Retrofit for purpose: Old buildings get a green facelift by Matthew Wall

One of the best ways of reducing energy consumption and saving money is retrofitting - in effect, adding new tech to old kit.

Waltham Forest College, a higher education college in North East London with buildings dating from the 1930s, has managed to reduce energy costs by 25% so far - or £127,000 a year - following an extensive retrofit programme involving new cladding for "1960s excrescences", double glazing, solid wall insulation and a heat exchange system for the swimming pool.

We're aiming for zero carbon emissions by 2016," says Richard Hopkinson, the architect overseeing the project in collaboration with Platform 5 and Waltham Forest College's in-house team.

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