Lawler Sustainability is providing sustainable design services for this project which is the largest deep energy saving retrofit project for the Office of Public Works in the Republic of Ireland.
Public Sector Retrofit Pathfinder Project
Tom Johnson House, Beggars Bush Dublin 4 was selected as a Public Sector Retrofit Pathfinder Project and we are proud to have been appointed by the Office of Public Works (OPW ) to deliver this high-profile project.
OPW is deeply committed to helping advance sustainable solutions that mitigate climate change, including through the new Public Sector Retrofit Pathfinder Project as well as through the new Public Sector Innovation Fund project, which develops guidelines for deep energy renovation of historic public sector properties.
Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan, was present at Tom Johnson House recently discussing the importance of implementing sustainable build structures. (Watch below).
Historic Building Refurbishment
The refurbishment retained the existing 1970s structure, taking advantage of the energy already embedded in the concrete structure and brick external façade.
By retaining and upgrading these resources rather than demolishing and rebuilding, the works will have significantly less impact on the carbon footprint of the building.
Internally, the existing cellular office layout will be modified to a more open-plan arrangement – increasing the overall building occupancy – while the introduction of a new central floor void will create improved daylight and natural ventilation conditions.
Building Energy Rating
The original building constructed in c. 1975, would have had a ‘G’ BER rating. The refurbishment of Tom Johnson House will result in an ‘A2’ BER, representing a c. 85% reduction in primary energy use and will greatly extend the building’s useful life.
A major facet of the project is that the existing State-owned building will not be demolished and replaced, instead, the design encompasses the re-use of the existing concrete structural frame, concrete floors, circulation cores/stairs, and external walls/external brickwork facades.
Once more, the embedded carbon in the building’s existing structures will considerably mitigate the climate change impact of the investment when compared with any new-build option. The use of heat pump technology and the application of the OPW’s Green Procurement Policy will also mitigate the climate change impact of the project.
On completion of this deep retrofit project, Tom Johnson House will act as an exemplar in the transformation of existing buildings for future use.
Lawler Sustainability played a key role in achieving a BER Energy Rating Improvement of 85% on Tom Johnson House
Technology Used
For the Tom Johnson House project we installed the following systems:
- Multifunction Chiller Heat Pumps – We removed the existing fossil fuel boilers and replaced them with heat pump systems providing heating and cooling to the building
- Automated Façade Providing Natural Ventilation
- Roof Mounted Solar PV Array System
- BIM LOD 400 Model for the M&E Design
Heat Pump Technology
