| In the current climate of urban renewal and architectural sustainability initiatives, one needs to consider if architects have the proper design and analysis tools required to mediate the interests of heritage preservation versus those of building performance. In this investigation, methods of architectural heritage preservation and building performance simulation converge in a case study involving the retrofit of 204 to 214 King Street East in downtown Toronto, a designated heritage building complex and current home of Autodesk's Research Group, an industry leader in CAAD technologies. Using new techniques such as 'Building Information Modeling' (BIM) and 3D Laser Scanning, software such as 'REVIT' and 'Ecotect', and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations performed using the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Fire Dynamics Simulator (NIST FDS), the question of whether architects have the design tools necessary to holistically improve the thermal performance of a building while maintaining its heritage value and its relevance to our culture is examined. The heritage building complex at 210 King Street East is modeled and is analyzed for thermal potential. Based on the results of the analysis, a retrofit design is suggested which attempts to maximize the thermal potential of the building. Finally, the program of the building will be fine-tuned to match the optimized thermal variances within the building, completing a holistic thermal retrofit of the building. This experimental process from data acquisition to retrofit design is documented and used to propose a more generalized set of techniques and procedures, or protocol, for the holistic retrofit of heritage buildings. |
