ONLINE BRUSSELS HERITAGE - ONE-DAY SEMINAR - 11/12/2014

Many materials currently used in renovations are not long-lasting and have to be replaced after ten or fifteen years. Unless the systems are used correctly and continuously - which is rare, as doing so restricts how the building in used - 50 kWh will not be achieved in old buildings. There are many examples of landlords who are paying building management fees for 50 kWh, which ultimately reaches 150 kWh. Was the money invested in the right place? Nothing is less certain. If the meter is showing 150 kWh instead of 50, it means there is a problem. Perfect examples can always be found. However, the question relates to the most frequently encountered situations and what happens in ordinary buildings.

EXTERNAL INSULATION: USE WITH CARE

External thermal insulation means revising existing façades. It is possible, indeed even recommended, for annexes and the rear façades of buildings, where it does not, in principle, pose any problem (fig. 11). It can be applied to street-facing façades under certain conditions: buildings with significant damage or with façades that were redesigned during unscrupulous restorations. Buildings that are part of a mixed streetscape must be considered on a case-by-case basis. It may be possible to insulate some of them externally but not others.

Buildings that are part of heritage streetscape sequences require a more subtle approach, again on a case-by-case basis. The highly complex example of La Roue is interesting in more ways than one (fig. 12): it is an estate that has changed a lot. We have had the opportunity of looking at some

Fig . 11

External insulation in rear courtyards does not, in principle, cause problems (photo by author).

Fig . 12

La Roue in Anderlecht. The oldest historical sequences (1907) still standing necessitate preservation of the façades as they currently stand. There is a particular symbolic dimension to “Plaine des loisirs”, which has undergone vernacular modifications (polychrome render, etc.). Any future renovation solutions will have to take heritage like this into account. Studies need to be carried out to determine possible changes (diagram produced with Brussels Urbis © CIRB. Photos by the author).

32 | Urban forms, typology and improving the energy efficiency of old Brussels buildings