Ben Cross is Development Associate at General Projects. He’s here to change our minds about existing building stock. With the construction industry responsible for 39% of global CO2 emissions, the time is right to retrofit.
AirRated worked with General Projects to optimise HVAC design using our AirScore D&O certification at 242 Marylebone Road – an ambitious retrofit and London landmark, which was awarded a D&O Silver.
At General Projects, our ambition is to reinvent the perception of existing buildings. Not only are they more sustainable than demolitions and new builds, but they have the potential to be far more interesting, vibrant and creative. The challenge we’re faced with, of course, is the fact that existing buildings are considered a sub-optimal product. That, quite frankly, is no longer acceptable. Not just because we live in a world of finite resources, but because existing buildings are, with imagination, just as good (if not better) than any new build.
The challenge we’re faced with, of course, is the fact that existing buildings are considered a sub-optimal product. That, quite frankly, is no longer acceptable.
The decision to work with AirRated and achieve an AirScore D&O was simple – it is a collective solution to work towards a better future and it helps us to readily communicate our ambition for a healthy, best-in-class working environment. The pursuit of a healthy building is complex. Being able to convey it with a measurable outcome is essential.
It is against that backdrop that we decided to set ourselves a challenge – to create the healthiest environment possible within the confines of an existing building. Not just to demonstrate that we could deliver an exemplary, world-leading product but that we could also do it with an existing structure.
Was it easy? No. Could we do that by ourselves? Maybe, but we’d rather collaborate with market leaders. Was it interesting? Definitely.
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