A short and sweet guide to making your business more energy efficient by making changes to your building fabric. Created by the Camden Climate Change Alliance and aimed at businesses based in the London Borough of Camden, UK. For more information please visit www.camdencca.org

1. Building Fabric
From Start to Finish: Energy
Projects Made Easy

2. How these guides work
Our ‘Energy Projects Made Easy’ e-event is designed to provide you with tools and tips
to help you implement an energy efficiency project. Each of these guides focuses on a
different type of project, and each is packed with hints, tips, links and case-study
information. These presentations are not designed to be detailed step by step toolkits;
rather, they aim to provide guidance and inspiration for your future energy efficiency
projects.
Each guide follows a similar format:
• an introduction to the topic
• the types of improvements you can make
• how to calculate the costs and benefits of your project – developing a business
case for the project
• tips and pointers towards suppliers and potential funding opportunities
Energy Projects Made Easy, Guide 2: Building Fabric
Blue case-study boxes are dotted throughout these
guides. All are from Alliance members who have
successfully implemented a variety of energy efficiency
projects, and we’re delighted to be able to highlight
some of their work for your benefit in these guides.
These red boxes contain useful
facts and figures
These green boxes link you to a
key external resource

3. Introduction
The fabric of a building refers to its walls, floors, ceilings, windows and doors.
While obviously its energy efficiency is a crucial part of the design and
planning phase of a building, it’s also possible to make huge improvements on
an existing building’s fabric.
As well as the reduced energy costs, other benefit of implementing building
fabric upgrades include complying with regulations, increasing your building’s
value and attractiveness and improving inhabitant productivity.
Energy Projects Made Easy, Guide 2: Building Fabric
Around 10-15% of energy costs is
wasted by heat losses through a
building fabric
While air conditioning and ventilation are
affected by the building fabric, heating is far and
away the largest energy cost implication.

4. Opportunities
This useful diagram from the
Carbon Trust gives you a
broad overview of the huge
number of energy efficiency
building fabric projects
related to heating you could
undertake to improve the
environmental performance
of your building.
Energy Projects Made Easy, Guide 2: Building Fabric

5. Regulations and factors affecting performance
• Building regulations now dictate that any building fabric refurbishment
must improve the building’s energy efficiency is the work affects in any
way the thermal performance of the building.
• A variety of factors influence the thermal performance of a building, from
the general climate its situated in, its orientation, layout and form, the U-
values of the building and thermal bridging.
Energy Projects Made Easy, Guide 2: Building Fabric
U-values are the heat transfer properties of
materials: the lower the U-value, the better
the material is at preventing heat loss. You can
easily obtain U-value information for the
various elements of a building from suppliers
or from trade associations. See the ‘funding
and suppliers’ slides of this guide for some
contact details.
Thermal bridging is a process
whereby thermal insulation can be
rendered less efficient due to
pathways of lower thermal
resistance. You can find out more
about thermal bridging with this
guide from the Institute of
Sustainability

6. Common Barriers and Constraints
Westhill Communications are based in the
Charlotte Street conservation area of
Camden, which limited their options when
they were planning on upgrading their
window glazing.
• If the building is listed or in a conservation
area, building fabric upgrades may be difficult, but not
impossible. You may have fewer options, but
successful building fabric upgrades can still be
implemented.
• Occupation: it can be difficult to receive high level
support for a project when it involves as disruptive a
process as installing floor insulation.
• Is the building capable of structurally supporting the
project: some insulation systems can place a (literally)
heavy burden on the building.
Some building fabric options are more
disruptive in occupied properties than
others
Energy Projects Made Easy, Guide 2: Building Fabric

7. Opportunities: roofs, lofts and ceilings
• Loft insulation where none was previously installed is the
single most cost effective way of improving the environmental
performance of your building fabric.
Up to 20% of heat
in a building is lost
through its roof
Energy Projects Made Easy, Guide 2: Building Fabric
While aimed more at
housing, the Energy Saving
Trust’s page on roof and loft
insulation has lots of useful
hints and tips
• Recirculate warm air: so much heat in a building is lost through the roof because
warm air rises. Installing ceiling circulation fans can redirect warm air downwards
to other parts of the building
• In multi-story buildings insulation between floors can also help reduce vertical
disparities in heating. Suspended ceilings and insulated areas will also reduce the
volume of the building requiring heating
• Thermal bridging is often a problem when
insulating ceilings and roofs, as is the risk of
condensation and freezing – proper ventilation is
very important

