GBE CPD Metadata

• File Name: GBE CPD Retrofitting SusCon 3 Domestic CPD A03BRM110326 S139 PDF show in Dropbox to view
• File Type: PDF of PPTX
• File Size: PDF Show: 853 kb
• Number of Slides/Pages: PDF Show: 139 Slides
• Course: Retrofitting Practical Toolkit for Architects CPD 2010 Programme Sustainable Construction
• Course Authors: Brian Murphy of GBE and Cath Hassell of ech2o…
• Created for: Retrofitting Course SusCon RIBA S/SE Architects CPD
• Sponsored by SEEDA, ESF, BSSP;
• Presented to: Retrofitting Course SusCon RIBA S/SE Architects CPD
• Author: BrianSpecMan aka Brian Murphy ONC HNC Construction BSc Dip Architecture (Hons+Dist)
• © GBE GBL GBC NGS ASWS 2010 – 2026
• Created: 18/05/2010
• Revision: A05
• Updated: 11/03/2026
• Previously published on Scribd: 20/05/2010
• Scribd reads: 511 @06/01/2013 then removed
• Tags: CPD Course, Retrofitting,
• ProductSets: Methods of Construction, Materials, Building Elements,
• UserGroups: Students, Architects, Assistants, Technicians, Structural Engineers, Constructors
• Scope: Retrofitting Domestic Property
• Course: Retrofitting Practical Toolkit for Architects CPD 2010 Programme Sustainable Construction

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GBE CPD Content

(without images; See the slide show for the pictures)

Retrofitting Practical Toolkit for Architects

• 2010 Programme Sustainable Construction
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/brianspecman
• E   BrianSpecMan@icloud.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrianSpecMan
• Brian Murphy ONC HNC Construction, BSc Dip Architecture (Hons+Dist)
• Technician & Architect by Training
• Specification Writer by Choice
• Environmentalist by Action
• Greening up my act since 1999

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GBE SusCon Course

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3 Retrofitting Domestic Properties

• Winchester: 19th May 2010 & Guildford: 20th May 2010
• Brian Murphy of NGS
• Cath Hassell of EcH2O

Retrofitting: Domestic Properties

• Design issues: Building Performance:
• ‘Sarah Beeny effect’
• Domestic use patterns and design response
• Conservatories v Solar spaces
• Glazing issues
• Materials and methods,
• Insulation: Internal or external
• Party walls & Party floors, Internal walls
• Airtightness
• Heating
• Case Study
• Flood Risk

Domestic use patterns: impact on fabric & services

• Demands: morning and evening
• Aged population: 24 hours heating
  • Winter: cheap Spanish holidays
• Fuel poverty: 0 hours
• Insulation, Insulation, Insulation
• Smoothing out the peaks and troughs
• Morning sun
• Collect heat in day for use in evening
• Expose thermal mass
• Avoid drafts

Design issues:

• 80% reduction in carbon consumption
• Passive solar design:
  • Capture heat in winter
  • Ventilate in summer
• Exploit thermal mass
• Passive solar roofs with Renewables

‘Sarah Beeny effect’

• TV presenter:
• Series: doing houses up for profit
  • Setting up business to do more in future
  • Never go beyond the basics
  • Or profit margins eroded
• We have to get beyond her then philosophy:
  • Profit before Planet
• Moving on from Sustainable enterprise
  • to Sustainable outputs
• Now does ‘love match-making’ website
• But wrote a ‘Beeny Greenie’ guide

Achieving 80% is easy!

• Usable Buildings Trust Bill Bordass
• See Slide

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GBE Link

• www.relish.org

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Whole House Plan

• 80% reduction target at end
• If it can’t be done in one hit:
  • Phased/zoned approach
• Phases:
  • Insulation first, EcoBling last
  • Supports & Pipes in first phase for EcoBling in later phase
• Zoned: room by room
  • Spare room for decanting: room by room
• Early services:
  • But insulated linings, before kit, complete linings later

Space for insulation?

• Victorian
  • Generous rooms sizes,
  • small rear extensions for bathroom & kitchens
• Peabody estate
  • Generous flat and room sizes
• Parker Morris (PM) standards
  • Rooms fit required furniture with no slack
  • Stores took all the slack
• Post Parker Morris
  • Too small for most things
• LTH, CfSH, DDA, PM+10%
  • Generous + dictated layouts, difficult

Space for insulation?

