The Handbook of Sustainable Refurbishment

Nick C. Baker

September 2009
Code: 70449
ISBN: 9781844074860
182 pp
Hardback
£44.95

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The refurbishment of existing buildings is a crucial yet often neglected subject within sustainable architecture; attention is usually focused on new buildings. Many old buildings waste large amounts of energy and provide poor internal conditions for occupants through poor lighting, poor ventilation, solar penetration and glare, as well as poor control of heating and cooling. Demolition is an option, but the refurbishment alternative is increasingly seen as more sustainable in terms of architectural value, materials use, neighbourhood disruption and waste disposal. In addition, the potential impact of low energy refurbishment is much greater than that for new build since there are many more buildings already in existence than will be built in the next 10-20 years, the period over which many CO₂ emission targets apply.

The Handbook of Sustainable Refurbishment: Non-Domestic Buildings offers architects, engineers and a wide range of building professionals practical advice, illustrated by real examples. It moves from principles of sustainable refurbishment to specific design and engineering guidance for a variety of circumstances. It emphasises the need for an integrated approach by showing how refurbishment measures interact with one and other, and with the occupants, and how performance is ultimately influenced by this interaction.

"An incisive book that provides practical strategies and tactics for sustainable refurbishment, literally from the ground up. Richly illustrated with informative diagrams, supported by accessible quantitative analysis, and reinforced by detailed case study examples, this book is a triumph."
Koen Steemers, Ph.D. RIBA/ARB, Professor of Sustainable Design and Head of the Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge.