Durham University has appointed an engineering services consultancy to develop heat decarbonisation plans for five sites.
TGA Consulting Engineers will work with the University, which is one of six public sector bodies in the North East to secure Low Carbon Skills Funding.
The buildings within the Durham University campus that form part of TGA’s brief include the theology and history departments, both located on North Bailey, multiple buildings at Hatfield College, Bede Chapel and Southend House where TGA’s remit is to assess the impact of potential future building improvement works on energy use calculations.
TGA also has a separate appointment at Bede Chapel to replace the boiler plant.
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David Warwick, TGA’s technical director and head of the building performance team, said: “TGA combines the ability to undertake thermal modelling and associated analysis with that of designing and integrating the appropriate technologies into existing buildings.
“This process is particularly challenging in historic buildings because it is more difficult to improve the performance of the building envelope to the degree required to make certain technologies viable as well as trying to do so without damaging the historic building fabric or detracting from its aesthetic qualities.
“This is, however, one of our key strengths as a practice and we can demonstrate a strong track record of delivering such projects.”
Tom Bray, senior energy manager in Durham University’s energy and sustainability team, added: “TGA have strong capabilities in respect of energy and building performance and in the context of Durham University, they are very well acquainted with our estate.
“We have 350 buildings here and as a result of TGA’s work we will know what to do in the future and how to tackle other areas of the estate where we need to become more energy efficient. This is very much a conceptual study and will help facilitate decarbonisation of the sites in the future – a key stage in our journey to carbon zero.”