• LTH, CfSH, DDA:
  • Bathrooms & Kitchens:
  • difficult if not impossible to lose space for insulation
• Staircases not easy to move away from external walls
• Difficult & very disruptive to add internal insulation
• External insulation may be dictated

Whole house replanning

• If there is an opportunity to re-plan the use of the rooms of the house take it
• Consider orientation
  • Consider which rooms what to be on the east, south and west
  • Bedrooms east not west
  • Living rooms south to south west
• Simplify bathroom and kitchen plumbing
  • Reduce hot water supply distances
• Make room for insulation

Whole house insulation

• Insulation continuity: No compromises
• Thermal bridging
  • Heat will find a way out of there is one
  • Add thermal breaks
  • Remove thermal brides
  • Wrap up thermal bridges
• Thermal bypass
  • Cavities are places for heat to escape to
  • Insulate all cavities
  • Insulate all ducts/housings/boxing in

Whole house weather tightness

• Draft lobbies on all external doors
  • Front, rear and side
• Internal or external?
  • External if possible
  • Internal may create a cold bridge
• Combine lobby with solar space?
  • Add solar gain absorbing walls and floors
  • Add thermal mass to those walls
• Glazing to trap the heat in winter
• Ventilation top and bottom to vent in summer

Conservatories v Solar spaces

• Conservatories
  • Add to living space and get used all year
  • Often create a redundant space behind
  • Add to heating demands in winter
    • Most (80%) in UK are heated
      • Squandering energy
    • Often open to house
      • despite the building regulations
      • Big energy drain
  • No ventilation
    • Must be top and bottom
  • Add to overheating in summer
    • Many are offering opaque roofs now

Conservatories v Solar spaces

• Solar spaces
  • Are solar traps
    • Insulating glass to trap heat in winter
    • Once warm then let heat into house
  • Surrounded by thermal mass
    • Absorb heat and store until evening
  • Windows in sloping and vertical faces
    • Cooling ventilation in summer
  • Can serve upper and lower floors
    • Used as weather sheltered outdoor space in winter

Window & Doors

• New windows & doors to align with insulation
• New insulation to wrap to windows & doors
• External Insulation required windows set at outer face or reveals insulated as well as walls
• Internal Insulation required windows set at inner face or reveals insulated as well as walls
• A good window placed badly can perform as badly as a poor windows placed well

Glazing issues

• Thermal comfort
  • Aim for 17 degrees inside face of glass
  • Close (3 degrees) to room temperature
  • No discernible coolth down draft
• Warm feet:
  • warm and happy people
• Passivhaus accredited windows will achieve this

Upgrading windows

• Secondary glazing
  • Improved U value
  • Improved thermal comfort
  • Improved airtightness
  • Improved acoustics
  • Improved security
  • Improved utility
• Allow original window to perform as intended
  • Air leaky

Refurbish windows

• Replacement glazing
• Improved U value
  • Modify beading
• Improve airtightness of sashes and casements
• Refurbish ironmongery
• Refurbish counter weights
• Redecorate: Whilst out of opening, all round
• Remove years of paint jamming sashes

Services & Void Insulation

• As heating demands tumble
• Hot water heat losses become very important
• Cold water being warmed becomes important
• Lagging of pipes seems to be difficult for plumbers
• Labour intensive cost cutting opportunity
• So fully insulate the voids they run in
  • not the pipes
• Every opening up must be insulated before closing

Multi trades

• Insulation
  • Renderers must learn insulated render
  • Plumbers must learn insulating pipes or voids
  • Electricians must learn insulating cable or voids
• Air tightness
  • Kitchen fitters must learn air tightness
  • Bathroom fitters must lean air tightness

Wall Insulation:

• Cavity walls: “easy to insulate”
  • insulation is easy but wholly inadequate
• Solid walls: “difficult to insulate”
  • Internal and/or external insulation
  • Internal insulation and dry-lining
  • External insulation and render or cladding
  • Not difficult, just less easy

Materials, k values and thicknesses

• See Slide

Insulation Thickness

• Different k values
  • Reducing thickness
  • High cost of thin insulation
• Reasons for choosing worse k value materials
  • Carbon Sequestration: plant based
  • Decrement Delay: dense materials
  • Moisture management: plant & wool based
  • Wind and Air Tightness: dense materials
• T&G jointed
  • Acoustic performance: dense materials

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Building Performance Current/Recent Construction

