A study of heat-loss in pre-1919 suspended timber ground floors
Sofie Pelsmakers, UCL
The UK building stock is responsible for about 40%-55% of the total UK CO2emissions (Mackenzie, 2010, CAT, 2010). As a result, the UK government has set ambitious targets for the construction of new housing, which are required to be ‘zero carbon’ by 2016 and all other buildings by 2019. (ZCH, 2011, AECOM, 2011) However, at least 75% of housing already built will still exist in 2050 (SDC, 2006). Therefore a significant energy efficiency refurbishment programme will be required in order to achieve such large carbon reductions. (Mackenzie, 2010) There are around 25 million existing dwellings (DECC, 2010, Boardman, 2005) and around 7.6 million of these homes are ‘hard to treat’ solid wall Victorian properties (DCLG, 2007) and were usually built with suspended timber ground floors (Rock, 2005, Cook, 2009).
Most of these floors remain un-insulated, and it is unclear how much heat loss currently occurs through such ground floor constructions. This research investigated suspended timber ground floors by critically reviewing existing literature, models and in-situ measurements, alongside undertaking in-situ floor heat-loss measurements.
Findings highlights gaps in research and the need for improved theoretical models and in-situ data and error analysis protocols.
PhD research will extend and build on the above research and proposes to investigate the unintended hygrothermal consequences of insulating such floors.
Outputs
Book
The Environmental Design Pocketbook
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Distilling environmental theory, design guidance & legislation into one illustrated, easy to use source – for architects, students, designers, clients and anyone in the construction industry. Published by RIBA Publishing, March 2012. Contents list and chapter summaries can be downloaded by clicking on the title above.
Event
Invited Judge UK 2012 Passivhaus Awards
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Sofie has been selected as one of this year’s judges for the UK Passivhaus Awards.
Poster for Lolo Cambridge Summer event 2012
Poster describing summary research project and identifying key stakeholders.
Media Article (magazine/newspaper)
‘Eco Fact or Fiction’, EcoTech magazine, Architecture Today, p 10, June 2012
5 essential and 5 mistaken or inappropriate sustainable design strategies
‘Low carbon’ design: a mistaken proxy for ‘sustainable’ design?
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First guest blog for EcoWan, Eco in the City.
London 2062: The future for our cities in the next 50 years?
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Sofie’s guest piece for EcoWan – Eco in the City Guest blog. Also republished by www.futureoflondon.org.uk
Biodiversity & greenery in the city
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Sofie was April’s Guest writer for World Architecture News – Eco in the cIty ‘Metro Blogs’.
A sustainable future: the role of the architect and designer in delivering low carbon buildings
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Sofie was April’s Guest writer for World Architecture News – Eco in the cIty ‘Metro Blogs’.
Environmental performance of buildings – comment piece in Blueprint
Sofie wrote a comment piece in Blueprint April 2012 (p 83): “Considerations regarding the environmental performance of a building are often perceived by the design industry as an additional constraint or obstacle in a world beset by bureaucracy”. Sofie argues that environmental drivers should be used as a generator of design aesthetic rather than seen as another constraint or ‘box to tick’.
Presentation
PHPP workshop – EDE Retrofit module
2 PHPP workshops toMSc students at the MSc Environmental Design & Engineering(EDE) Programme.
Sustainable Resources: Materials
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SusCon Train the Trainer Course – Level 4 Certificate in Sustainable Buildings
Sustainable Resources: Biodiversity
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SusCon Train the Trainer Course – Level 4 Certificate in Sustainable Buildings
Environmental Assessment Methods: Code for Sustainable Homes and BREEAM
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SusCon Train the Trainer Course – Level 4 Certificate in Sustainable Buildings
Cost Efficient Low Carbon Construction – BEST East ‘Save to Succeed’ – Basildon Workshop – 10th July
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Workshop to discuss what low carbon construction is and how it affects SME’s clients and business.
Cost Efficient Low Carbon Construction – BEST East ‘Save to Succeed’ – Norwich Workshop
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Workshop to discuss what low carbon construction is and how it affects SME’s clients and business.
Working towards efficient low carbon construction
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Brief workshop at Build Essex on behalf of Suscon to engage with SME’s in East England region to deliver low carbon construction.
London 2062 – Future of London Housing
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Sofie spoke at UCL’s Grand Challenges about the Future of Housing in London as part of London 2062.
RIBA NBS talk at ECOBUILD 2012
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Sofie talked about ‘Disspelling Environmental Design myths’, March 21st 2012, to mark the publication of her book, The Environmental Design Pocketbook.
Publicity material
Launch of Sofie’s book ‘The Environmental Design Pocketbook’
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May 11th, launch of The Environmental Design Pocketbook.
Thesis
“How to measure and estimate heat-loss from un-insulated suspended timber ground floors in pre-1919 dwellings?”
The purpose of the thesis is to critically evaluate accepted theories and models, including in-situ measurement techniques, for estimating the heat-loss from un-insulated suspended timber ground floors in pre-1919 dwellings. Both the theoretical models as well as the empirical measurements undertaken and the analysis of the data collected highlighted a number of limitations in the accepted models and procedures currently used for estimating heat-loss from suspended timber ground floors. In particular, theoretically calculated heat-loss models rely on several assumptions while they also appear to omit certain heat-loss phenomena, possibly leading to inaccurate results. Moreover, in-situ measurements have errors associated with them, leading to uncertainty of findings. It also became apparent that when analysing empirical data, different data and error analysis procedures lead to significantly different U-value estimates. While no reconstruction of theoretical models nor a revision of data/error analysis methods is put forward, some preliminary insights are presented with regards to the need for improved theoretical underpinnings of suspended timber ground floor heat-loss models, as well as the need for standardised data and error analysis of in-situ heat-loss measurements and a more transparent way of presenting U-values in both cases.
Website
Personal blog
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Collection of thoughts and musing for public engagement.
11th February 2016
Categories:MRes dissertation, Sofie Pelsmakers, Ben Croxford, Cliff Elwell, David Shipworth