Building refurbishment mainly concerns physical and functional building components but should also take into account various topics such as energy consumption, pollutant emission and operational waste reduction as well as air quality and spatial comfort. Against this background, the European project EPIQR offers a new concept which should allow architects to approach the refurbishment of residential buildings with a global view of the whole process. In any refurbishment process, the preparation phase is of utmost importance.
Expenditure on refurbishment of non-domestic buildings is expected to increase at a faster rate than that on new building. It is, therefore, important that the applicability and potential of daylighting, complete/partial natural ventilation and other passive solar techniques are assessed for use in refurbishment projects. This study assessed the technical and economic feasibility, and market acceptability of incorporating passive solar measures into non-domestic buildings at the time of refurbishment.
The Dutch E novation program is a national demonstration program in which dwellings with high energy consumption, moisture and mould problems and poor indoor air quality were renovated, with special attention to the selection of the heating and ventilation systems, thermal insulation and the building physical details. A number of indoor air quality parameters were monitored before and after renovation, showing an important improvement in the indoor air quality.
The adequate ventilation of houses is essential for both the occupants and the building fabric. As air-tightness standards increase, background infiltration levels decrease and extra ventilation has to be designed into the building. Passive stack ventilation has many advantages - particularly when employed in low cost housing schemes - but it is essential that it performs satisfactorily. This paper give the results from monitoring two passive stack ventilation schemes.
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