OFFICES: Passive retrofitting of office buildings to improve their energy performance and indoor working conditions

The project was divided into the following three subgroups: The Experimental subgroup; The Design and Evaluation subgroup; The Design guidelines subgroup. The main task of the Experimental subgroup was to carry out monitoring campaigns in ten selected office buildings in Europe, in order to collect data regarding their energy performance and current state. The main task of the Design and Evaluation subgroup was to prepare and study detailed retrofitting strategies for office buildings and to quantify the impact of the proposed techniques from an energy and environmental point of view. The main task of the Design guidelines subgroup was to integrate the findings of the present research into a diagnostic assessment methodology for best practice retrofitting of the office buildings. The outcome of this task includes the main final products of the project: Case studies presenting high quality examples of representative retrofitted office buildings in various parts of Europe. The studies include a description of the present situation as well as an assessment of the possibilities for energy retrofitting in each case; Rating Methodologies classifying office buildings according to their energy consumption, CO2 production and indoor thermal and visual comfort; An Atlas describing the technical potential for energy conservation of selected retrofitting scenarios for defined types of office buildings in different climatic zones in Europe. The Atlas, combined with the rating methodology, offer possibilities for the evaluation and assessment of retrofitting actions in existing office buildings; A Handbook describing and evaluating retrofitting solutions for office buildings in Europe. It includes design guidelines, performance criteria and methodologies for best practice giving credit for renewable energy sources incorporated into office buildings. The handbook also includes defined typologies for office buildings in Europe, a full description of retrofitting scenarios, a presentation of case studied buildings, performance criteria and environmental assessment tools, existing codes and standards as well as market information on specific products