There may also be external consultants working on the same projects.”.

reduced energy bills for occupants, and.the economic benefits of keeping the construction industry active.. Retrofitting also has notable health and wellbeing benefits derived from better thermal and acoustic comfort and air quality (including the reduction of dampness and risk of fungi / mould).

Cutting energy bills is beneficial in addressing fuel poverty, especially in the context of a global energy crisis, where electricity is more expensive than gas.Lastly, improving the efficiency.of existing buildings with adaptive reuse will attenuate the peak demand on the national grid, which is under growing pressure due to the electrification of buildings and transportation..

The downside of retrofitting and reusing buildings is that renovated buildings are, in most cases, still not as energy efficient as new buildings.Depending on the extent of the upgrades in the reused buildings, air quality, thermal insulation and visual experience may not be as good, are not always suitable and may not be flexible enough to accommodate different uses..

It is worth noting that the potential effects of building refurbishment, in terms of operational carbon, embodied carbon and wellbeing, are specific to the characteristics of the existing building.

The best results are achieved when the refurbishment is planned carefully from a holistic point of view, addressing all the different factors of the retrofit together..According to ‘Digital Innovation’ finalist, Maria Mamoura, ‘technology is the tool, a medium, to design a world that functions better.’.

Mamoura is a director and founding member of Bryden Wood’s Creative Technologies team where she leads work on algorithmic design and simulation.She began her career as an architecture student in Athens, before advancing to an MSc in Adaptive Architecture and Computation from the Bartlett, UCL.

She says that this experience has led to a ‘deep interest in algorithmic design and new technologies in engineering.’.Her initial computational design work for Foster + Partners saw her involved with major international projects, including the New International Airport of Mexico City, a role she says allowed her to ‘experiment with the algorithmic approach to architecture, focusing on complex geometries for large scale projects,’ and which, ‘involved automation of design processes through the whole project lifespan from concept to detailing.’.