A replica of a historical building that has an unsavory reputation for being one of the most environmentally damaging buildings of London is in news these days. Buckingham Palace, the Oueen’s highly energy inefficient London residence produces fuel bills of £2.2million annually. World’s most expensive home, but what a danger to the environment. Faithful+Gould, a group of civil engineers has figured out the cost that would go into making a new contemporary, green replica of the beautiful structure.
Faithful+Gould undertook a technical assessment of the current Buckingham Palace as part of a review of famous UK monuments by the Chartered Institute of Building’s magazine and found that the replica of the Palace would cost £320 million. The replica has room for 19 state rooms, 78 bathrooms, and 52 principle bedrooms, with 775 separate areas including hallways and staircases in total. The analysis also made clear that the new Palace would emit 400 cubic tonnes of CO2 per year less than the original.
The biggest drawback of the Palace is the 760 windows that are single-glazed. If double-glazed ones replace them, the heat loss could be brought down to half. Substantial insulation in the walls, floors and loft space could cut heat loss by up to 90% compared to an un-insulated building. The team hopes to further reduce carbon emissions by installing photovoltaic panels, heat recovery systems and ground source heat pumps. Grey and rainwater water harvesting could reduce potable water consumption largely. Faithful+Gould claims the whole project would require some three and a half year for completion.
Via: GreenBuildingPress