Extending the Life; Deep Energy Retrofit Analysis for Classroom Blocks in New Zealand

The New Zealand Ministry of Education owns 33,000 classrooms, many of whichpossess low levels of insulation and depend on openable windows for ventilation.

There are over 30 school blocks across New Zealand that identify as the “NelsonBlock” which are the target of this thesis. These school blocks are a presentationof dilapidated architecture that presents opportunity for retrofit.

Extending the life of existing buildings reduces both the number of buildings thatend up in landfills and the embodied carbon produced in the construction of areplacement classroom.

The aim of this review is to explore potential retrofit measures with the intentionof improving sustainable practices in external classroom block facades andconsequentially improving indoor quality for children occupying the classroomblock. This study adopts a comprehensive literature review of deep-energyretrofits of classroom blocks. The exclusion and inclusion criteria involved the useof keywords such as retrofit, energy savings, education, and life-cycle analysis.

A total of 50 articles were reviewed and energy modelling methods were analysedin order to understand the direct impact on extending the life of classroom blocks.

The analysis revealed that the current pressure to plan for New Zealand’s carbontargets requires a change in design thinking. This change can be provided throughthe retrofit of existing buildings to extend their life cycle.

This will allow buildings that are already established to concurrently reduce theadverse environmental impacts they are presenting and improve the functionalability of our domestic environment. The consequences of such a shift in designthinking will not only mean aiding New Zealand in meeting UN carbon zero goals butalso provide resources and spaces that will nurture and benefit future generationsof children. Future research would investigate standardisation of retrofit guidelinesfor New Zealand classroom blocks.

The results of this study revealed the energy considerations for a successful deepenergy retrofit. These considerations were subject to the applied systems as detailedwithin this research. The resulting data from the energy modelling ensures thatthe selected school block; the Nelson Blocks can be successfully retrofitted as asolution set for the Ministry of Education’s application.

The results of this deep energy retrofit form a possibility into future renovationsof currently dilapidated architecture. The retrofit solution ensures the buildingscan be utilised for years to come, while the re-use of the existing building providessignificant carbon savings for the future of architecture.