The drive for carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reductions has, in recent years, seen thermal improvements being made to the fabric of historic buildings. This paper discusses, through a case study, the use of Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) to inform refurbishment design of the community owned Land Sea and Islands Centre, located in Arisaig, Scottish Highlands. This is a 19th century stone building with high heat losses, inefficient heating and lighting systems, resulting in occupant discomfort and high running costs. Funding was awarded in 2014 to improve its energy performance.
Pre-refurbishment BPE results identified areas of significant heat loss, low internal surface temperatures, discrepancies between predicted and measured U-values, thermal bridges and excessive air infiltration. Refurbishment was completed in June 2015 and post-refurbishment BPE utilised to quantify improvements in building fabric, energy consumption and comfort levels, advocating pre-refurbishment BPE as a beneficial tool for informing traditional building refurbishment.