Office building Frankrijklei 71

The aim of the study was to determine the interventions and estimate the investment cost to renovate the building into a passive building.

The client explicitly asked to take an "integrated" view of the assignment: not only the energy-saving interventions had to be determined, but also the interventions that ensured the desired indoor comfort, increased (fire) safety or were technically and physically necessary.

Study

State of affairs

The first part of the study involved mapping the current state of the building. Besides determining the different build-ups of the envelope sections, thermographic (infrared) images of the building were taken to locate the thermal bridges. These were simulated using TRISCO software to determine the impact on the total heat transfer of the envelope section.

The building's fire safety, acoustics and existing technical installations were then reviewed. Existing concrete rot in the underground car park was also mapped.

Passive

Secondly, the necessary packages were put together to meet the requirements of a passive office building. Besides limiting heat losses, advice was drawn up on the techniques needed to give the building the desired level of indoor comfort. For this, we used software developed by the Passive House Platform. A shading system, new low-energy lighting, high-performance ventilation system and night ventilation proved necessary to achieve the desired indoor comfort.

To meet the set requirements, several building nodes were also calculated in detail and the necessary measures were proposed to reduce heat losses and prevent condensation and mould.

For the fire safety aspect, consultations were held with the Antwerp fire brigade to draw up a concrete package of requirements.

Finally, an estimate was drawn up to budget the cost of all the different interventions.