Retrofit in Practice: what next? - summing up
Firstly – another big thank you to Saint Gobain and ECD architects who sponsored our workshop ‘ Retrofit in practice what next?’ [a shorter version also appeared on the UCL Energy Institute's blog]
Our workshop was set against the background of the UK’s ~26.7 million existing dwellings and 1.8 million non-domestic buildings. The energy use of housing alone, which is mostly used to keep people warm in their homes, contributes to about 1/3rd of the UK’s carbon emissions. So there is a real urgency to reduce this energy use in buildings: thermal comfort of occupants, avoiding fuel poverty, aesthetic upgrades as part of building maintenance when buildings meet or exceed their intended lifespan, and ofcourse also stopping the reliance on burning fossil fuels to operate and construct these buildings, which are a finite resource and contribute to global warming.
The UK, and the rest of Europe needs to reduce the carbon emissions from this energy use to pretty much zero in the existing building stock by 2050, while new buildings will have to meet that standard much earlier (before 2020). To illustrate the scale of the problem: there are more existing buildings that need to be upgraded monthly to meet this target than there are new build buildings built yearly in the UK.
This brings with it a whole host of challenges, but also opportunities and this is what we really tried to capture in our workshop. Many of the contributions pointed towards solutions by raising relevant questions. By doing that, the presenters also touched on key issues that are related to the retrofit challenge.
Some topics that were raised included: project management, skills gaps, assessment methods, new models and tools, procurement, testing performance, community benefits, unintended consequences of retrofit, aesthetic consequences and approaches, and lets not forget the people who live and work in these buildings, and ofcourse the architect’s role in this process.
A quote from Sir Terry Farrell’s review of architecture and the built environment earlier this year for government touches on this last point. He stated: “An architect can add value to retrofitting by making efficient and holistic decisions on any scale of project, while understanding the broader conservation issues.”
Other questions that were raised were:
During discussion, it became clear that terms such as ‘retrofitting’, ‘conservation’ and ‘heritage’ have overlaps but are also not clearly defined at the moment.
For example what do we mean by conservation and heritage? What is the value in listed buildings we are trying to protect, is it the entire building or a specific aspect? And, if it is only part of a building that is ‘valued’, perhaps listed building consent – considered a barrier to upgrading buildings – may not be necessary at all?
What do we mean by retrofitting? Does retrofit mean just adding, or changing, or can it also mean taking away? Or any of these together? Does retrofitting include renewable technologies as add-ons such as solar panels on a roof? Or is retrofitting’s key concern the fabric upgrade?
Should we not touch a heritage building at all? Or is wrapping the building in a new protective, ‘conserving’ layer part of conservation, as it increases the durability of the building and retains, protects, ‘conserves’ its structure and purpose? In particular, which parts can we touch and which do we need to leave untouched? Should we make a clear distinction between old and added or should the added match the existing?
Ofcourse some of these issues are subjective, even emotive, but little discussed in depth so far in industry or academia. Perhaps as academics and practitioners it might be timely to consider more consciously the terminology, and our own conceptual approach to retrofitting. What are the consequences for the way we design? does the need for sustainable retrofit require us to critically re-examine some dearly held architectural concepts?
On the other hand, some argued, given the sheer scale and urgency of the task ahead for many buildings which are not listed, we might just need to get job done. If millions of housing are not of any significant quality or aesthetic, can we use the need for sustainable retrofit as an opportunity to enhance the architectural quality of our buildings?
So, there is a huge opportunity for architects, one where we can think creatively, innovatively and imaginatively and establish a new ‘environmental architecture poetic’, but architects, and architecture education, appear to be missing this significant and real opportunity. To quote Sir Terry Farrell again: “refurbishment and retrofitting had not been considered to be architectural issues, and these concerns still struggle to be accepted as legitimate by the architectural community”.
He also suggested that: “Architecture schools should include refurbishment and low-carbon retrofitting of old buildings in their curriculum and project work and conservation and heritage issues in course content.”
So, to close our summary, we hope that this is something we can all work towards changing, because retrofitting buildings is real. It is urgent. It is important. It offers great opportunity for a new architectural paradigm. Retrofitting is ‘what is next’ in architecture for our buildings. Basically it is here to stay, and we need all of you in academia/heritage/practitioners/industry involved. We need to want to be involved in this – for architecture to remain relevant to society.
Sofie Pelsmakers & Dr David Kroll, drawn from discussion with speakers listed here.
Download statement and speaker profiles as a PDF.
