- Location: Glasgow
- Client: Glasgow Women’s Library
- Services: Technical Survey & Options Appraisal
Luths Services provided a retrofit assessment and services design for Glasgow Women’s Library, the building dating back to 1903.
The Glasgow Women’s Library is a vibrant cultural hub that celebrates women’s history, achievements, and creativity. As an inclusive space dedicated to education and community, it houses an incredible collection of literature, artefacts, and archives. As well as championing sustainability and social equality.
The property comprises of a library, offices, archive stores and community public spaces.
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Dynamic Thermal Analysis
Starting with a detailed dynamic energy model using IES-VE, we ran several simulations to show an accurate replication of the building performance down to a 10-minute resolution.
This kind of detailed resolution is particular important in buildings with a good deal of variation in occupancy levels.
It takes some time to get the quality and level of detail in the model correct, but it is fundamental to the value of the output for all the work that follows.
Heat Load Modelling
Traditional ‘steady state’ calculations for heat load tend to oversize the heating plant requirement. They are limited in their assumed internal and external parameters. These simple calculations also can not take account the previous operating periods.
Put simply, the building may already have some heat from the day before. Rather than assuming you are heating it up from cold every day. Or it might take in heat from solar energy during the day and release this back into room spaces overnight.
Retrofit Assessment
In accordance with the energy hierarchy, work was commissioned by the client to look at the building fabric levels as a priority.
The client employed a building specialist architect who identified the thermal capacities of the external walls, roof insulation levels, poor glazing and low airtightness/ high infiltration as the main priorities for the building’s energy efficiency.
Using the thermal model we could quantify each of these proposed measures and rank each one against an energy consumption prediction and nominal budget cost. This allowed the client prioritise the most cost effective options.
ASHP Sizing
We provided feasibility study for new Air Source Heat Pumps to provide space heating and hot water.
Key to this is the heat load sizing by a dynamic method. By doing an analysis across minutes not just on ‘design day’ it is easier to reduce plant size with thermal stores or other “load shifting” design techniques.
This showed plant size could be reduced by 33%- a saving of thousands of pounds when it comes to renewable heating plant like air source heat pumps.
Also importantly the heat pump plant could now be safely accommodated with the existing electrical load rating of the property without expensive upgrades.
