Could refurbishment of “traditional” buildings reduce carbon emissions?

Abstract

Purpose – Evaluate the post occupancy performance of a typical “traditional” building using multiple post occupancy evaluation (PoE) protocols against design intents to learn lessons about their suitability in meeting UK's climate change reduction targets. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – PoE studies of a single case study, Norton Park, using three PoE methodologies. Gaps and overlaps between the PoE protocols are assessed and their role in improving energy and carbon emission performance of traditional buildings is explored. Findings – Refurbishment of the type undertaken in this case study could halve the energy use in traditional buildings with comparable savings in CO2 emission. Research limitations/implications – Traditional buildings could positively contribute to achieving climate change reduction targets; regular feedback loops improve performance over time. Practical implications – Quantification of the likely national benefit of focusing retrofit actions on traditional buildings is explored. Originality/value – The research study demonstrates that very high levels of energy saving can be achieved when traditional buildings are refurbished. In addition on-going monitoring and PoE studies highlight opportunities to optimise the performance of traditional buildings.