Our workshop was set against the background of the UK’s ~26.7 million existing dwellings and 1.8 million non-domestic buildings. The energy use of housing alone, which is mostly used to keep people warm in their homes, contributes to about 1/3rd of the UK’s carbon emissions. So there is a real urgency to reduce this energy use in buildings: thermal comfort of occupants, avoiding fuel poverty, aesthetic upgrades as part of building maintenance when buildings meet or exceed their intended lifespan, and ofcourse also stopping the reliance on burning fossil fuels to operate and construct these buildings, which are a finite resource and contribute to global warming.
The UK, and the rest of Europe needs to reduce the carbon emissions from this energy use to pretty much zero in the existing building stock by 2050, while new buildings will have to meet that standard much earlier (before 2020). To illustrate the scale of the problem: there are more existing buildings that need to be upgraded monthly to meet this target than there are new build buildings built yearly in the UK.
This brings with it a whole host of challenges, but also opportunities and this is what we really tried to capture in our workshop. Many of the contributions pointed towards solutions by raising relevant questions. By doing that, the presenters also touched on key issues that are related to the retrofit challenge.
Some topics that were raised included: project management, skills gaps, assessment methods, new models and tools, procurement, testing performance, community benefits, unintended consequences of retrofit, aesthetic consequences and approaches, and lets not forget the people who live and work in these buildings, and ofcourse the architect’s role in this process.
A quote from Sir Terry Farrell’s review of architecture and the built environment earlier this year for government touches on this last point. He stated: “An architect can add value to retrofitting by making efficient and holistic decisions on any scale of project, while understanding the broader conservation issues.”
Other questions that were raised were:
- Can retrofit be an opportunity to also offer better spaces for community and amenity uses? We saw some very good examples responding to these questions for both smaller dwellings as well as high-rise housing blocks.
- Can qualitative building characteristics be quantified in assessment tools and road maps? We saw some work in progress in the US and UK/EU.
- Another issue is Post Occupancy and Building Performance Evaluation to ensure that the retrofit performs as intended – to close the current performance gap. We saw some interesting testing of solutions and new modelling to tackle these problems. And our workshop sponsor Saint Gobain and ECD architects are undertaking some relevant research in this area.
During discussion, it became clear that terms such as ‘retrofitting’, ‘conservation’ and ‘heritage’ have overlaps but are also not clearly defined at the moment.
For example what do we mean by conservation and heritage? What is the value in listed buildings we are trying to protect, is it the entire building or a specific aspect? And, if it is only part of a building that is ‘valued’, perhaps listed building consent – considered a barrier to upgrading buildings – may not be necessary at all?
What do we mean by retrofitting? Does retrofit mean just adding, or changing, or can it also mean taking away? Or any of these together? Does retrofitting include renewable technologies as add-ons such as solar panels on a roof? Or is retrofitting’s key concern the fabric upgrade?
Should we not touch a heritage building at all? Or is wrapping the building in a new protective, ‘conserving’ layer part of conservation, as it increases the durability of the building and retains, protects, ‘conserves’ its structure and purpose? In particular, which parts can we touch and which do we need to leave untouched? Should we make a clear distinction between old and added or should the added match the existing?
Ofcourse some of these issues are subjective, even emotive, but little discussed in depth so far in industry or academia. Perhaps as academics and practitioners it might be timely to consider more consciously the terminology, and our own conceptual approach to retrofitting. What are the consequences for the way we design? does the need for sustainable retrofit require us to critically re-examine some dearly held architectural concepts?
On the other hand, some argued, given the sheer scale and urgency of the task ahead for many buildings which are not listed, we might just need to get job done. If millions of housing are not of any significant quality or aesthetic, can we use the need for sustainable retrofit as an opportunity to enhance the architectural quality of our buildings?
So, there is a huge opportunity for architects, one where we can think creatively, innovatively and imaginatively and establish a new ‘environmental architecture poetic’, but architects, and architecture education, appear to be missing this significant and real opportunity. To quote Sir Terry Farrell again: “refurbishment and retrofitting had not been considered to be architectural issues, and these concerns still struggle to be accepted as legitimate by the architectural community”.
He also suggested that: “Architecture schools should include refurbishment and low-carbon retrofitting of old buildings in their curriculum and project work and conservation and heritage issues in course content.”
So, to close our summary, we hope that this is something we can all work towards changing, because retrofitting buildings is real. It is urgent. It is important. It offers great opportunity for a new architectural paradigm. Retrofitting is ‘what is next’ in architecture for our buildings. Basically it is here to stay, and we need all of you in academia/heritage/practitioners/industry involved. We need to want to be involved in this – for architecture to remain relevant to society.
Sofie Pelsmakers & Dr David Kroll, drawn from discussion with speakers listed here.
Download statement and speaker profiles as a PDF.
