Combining sustainable design education with research on pathway to zero energy historic buildings’

This paper describes an attempt to bring together the Teaching & Learning experience of students of architecture, a live research project, and the collaboration between leaders of separate modules in order to provide a more integrated educational experience. Cork Centre for Architectural Education (CCAE) provides professional degrees which are recognised under the terms of the EU Directive on Professional Qualifications (Architecture). One of its distinguishing features is the inclusion of a Building Conservation module in the third year of its five-year programme. This module is delivered mostly by architects, engineers and historians who also provide professional services in this specialised area. The Third Year Design Studio usually responds to this specialist resource by setting students a design project which involves design for re-use, adaptation, or extension to an existing, and often historic, building. In 2019, CCAE became the Lead Partner in a Northern Periphery & Artic Region Programme project entitled “Energy Pathfinder – Towards Zero Energy Standards in Historic Buildings”, supported by the European Regional Development Fund. Partners in five countries are studying techniques to reduce energy demands and supply renewable energy to meet the balance of energy requirements in Historic Buildings, and to disseminate guidance. The new, stricter Zero-Energy-Building regulations that have been introduced throughout Europe present considerable challenges and opportunities to product manufacturers, builders, engineers and architects. However, the difficulties are multiplied when dealing with historical buildings, which are often granted exceptions from the strictest energy regulations. The design for retrofitting insulation, for example requires an understanding of the priorities for conservation in different buildings, as well as the skills required to prevent retrofitted insulation and draft stripping from causing problems of condensation and subsequent visual discoloration of finishes, and fabric deterioration. This requires a degree of sophistication in hygrothermal modelling, not always required in new-build design projects. Furthermore, the deployment of renewable energy systems such as photovoltaics, aerogenerators and heat pumps usually demands the installation of large equipment that might detract from the historical environments that society wishes to maintain. The visual impact of these technologies on historic buildings often leads to their rejection. The research programme requires the creation of demonstration projects in different countries. The building selected as a demonstrator in Cork, the re-use of a large, building used most recently by a religious order. This site was also selected as a conservation-related project for Year Three students. This paper examines the range of student proposed solutions, and the potential benefits of meshing a live research project into a teaching curriculum, which itself merged five distinct taught modules