Aspects of technologies and occupants' behaviour for sustainable non-domestic building refurbishment

摘要

Refurbishment of existing buildings plays a vital role in meeting the UK government's target of cutting emissions to 80% below 1990 levels, by 2050. This paper presents a summary of the combined aspects of sustainable technologies and occupant behaviour, and considers whether/how occupant wellbeing can be used beneficially to reduce carbon emissions significantly. A 1930s office block, which is being refurbished for occupation in summer 2010 as Halcrow's new corporate headquarters, has been taken as a case study. The core challenges related to introducing technologies, improving occupant engagement and encouraging behavioural change to maintain the sustainable performance of refurbished buildings are indicated. A summary of previous work is given, the knowledge gap is then identified and the proposed research methodology is outlined.