is drawn upon to discuss practical factors which can affect the outcome, together with supporting tests and investigations which are often necessary in order to fully understand the results. Findings – If testing is approached using coheating as part of a suite of investigations, a much deeper understanding of the test building results. In some cases it is possible to identify and quantify the contributions of different factors wh...

Off-the-Shelf Solutions to the Retrofit Challenge: Thermal Performance

The potential to reduce energy demand and thus carbon emissions from the built environment is considerable. As well as benefitting the environment, good energy efficient retrofits can reduce energy bills and improve thermal comfort; however, the discrepancy between expected and actual performance can mean the anticipated benefits are not fully realised. If thermal upgrades are to be accepted and adopted the retrofit solutions should be simple and effective and deliver the performance expected. This paper summarises part one of a two-stage Saint-Gobain funded research project which investigated the change in thermal performance resulting from a number of ‘off-the-shelf’ thermal upgrade measures applied to a circa 1900 solid wall end terrace house situated in an environmental chamber. The project involved a phased programme of upgrades to the thermal elements of the test house; thermal upgrades were applied either individually or in combination. Presented are the quantitative measurements of thermal performance at each test phase which are compared against baseline values measured while the test house was in its original condition. The heat loss coefficient (HLC) of the fully retrofitted dwelling was 63 % lower than the dwelling in its baseline condition. 72 % of the HLC reduction was attributable to the application of a hybrid solid wall insulation system. The fully retrofitted test house had a measured air permeability value that was 50 % lower than in its baseline condition. There was close agreement between the calculated upgrade U-value and that measured in situ for most thermal upgrade measures. The primary conclusion of the paper is that dwellings of this type, which represent a significant proportion of the UK housing stock, have the potential to be retrofitted using off-the-shelf thermal upgrade measures to a standard which meets design expectations and can significantly reduce their requirement for space heating and currently associated CO2 emissions.

Achieving Sustainability in New Build and Retrofit: Building Performance and Life Cycle Analysis

The definition of a sustainable building is not a straightforward one. There are many criteria upon which the sustainability of a building can be judged, including but not limited to energy performance, financial viability and environmental and social impact. Any determination of the sustainability of a building will be dependent upon the criteria used to assess it. Much of the work undertaken by the Leeds Sustainability Institute on building sustainability focusses on energy performance in buildings.

QUB/e: A Novel Transient Experimental Method for in situ Measurements of the Thermal Performance of Building Fabrics

This paper presents a novel transient experimental method developed in order to perform in situ measurements of the thermal performance of building fabrics: the QUB/e method. In one night, a QUB/e test yields the whole house heat loss coefficient (HLC) and the local in situ U-values. A comprehensive set of in situ measurements were carried out in a circa 1900 solid wall end-terrace house located in an environmental chamber to evaluate the thermal performance of the building fabric and to validate the QUB/e method. The accuracy of the QUB/e method was assessed against steady-state measurements before and after a deep retrofit, both the HLC and U-values were used in the comparison. The measurement of the HLC using the QUB/e method for heating durations down to one hour yielded accurate results (i.e. the relative differences from the value estimated with the steady-state method were smaller than 10%) provided the α-criterion lay within the recommended range (i.e. between approximately 0.4 and 0.7). The U-values measured in situ with the QUB/e method were in good agreement with the steady-state (ISO 9869-1) values (i.e. the relative differences were within the uncertainty bound of the measurement methods). The QUB/e method was thus deemed validated by comparison with reference U-values measured in accordance with ISO 9869-1.

Not what anyone wanted: Observations on regulations, standards, quality and experience in the wake of Grenfell

While many factors will have contributed to the catastrophe at Grenfell Tower, it is clear that the structure itself behaved in a way that no one could possibly have intended. In this article the authors sample the bewildering and sometimes apparently contradictory directions provided by building regulations, and review how fire safety precautions, while seeming adequate on paper, can be undermined on contact with observed on-site practice.

Accounting for refrigeration heat exchange in energy performance simulations of large food retail buildings

Heat exchange between chilled food storage and conditioned spaces in large food retail stores is not currently required as part of design stage regulatory compliance energy performance models. Existing work has identified that this exchange has a significant impact on store energy demand and subsequently leads to unrealistic assessment of building performance. Research presented in this article uses whole building dynamic thermal simulation models that are calibrated against real store performance data, quantifying the impact of the refrigeration driven heat exchange. Proxy refrigerated units are used to simulate the impact of these units for the sales floor areas. A methodology is presented that allows these models to be simplified with the aim of calculating a realistic process heat exchange for refrigeration and including this in thermal simulation models; a protocol for the measurement of chilled sales areas and their inclusion in the building models is also proposed. It is intended that this modelling approach and the calculated process heat exchange inputs can be used to improve the dynamic thermal simulation of large food retail stores, reduce gaps between predicted and actual performance and provide more representative inputs for design stage and regulatory compliance energy calculations. Practical application: The modelling methodology and research findings presented in the article are of practical use for building energy modelling engineers using dynamic simulation models to design and/or evaluate the energy performance of large food retail stores. The methodology can be used in the design of new facilities or the evaluation of large scale retrofit projects. It is also of practical interest to energy and facility managers within large food retail organisations as it will aid their understanding of applied energy performance models.

Monitoring and Measuring Building Performance

The whole-life sustainability of a building should be underpinned with a demonstration of functional value and an awareness of the direct environmental impact. While a great deal of energy and resources are consumed in the construction of buildings, this is marginal when compared to the operation costs and associated energy used during a building’s life cycle. Many reports identify the build costs and associated resources to be less than 1 % of the whole-life operation costs. The exact energy use of a building can vary widely, depending on the use, energy efficiency of the building and occupant behaviour; thus, a greater deal of attention should be given to understanding the energy used in buildings and how energy efficient operation is achieved.