Call for abstracts for ‘Retrofit in Practice: What next?’ Workshop at Newcastle University Conference 'Industries of Architecture: Relations, Process, Production', November 2014
Newcastle University Conference 'Industries of Architecture': 13th – 15th November 2014
In addition to conventional conference panels ‘Industries of Architecture: Relations, Process, Production’ will also be hosting a number of workshops to encourage debate between academics working in the humanities, architectural practitioners and related industries and disciplines on key developments and issues confronting building today.
These will be held 2-5pm on Friday 14th November and outcomes presented to the full conference on Saturday 15th November.
We are convening the following workshop and seeking contributions in the form of position statements:
In addition to conventional conference panels ‘Industries of Architecture: Relations, Process, Production’ will also be hosting a number of workshops to encourage debate between academics working in the humanities, architectural practitioners and related industries and disciplines on key developments and issues confronting building today.
These will be held 2-5pm on Friday 14th November and outcomes presented to the full conference on Saturday 15th November.
We are convening the following workshop and seeking contributions in the form of position statements:
‘Retrofit in Practice: What next?’
To meet the UK government’s ambitious carbon reduction standards, existing buildings will need to be upgraded to meet high fabric efficiency standards. But what are the challenges faced? Which policies exist to encourage this large scale retrofit – and what are the barriers? How much do we currently know about how well these buildings perform and what standards will they need to meet? What could some of the unintended consequences be of fabric upgrade? Will planning support or hinder interventions? How can retrofit successfully take account of the building history? Is there a role for architects in the upgrade of existing structures? And, why not simply demolish and start anew?
This invitation is for abstracts leading to a 10 minute presentation at the –‘Retrofit in Practice: What next?’ workshop and panel discussion/debate as part of the workshop. Final submitted position statement to be maximum 1 x A4 (excl. references). Selection will be made based on topic relevance, originality and quality of abstract as well as to create a balanced and interesting workshop and discussion.
The ‘Retrofit in Practice: What next?’ workshop will be chaired by Sofie Pelsmakers (Doctoral Candidate, UCL Energy Institute & co-founder of Architecture for Change - and Dr David Kroll (Architect and Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University)
Deadline for abstracts: 1 May 2014. Please send a 200 word abstract in a word document, including title, and 50 word biography to sofie.pelsmakers.11@ucl.ac.uk. We aim to notify you by 1 June 2014.
Please note that full position statements will be required prior to the conference and - depending on a separate peer review and selection process - may be included in later publications following the Conference.
Other important dates:
1. Notification of abstract acceptance: ~ June 1st
2. Author submission of Retrofit Workshop position statement: September 1st (max. 1x A4, excluding references/bibliography; word document, font size 10)
3. Author submission of powerpoint presentation: November 1st
The Industries of Architecture Call for Papers - which is separate from this call for position papers for the Retrofit Workshop - can be found here. For full conference details of other workshops, registration, programme, accommodation and full details see here. Conference/workshop fees will apply to Workshop speakers - cost TBC.
Twitter hashtag: #IOAretrofit
To meet the UK government’s ambitious carbon reduction standards, existing buildings will need to be upgraded to meet high fabric efficiency standards. But what are the challenges faced? Which policies exist to encourage this large scale retrofit – and what are the barriers? How much do we currently know about how well these buildings perform and what standards will they need to meet? What could some of the unintended consequences be of fabric upgrade? Will planning support or hinder interventions? How can retrofit successfully take account of the building history? Is there a role for architects in the upgrade of existing structures? And, why not simply demolish and start anew?
This invitation is for abstracts leading to a 10 minute presentation at the –‘Retrofit in Practice: What next?’ workshop and panel discussion/debate as part of the workshop. Final submitted position statement to be maximum 1 x A4 (excl. references). Selection will be made based on topic relevance, originality and quality of abstract as well as to create a balanced and interesting workshop and discussion.
The ‘Retrofit in Practice: What next?’ workshop will be chaired by Sofie Pelsmakers (Doctoral Candidate, UCL Energy Institute & co-founder of Architecture for Change - and Dr David Kroll (Architect and Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University)
Deadline for abstracts: 1 May 2014. Please send a 200 word abstract in a word document, including title, and 50 word biography to sofie.pelsmakers.11@ucl.ac.uk. We aim to notify you by 1 June 2014.
Please note that full position statements will be required prior to the conference and - depending on a separate peer review and selection process - may be included in later publications following the Conference.
Other important dates:
1. Notification of abstract acceptance: ~ June 1st
2. Author submission of Retrofit Workshop position statement: September 1st (max. 1x A4, excluding references/bibliography; word document, font size 10)
3. Author submission of powerpoint presentation: November 1st
The Industries of Architecture Call for Papers - which is separate from this call for position papers for the Retrofit Workshop - can be found here. For full conference details of other workshops, registration, programme, accommodation and full details see here. Conference/workshop fees will apply to Workshop speakers - cost TBC.
Twitter hashtag: #IOAretrofit