Port of London Authority - Building Energy Performance

The Challenge

We were asked to model the energy usage and CO2 emissions of London River House and the impact of refurbishment measures (planned and potential) on building energy performance.

The project was to assist the PLA in measuring whether refurbishment would meet the criteria set out in their Environmental Policy (2018) and in demonstrating compliance with national and local planning policies and regulations.

Recommendations were made to deliver a refurbished building that used less energy (Be Lean), was supplied energy more efficiently (Be Clean) and which took advantage of renewable energy (Be Green).

Before shot of office interior layout

The Approach

The energy assessors comprehensively surveyed the building and the plans for the refurbishment. The plans were extensive and focussed on upgrading the space, increasing the functionality of the space and replacing key building services with their modern equivalents.

The team then used Government approved software to create a series of Simplified Building Energy Models that explore the impacts of various elements of the potential refurbishment on the building energy consumption and associated emissions.

This included changes to the buildings fabric, lighting upgrades, heating and cooling and solar PV installation.

Meeting room fit out for Port of London Authority

The Outcome

We determined that the impact of the refurbishment would have a significant positive effect on the energy performance of the building. The impact would be to reduce the overall building energy consumption by 58% and the total CO2 emissions of the building by 47%.

We also recommended future initiatives to install a 66kWp solar installation for the roof and the fitting of a water condenser heat pump, using river water cooling from the Thames to provide even greater benefits.

Port of London Authority building