Smart renovation of Matrix building:the value of comfort and energy

Currently, TU/e campus is going through a reconstruction phase, in the process towards a more sustainable and compact campus. To keep up with the improvement pace governing the area, old buildings with poor functionality are to be upgraded. The Matrix building, located in the south part of the campus, is one of the old buildings which has a low occupancy rate and poor daylight performance. This study proposed a renovation plan for the Matrix building in which the daylight performance of the building is improved in order to increase the visual comfort of the occupants, enhance the space usability and decrease electricity consumption on electric lighting. Two quantitative methods are used to evaluate the daylight performance of the Matrix building. The occupants' opinion is used through a questionnaire to distinguish the most effective direction of the renovation and Radiance simulation software is used to compare different design scenarios. The application of four atriums distributed over the floor plan of the Matrix building is proposed in which (comparing to the current design), 1) the proportion of daylight available to the internal area is increased considerably, 2) the daylight is distributed more evenly over the floor plans, 3) the visual comfort and health of the occupants is enhanced, 4) the more high quality space (day-lit with the view to outside) is available to use, 5) the dependency on electric lighting is decreased, and 6) the more possibilities are brought to the layout design. A business case is developed for the proposed design. The total cost of the complete renovation is estimated around 11 million Euro's. The benefit of increasing the number of workplaces is €523.992 and the lecture rooms is € 182.000. Around €11.130 can be saved every year on electricity for electric lighting. The payback time of the initial investment is estimated after 14 years. By the 20th year (which is the estimated life span of the building), 6 million positive cash flow is obtained.