VELUX Commercial develops ‘Building Considerations for Rooflight Refurbishment' white paper

75% of buildings today will still be in use by 2050. It is therefore crucial for building owners and operators to ensure their assets remain functional, practical and safe. This is where refurbished rooflighting offers an opportunity. By enhancing daylighting, ventilation and other aspects, real-world benefits can be achieved aesthetically, practically and financially.

To help building owners and operators maximise this opportunity, VELUX Commercial has developed a white paper detailing ‘Building Considerations for Rooflight Refurbishment’. The guide considers the entire journey through a rooflight refurbishment process when adapting an already existing building, highlighting key materials, regulations and building standards. The benefits of refurbishing with rooflights are also highlighted, with a particular focus on the structural benefits of daylighting, alongside other more broader and topical considerations. A number of project-specific designs across a variety of commercial applications are also explored, such as; Schools, Offices and Heritage buildings.

Understanding the process

Rather than just adapting buildings to meet current expectations, refurbishment and restoration looks at retaining a structure’s character and historical importance. Rooflight refurbishment is practical when adapting a number of existing buildings, such as converting an industrial structure into a boutique hotel, an out-of-date office space into a more modern environment, or ensuring a retail space is more aesthetically pleasing for its visitors.

Refurbishments can range from a like-for-like replacement of existing rooflights, to a whole building refurbishment whereby rooflights are now included. It is therefore important during specification to establish work that ‘is going to be done’ from work that ‘needs to be done’. This decision making process is usually carried out at the early stage of redesign, with refurbishment work balanced alongside costs and available budget. It is important to remember that setting performance targets for rooflight refurbishment first means assessing and understanding the existing building and establishing the scope of the works to be completed. All mitigating factors and constraints must then be balanced against the requirements of national building regulations, health and safety legislation and any supplementary standards to be used. No small task…

VELUX Commercial: Bringing light to life

The VELUX Commercial white paper is accessible here, for a comprehensive look at the benefits and considerations of rooflight refurbishment - alongside the end-to-end technical support available when partnering with VELUX Commercial.

The full range of VELUX Commercial daylight solutions coupled with the company’s expertise, knowledge and leading technical support make it the ‘under-one-roof’ partner to provide project-specific daylighting and ventilation solutions to meet varying commercial needs.