Building Retrofit Diary: University Building "Brewery" Brno, Czech Republic

This diary consists of quarterly reports of the status of the demonstration site written by the responsible demonstration partner.

General Overview

Description of the renovation and its purpose

The building is part of historical area that is under reconstruction for the use of Faculty of information technologies. The building is currently a warehouse and will be retrofitted for social and culture activities of students and academics and also as a restaurant and partly student hostel. Planned completion date is the end of 2005. Currently Ministry of Education of the Czech republic pledged to cover the budget for retrofit based on an architectural design that doesn't take into account advanced implementation of renewables nor advanced hybrid ventilation system.

Status up to today

In November, demolition works on the construction site started. In December, the investor - Brno University - checked the inflow of water into the underground water reservoir. Finally based on these tests it was decided to quit the idea of using the reservoir for a heat pump - too small inflow. In December, "someone" submitted an application to the Ministry of Culture to place the Brewery on the list of national heritage. Because of that, there is no possibility to install any thermal insulation on the outside walls. Every Tuesday there are regular meetings of architects, works inspector and planners at the architectural company, who is the main contractor for planning and design works. They subcontract specialists for individual building plants. A special focus meeting was held on January 18, from which final decisions about different mechanical systems came up.