Recent Building Principles pre 1919

• See Slide

Recent construction

• Basic cavity wall
  • Absorbent brick
  • Cement mortar joints
  • Thin outer leaf, cavity, inner leaf
  • Ties between leaves with drips
• Wind driven rainfall hits wall
  • some runs down surface
• No shedding details except sills

Recent construction

• Some absorbed
• –Some drawn through runs down inner face of external leaf
• –Some evaporates inwards
• –Cavity ventilated and drained
• Damp proof course in wall leaves and membrane in floor, linked
• Ground water not drawn upwards
• Wall absorbs internal moisture,
• –Drawn through and evaporates into cavity
• –Heat consumed to dry building

Current Building Principles

Current Construction with Insulated cavity

• Partial Fill
  • Permeable insulation needs breather membrane in cavity
  • To maintain insulation performance
  • Closed cell or foil faced traps moisture
• Full fill
  • Outer face is moist
  • Must be hydrophobic
  • And not offer moisture transport

Current Building Principles

• See Slide

Recent Building Principles

Recent Constructions

• Timber framed cassette panels
• Vapour barriers inadequately sealed at services and abutments
  • Moisture enters the panels
• Rock or glass wool insulation
  • Hydrophobic insulation
• Moisture goes to timber until it escapes
• Moisture goes to unfilled cavity
• Thermal bypass:
  • heat into cavities,
  • air movement heat loss
  • ventilation heat loss

Now Constructions if you want a Future

• Breathing walls
  • Airtightness layers
    • not vapour barriers
    • Moisture permeable
  • Wind tight outer layers,
    • moisture permeable
  • Resistance 5:1 Inner : Outer
  • Hygroscopic insulation
    • Absorbs moisture into fibres not into insulation trapped air space
    • Absorbs moisture aways from timber

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Where to thermally insulate External wall?

• Cavity walls: in the cavity,
  • but not enough needs much more
• Solid walls:
  • Outside: optimum exposed thermal mass inside
    • if architecture permits
    • If T&CP permits
    • If not too many services and signs attached
  • Inside: hides thermal mass
    • If plan layouts permit
      • Kitchens and Bathrooms
      • If staircase not at external wall

Appearance

• Older properties may have architectural merit
• Terraces may be designed to be seen as a terrace
• Crumble details at eaves, corners and openings may discourage over cladding and external insulation
• Internal skirting, cornice, dado, wall linings may discourage internal insulation

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Where to thermally insulate Roof?

• Lack thermal mass: risk overheating
  • Add decrement delay to protect from summer radiant heat from sun
• Insulation between rafters: cold bridge through insulation
  • Add insulation above the rafters
• Avoid insulation below the rafter
  • Prevent cold bridging through insulation close to inside face

Where to thermally insulate Suspended Ground floor?

• Insulation between joists: cold bridge through insulation
  • Add insulation below the joists
• Avoid insulation above the joist
  • Prevent cold bridging through insulation close towards inside face
• Wind/air tightness important

Where to thermally insulate Ground Bearing floor?

• Insulation below floor:
  • Disruptive for occupants
  • Expensive and Wasteful
  • New concrete floor: high carbon content
  • Keep insulation dry: use DPM to wrap it up
  • Exposes thermal mass
    • But what follows?
    • Does it cover it up?
  • Expanded PS or Cellular Glass in bitumen

Where to thermally insulate Ground bearing floor?

• Insulation above floor:
  • Potentially disruptive for occupants
• Relay carpets & other floor finishes?
  • Thickness is an issue
• Thresholds or door modifications?
  • Hides thermal mass
• Needs to insulate well to compensate
  • VIP Vacuum Insulated Panels
• Modular: needs cut insulation at perimeter
  • Aerogel quilt or bonded to board

Party Floors

• Hot air rises
  • Air-paths bad for airtightness, acoustics, thermal and fire
• Thermal conduction all directions
  • Thermal bridges are bad for heat transfer and acoustic transfer
  • Thermal breaks are better
• Acoustic isolation and insulation
  • Offers some thermal breaks and thermal insulation

Party walls

• Are not neutral
  • Building Regulations: Assumes they are,
  • Acoustics takes priority
  • No U value required
• this is going to change
• Solid walls
  • One person does not heat home
    • Steals heat from neighbours
• Large Surface Area
  • Thermal mass potentially exploited if not insulated

