Sustainability
Climate change is having a major impact on our planet. On 24 June 2019, Torbay Council declared a ‘Climate Emergency’. The following month the UK government revised its greenhouse emissions target to net zero by 2050 - a 100% reduction relative to 1990 levels.
With the built environment accounting for around 40% of the UK’s total carbon footprint*, there is huge potential for new construction projects to help support a greener, more resilient future.
*UK Green Building Council
A truly sustainable building is one that significantly reduces its environmental impact. This can include measures to reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions; minimise the use of resources; maximise the use of recycled materials or existing structures; and promote sustainable travel choices such as walking, public transport and cycling.
Adaptive Reuse
Depending on building type, by the time a building is occupied between 30% and 70% of its lifetime carbon may already have been accounted for*. While the carbon reduction through adaptive reuse of existing buildings can vary greatly depending on type, location and climate, retrofitting a building generally saves 50—75% of embodied carbon.
At the Imperial Torquay the opportunity to reuse much of the existing structure by recladding the original hotel and the repurposing of the 1969 wing of bedrooms to create new apartments will see a substantial reduction of embodied carbon compared to new-build development. The proposals also create the opportunity to enhance thermal performance and air tightness, providing a significant improvement on thermal comfort and a reduction in energy demand.
“In Torbay it is predicted that the average annual temperature could be up to 4°C higher by 2080 than it was in 1990 leading to a 50% reduction in summer rainfall and a 20% increase in winter rainfall with a sea level rise of up to 90cm. Changes to our climate on this scale will have wide ranging impacts on our water resources, coastal defences, transport, public health, farming practices, wildlife, landscape, and Torbay’s economy. The amount of climate change we experience in Torbay can be lessened by us all playing our part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and we can prepare for its impacts in a way which also helps make Torbay a better place to live, work and play, for all of us.”
— Torbay Council
Energy Strategy
We are proposing a strategic approach to energy use which looks to reduce demand for energy consumption in the first instance prior to the consideration of integrating low/zero carbon energy sources. Specifically, we will apply the following energy hierarchy:
Be lean: use less energy
Be clean: supply energy efficiently
Be green: use renewable energy
Be Lean: The proposed energy strategy prioritises passive design and energy efficiency measures to reduce energy demand and CO2 emissions.
We are targeting a 15-20% improvement over current Building Regulations for the buildings thermal envelope on the hotel and apartments. The re-enveloping of the existing buildings creates the opportunity to greatly improve the thermal efficiency through external wall insulation, high performance windows, and minimise summer overheating by the consideration of glazing ratios and use of solar shading offered by balconies and façade articulation.
Be Clean: The strategy will use heat pump technologies for space heating and cooling with heat recovery.
Due to the continued decarbonisation of the national electricity grid, we are proposing electric based heating, cooling and ventilation systems:
Air source heat pumps (ASHPs) will provide heating and cooling to the hotel and hot water to the apartments. The ASHPs will absorb heat from the outside air to heat hot water - extracting heat even when air temperatures are as low as -15°C. Due to the extent and condition of the existing hotel’s hot water infrastructure the current gas heaters will be phased out over the next 10 years. This is expected to yield a 35% reduction in carbon emissions with further reductions gained as the water heaters are removed from service.
In order to improve the internal environment and increase energy efficiency we have proposed the use of local Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR) systems for guestroom ventilation. The systems supply fresh air to the room, with stale air being extracted from the bathroom and exhausted via the room’s front façade while recovering up to 90% of normally wasted heat and reducing heating requirements by up to 25%.
Be Green: Significant CO2 savings are expected through the Be Lean and Be Clean measures. However, to maximise CO2 reduction, renewable energy sources will also be utilised.
The hotel will have a constant electrical usage and will provide a good base load for a photovoltaic (PV) array along the perimeter roof façade. The site is not overshadowed from adjacent structures or trees and this should allow for any PV array to provide a high yield.
Location
As discussed in the preceding section, the site is considered to be in a highly sustainable location, providing significant opportunities for hotel guests, staff and future residents to undertake local trips by foot or bike, with easy access to an array of public transport services within Torquay town centre.