Community building case studiesSecondary glazing

community building case study | secondary glazing | 2015

Thanks to funding from the Bristol Community Building Fund 2014, Roll forthe Soul, which is a community bike caféand workshop space, were able to installsecondary glazing on many of theirdraughty window units.

the secondary glazing has proved worthwhile; the winter after the installation was even colder than the previous year, and although there has not been a noticeable change in heating bills, it’s clear thatmuch more of the heat is being retained.

Polycarbonate sheets were used on all first floor windows, where the community workshop space ishoused. The sheets were ordered to size and so thewindows had to be measured very carefully. Theinstallation was done in-house, with wooden framesbuilt to hold the panels in the recesses.

According to Rob Wall, one of Roll for the Soul’s directors, the installations have definitely made theworkshop more comfortable – it was virtually unusable as a public space during the previous winter because of the cold temperatures.

The building does not have a gas supply and so isheated electrically, which was unaffordable whilstthe building was leaking so much warmth. Installing

Some wall insulation and draught proofing was alsoinstalled. Secondary glazing is being considered forthe ground floor café space, but this would result insignificant disruption as there is a large area of glassfrontage.

A polycarbonate sheet (4mm thickness) insulating a first floor window

Glass frontage of the Roll for the Soul café space. There are plans to insulate this

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Cont u

A factsheet on secondary glazing can bedownloaded fromwww.cse.org.uk/secondary-glazing

3 St Peter’s Court

Bedminster Parade

Bristol

BS3 4AQ

The Centre for Sustainable Energy is a national charity thathelps people change the way they think and act on energy.

0117 934 1400

info@cse.org.uk

www.cse.org.uk

charity 298740

www.facebook.com/EnergySavingAdvice

www.twitter.com/@cse_communities

The Bristol Community Building Fund ran in2014 and provided grants of up to £4,000 tocommunity buildings across the city. For moredetails go to www.cse.org.uk/bcbf or contactcommunities@cse.org.uk.

Jess Wright, who runs the centre, commented that:

“The panels look surprisingly in keepingwith the building, not too obvious andeven make it look a bit smarter!”

She also emphasised that the installation was manageable, as although it took place whilst thebuilding was open, the installers were considerate ofother users.

The Zion Centre is a community café and creativeevent space in Bedminster Down, Bristol. It hosts arange of activities, including night time food markets, quiz nights, and children’s activities. Therunning team aim to create a safe environment forall ages to use and to bring the Zion church back asa community focus. The centre is open throughoutthe week and is also available to hire for events.

In addition to this funding, the centre also won£2,500 through another local fund, Cadbury House’s‘Cash for your Community’ scheme, with which they

The Zion Community Arts Space received almost £4,000 funding from theBristol Community Building Fund 2014 tomake energy efficiency improvements tothe building. They chose to install secondary glazing on the north facingwindows in the main hall and noticed aninstant improvement in warmth and comfort.

installed a tensile fabric ceiling in the church hall.This, in effect, lowered the ceiling and prevents heatbeing lost to the high roof, making the hall easier toheat. Together, these measures allow warmth to beenjoyed throughout the building and have reducedthe use of air-to-air heaters (heat pumps) during thewinter.

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Sheets of plastic have been fixed tothe inside frames of the windows

The insulating plastic sheets were cut to fit theawkwardly shaped stained glass windows

community building case study | secondary glazing