8. Opportunities: windows
Refurbishment opportunities:
• Double and triple glazing
• High performance and low emissivity glass
• Solar shading
Westhill Communications installed
secondary glazing throughout their
offices. As well as avoiding planning
issues, this solution meant the office was
not unduly affected by the work.
As well as reducing their energy bills, the
firm has also benefitted from much
quieter working conditions, as previous
street noise has been completely cut out.
Energy Projects Made Easy, Guide 2: Building Fabric
The Building Centre’s triple
glazing, combined with installing high
performance laminate glass, has reduced
the U-value (the measure of heat loss) of
its windows dramatically, from 6.5 to 0.8.
Maintenance opportunities
• Keep windows closed
• Use curtains and blinds
• Redirect sunlight using blinds
Solar shading reduces glare
and sunlight in the
summer, while allowing
maximum low-angled
sunlight into a building in
the winter

9. Opportunities: walls and floors
• There are a huge number of refurbishment options for walls and
floors, including heat reflective foil, internal wall insulation, cavity
wall insulation, and even living green walls
– Each of these options has varying costs and benefits. Heat reflective foil
placed behind radiators is highly cost effective, requires little initial outlay
and can be installed simply without contractors. At the other end of the
scale, a green wall obviously requires some fairly specialist installers!
• As well as their being a huge number of general types of wall fabric
refurbishments, there are also many options within each type: for
example internal wall insulation can be achieved through
insulation, plasterboard, mineral wool or composites. Your supplier
can suggest the best option for you.
Energy Projects Made Easy, Guide 2: Building Fabric
A green wall such as in Camden
restaurant and venue The Foundry has
heating and environmental benefits as
well as being a striking feature piece.
The Building Centre improved the thermal envelope of
their building with plasterboard insulation
• Checking regularly for gaps, cracks and damp is
vital maintenance for the walls and flooring of all
buildings

10. Funding and Suppliers
Funding
• Building Fabric upgrades form the
basis of the UK government’s
flagship finance project the Green
Deal
• The Green Grants Machine
website is a great directory of
relevant grants and funding
opportunities for energy
efficiency measures
• Carbon Trust and Siemens
Financial are working together to
provide ‘Energy Efficiency
Financing’ for companies of all
sizes and sectors
Over 4500 businesses have
benefited from the Carbon
Trust/Siemens scheme
Energy Projects Made Easy, Guide 2: Building Fabric

11. Funding and Suppliers
Suppliers
• The Federation of Master Builders is a
good place to start whatever building
fabric work you’re planning
• The Chartered Institute of Building
Services Engineers (CIBSE) is the most
influential independent body for
sustainable buildings and suppliers
Technology Specific supplier lists
• National Insulation Association
• Thermal Insulation Manufacturers and
Suppliers Association
• Draught Proofing Advisory Association
• Glass and Glazing Federation
We have a number of relevant
suppliers listed in our Green Suppliers
List, a comprehensive directory of
green products, suppliers and services
Energy Projects Made Easy, Guide 2: Building Fabric
Click here for the government’s
official Buildings Regulations page

12. Key Resources and References
Camden Climate Change Alliance
• The Energy Projects Made Easy homepage
• Our Green Suppliers Directory
• Our guide to Making the Business Case
External Sources
• The Carbon Trust has a variety of lighting guides on its website
• The Institute of Sustainability has a comprehensive guide to building
retrofits created through the FLASH project
Energy Projects Made Easy, Guide 2: Building Fabric

13. Contact
The Camden Climate Change Alliance
Website: www.camdencca.org
Telephone: 0207 974 3901
Email: camdencca@camden.gov.uk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/camdenclimate
This guide was produced in August 2012 by Adam
Webber (adam.webber@camden.gov.uk, 0207 974
3901)
Energy Projects Made Easy, Guide 2: Building Fabric