Party walls

• Timber frame
• –Building Regulations Part L permits insulation in only one leaf
• –No insulation from 50% of flats or houses
• –Blown cellulose fibre into stud zone
• Cavity walls
• –Stack effect chimney to roof, thermal bridge at roof level
• –Heat could be collected and used

Internal Partitions

• Insulate them
  • To stop excess heat from one side warming the other
  • To stop ‘kept cold’ room(s) cooling adjacent ‘kept warm’ room(s)
  • Fill hollow partitions (blown cellulose fibre)

• Fit internal door closers
  • Manage heat flows

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Airtightness

• Dry trade:
• –Plasterboard and skim can be airtight
• –But provides cavities for air to flow around in
• –Also air leaky at skirting and ceiling level
• Wet trade
• –Plaster has greater prospect for being airtight
• Wet and dry
• –Plaster parge coats are used before plasterboard

Plasters: Material choices

• Gypsum: lightweight, insulating, low thermal mass, low hygro-scopicity
• Cement: tough, high density, acoustic mass, thermal mass, impermeable, water and frost resistant, high carbon & energy
• Lime: moisture vapour permeable,
• Clay: natural, hygroscopic, high moisture mass, high density, high thermal mass, absorbs smells, absorbs moisture, absorbs radiation

Airtightness Approach

• Brown envelops wont achieve 80% reduction
  • Testing comes too late
• Testing should occur before finishes
  • Test the building fabric
• But airtightness awareness starts on day one
  • Design it: Specify who fixes it
  • Educate the trades
• Blower in user throughout the works that affect the external envelop and hollow constructions
• Every drill or cut: air in your face
  • You made it, you fix it

Ventilation

• ‘Build tight ventilate right’
• Open windows in summer
• Uncontrolled ventilation: loses heat in winter
• Mechanical ventilation: constant low power during winter <100 watts
• Heat recovery: efficient is essential >85%
• Passivhaus accredited MVHR is suitable
• Whole house
• Whole house retrofit available too
• Supply via hall ceiling into rooms
• Return via hall, WC, bathroom and kitchen

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Heating: Radiators

• Radiators
  • Existing radiators: below windows
    • External Insulation:
      • Add reflective foil panels to wall
      • Or heat up the thermal mass too much
    • Internal Insulation:
      • Radiators come off and pipes move
      • Opportunity to move
      • To internal partitions
      • But if they are well very insulated external walls it may not make much difference

Heating: Under floor or in-wall

• Under floor heating
• –Disruptive to install
• –Opportunity to insulate the ground floor
• In wall piped heating
• –Insitu pipes and plaster
• –Boards with pipes and skim
• –Less disruptive to install
• –Internal wall partitions,
• –Non-domestic: screens, furniture

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GBE CPD

GBE CPD Case Studies

• Refurbishment TSB Retrofit for a Future (CPD) N#329

GBE Projects

• TSB Retrofit for the Future Peterborough (Project) G#548 N#568

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Flood Zones

• Contrary to Government Instruction:
  • Don’t build in them
    • Build above them if you have to
• Contrary to EA advice:
  • Don’t design in sacrificial materials
    • You rely on your insurers
    • You rely on the refurbishment sector
    • The refurbishment sector is busy for 3 or more months doing the neighbours repairs
    • You rely on waste sector & landfill capacity
• Design to hose down and carry on as normal the day after the flood subsided

Flood risk:

• Determine potential flood level
• Site profiles to:
  • redirect water?
  • Defend against water?
    • EA Permitting
• Raise above water levels
  • Jacking existing buildings up
  • Expensive

Flood risk: Site

• Existing site boundaries: masonry walls
  • Add to make watertight
  • Removable Covers for gates
• Bund earth banks: EA Issues
  • Visual barrier
  • Impact down stream
• Whole building barriers:
  • Floatation or Fold up

Flood Risk: Building

• Accommodation to upper floors
• Construction:
  • Avoid hollow systems: dry-lining, timber frame
  • Use solid walls, bricks/blocks, render and skim
  • Avoid timber construction: vulnerable to moisture
• Materials:
  • Avoid permeable materials: Insulation
  • Water and Frost resistance: important
  • Ability to dry out: permeable assembly
  • Avoid water soluble finishes: clay

Flood Risk: Services:

• High level electrics above flood level
• Flood valve to WC
• Removable Covers for Air bricks
• Removable Covers for external doors, gates and windows