A £1.2m government grant has been awarded to retrofit the Accelerator Lab at Hamilton Technology Park Innovation Campus, which houses Scotland’s National Retrofit Centre.
The National Retrofit Centre was set up by an organisation called Built Environment-Smarter Transformation, or BE-ST, which used to be called Construction Scotland Innovation Centre. BE-ST is administered by Edinburgh Napier University.
The National Retrofit Centre is being revamped into a living demonstration of best practice in the retrofit of non-domestic buildings. Through the process of retrofitting, BE-ST will test approaches to retrofitting a large-scale, multi-use building like the Accelerator Lab so that the lessons can be shared with industry.
The project will also act as a pilot for future retrofit work across Edinburgh Napier University's campus.
The retrofit plan has been designed by John Gilbert Architects (JGA) with BE-ST and will take a fabric-first approach to achieve both the International EnerPHit and Scottish Net Zero Public Sector Building standards. The building will be converted from its current gas-based heating system to a heating system with no direct emissions. Mechanical ventilation and heat recovery systems will be installed, as well as a curtain-walling system, a solar photovoltaic integrated roof and LED lighting.
BE-ST chief executive Stephen Good said: “Scotland’s National Retrofit Centre should be a shining beacon of best practice that the entire sector is responsible for, and involved in. Not only will people learn from the retrofit training that will take place within the building, but from the building’s own retrofit journey too.
“That’s why securing this investment from Scottish government, which builds on generous funding provided by our host institution Edinburgh Napier University to help purchase the building in 2022, will allow us to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
“Retrofitting existing buildings to achieve zero carbon outcomes is never easy but what we will learn by going through this process will be invaluable and we are excited to share the journey with the sector every step of the way."
Caitriona Jordan, head of retrofit at BE-ST and the project lead, added: “The Accelerator Lab retrofit is a significant step towards understanding what it means to undergo a deep retrofit of a complex, non-domestic building like this. We will be learning, documenting and measuring throughout the entire process to meet EnerPHit and Net Zero Public Sector Building Standard requirements – all to create a living case study at BE-ST that we hope will inspire and inform future retrofit across Scotland and beyond.”
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