Post: New Webinar Recording Available Now – Fabric Efficiency for mechanical cooling in Hot-Humid climates: what would a retrofit and AC system for House 5 look like?

Toby is a founder and Director at Greengauge Building Energy Consultants where he specialises in moisture risk analysis. He is also currently undertaking a PhD at UCL on a moisture topic, is a Passivhaus Trainer with Coaction, co-chair of Technical Working Group 1 of the UK Centre for Moisture in Building – Modelling and Monitoring. Toby is a regular columnist for Passive House Plus and an AECB Expert Advisor. Toby has recently completed his own deep energy retrofit.

House 5 provides accommodation for 10 girls at the iHelp Ecovillage in Tanzania. It was Designed by Simmonds Mills Architects, supported by Alan Clarke, Huda Elsherif, Hannah & Otis Sloan-Brittain and the environmental conditions in the building have been monitored during 2023 – 2024. The thermal comfort-focused design involves no mechanical systems, instead relying on extensive shading and maximising natural ventilation. This has proved quite effective, but with climate change increasing the extremes and frequency of hot and humid weather the team is exploring ‘3-zone future-proofing’ scenarios to help maintain comfort conditions into a hotter and more uncertain future. Focusing on the conditions required for good sleep, specifically the bedroom areas of the building,  this webinar presents an exploration of what factors drive the cooling demand, and what a retrofit to minimise that demand could look like. The conclusions point towards fabric efficiency principles for new build as well as retrofit projects.

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