"We refurbished the building office by office. We did not spend more than a couple of days on each room. Therefore the employees could continue their work inside, and we did not have to rent a new office building while we carried out the construction work," says Ugo Favaretto, projects competence center manager for Hydro's Building Systems sector in Italy, while giving a tour of the newly refurbished headquarters.
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| HAPPY: In front of the newly refurbished and modernized office building in Milan, with new aluminium windows from Hydro's building brand WICONA; from left, the architect Guglielmo Luciano Spimpolo together with Hydro's Ugo Favaretto and Filippo Moretti, both working on building systems projects in Italy. (Photo: Lars Nermoen) |
He is very satisfied that they managed to eliminate one of the common large expenditures incurred when rehabilitating office buildings.
The refurbishment was a complete 'make over', replacing all windows, adding outside insulation, new cladding as well as interior upgrade and modifications.
The standard after refurbishment is almost equal to the level of a new building.
Saving energy
Now, Building Systems is looking forward to receiving the first energy bill after the rehabilitation is completed. The restored building is designed to use at least 20 percent less energy than previously.
The most important reason for the savings is the new aluminium windows with external sun-shading devices, which together with the 14 centimeter thick extra layer of insulation in the walls has resulted in about 60% reductions in both heat-loss and summer solar gains. Solar gains are a benefit during winter but, also contribute to overheating during summer.
Favaretto explains that solar cells integrated in the shading devices will be installed at a later stage. This system will reduce summer cooling load and produce solar generated power and thus contribute positively to the energy balance of the building.
Improved working conditions
Anna Zanni and Barbara Monzani are among the employees who work inside the building. They are very happy with the result.
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| IMPROVEMENT: The indoor climate has improved a lot with the building being rehabilitated and modernized, concludes Barbara Monzani. (Photo: Lars Nermoen) |
"The working conditions are significantly improved. Now we have control over the indoor climate and at the same time we are no longer bothered by the noise from the traffic," says Anna Zanni.
She is opening and closing the window in her office in order to demonstrate how the noise from the street disappears when the window is closed.
The rehabilitation started in May this year, and was completed in the middle of October. Since then the customers of the Hydro brands WICONA and DOMAL have visited the new showrooms in the entrance area of the building.
"Now we can use the sales office to show our customers how we can contribute to saving them both money and energy during the rehabilitation of older office buildings. With good planning the comfort of the inhabitants can also be greatly improved," says Ugo Favaretto.
