20 | REFURBISHMENTS | NEWS AND CURRENT AF FAIRS
ABOVE: Tony Cahill
Realising the value of HE refurbishments
Tony Cahill, executive director at Vivark, tells us how sustainability can drive real value on any refurbishment project
were to consider following the route of a new building on a campus, our minds would run away with us. Thoughts would turn to the unique building design we’d create, the BREEAM rating we’d want to achieve, how we’d maximise light and minimise solar gain and use environmental energy systems and sustainable features in abundance. But do we consider these things when
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we follow the refurbishment route? All too often we don’t. Sustainability isn’t reserved for the multi-million pound new build schemes. Sustainability can drive real value on any refurbishment project, however small.
e are all looking to maximise value in the delivery of a construction project, and if we
Designing sustainability Refurbishing educational buildings to meet current needs can have lower capital costs than a new build, with a much-reduced environmental impact, whilst still delivering ongoing energy efficiencies and reduced maintenance costs. The first key is to build flexibility
into the refurbishment design to ensure that it not only meets the needs of today, but can be easily adapted to meet the changing shape of teaching methods and academic disciplines of tomorrow. Designing spaces to be adaptable to these changing needs or to seize opportunities for creating the right environment for students ‘the paying customer’ is fundamental.
High-efficiency glazing systems and
energy efficient environmental heating and cooling systems can be installed as part of the refurbishment project, fiting around a structural design suitable for future remodelling at a lower cost than it would have otherwise been. Assessment of the ‘whole life cost’
of the assets selected for the refurbishment is also crucial. Whether it’s assets that have a longer lifespan, reduced maintenance costs, reduced frequency or a lower disposal cost etc, careful consideration at the design stage can ensure best value is delivered in the long term. The physical methods required to
undertake the maintenance of assets is another area of consideration; if designing a space results in high costs to access the asset, all the value driven at the refurbishment stage can be lost very quickly.
Waste management Site waste management plans (SWMPs) can provide a real focus on reducing environmental impact during a refurbishment, but they can also add value through reducing costs – less waste results in less landfill costs. A BRE¹ audit identified that 95% of waste from
¹ BRE case studies on University refurbishment ² Constructing excellence KPI figures
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