The renovation of the Slava Raškaj Education Center in Zagreb shows the power of renovation to improve the lives of children, parents and workers. The project overcame the odds of the COVID-19 pandemic and severe earthquakes to deliver 84% energy savings for heating and much more for the 600 people using this building, including students with disabilities, and over 100 employees.

The center provides education and welfare services and its vision is to improve the quality of life and integration of children, young people and adults with communication difficulties. The building itself is around one hundred years old and had fallen into disrepair with no money available for the needed renovation work. Furthermore, the center is in a historical building meaning any renovation would have to follow specific rules for preservation.

After securing the necessary funding from the EU Solidarity Fund, the project got off to a rocky start with a devastating earthquake (eight fatalities and another 26 injured with more than 60.000 buildings damaged) and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic occurring during the design phase. Luckily, the school itself had not been damaged by the earthquake. Nonetheless, the project proceeded with 200 people involved, using technologies like Building Information Modeling (BIM) to facilitate the renovation and foresee problems before they occurred.

We achieved benefits for all users of the building, with an increase in air quality, heating, cooling and ventilation which did not exist before and also improved accessibility for children with disabilities and people with reduced mobility.

Tea Helman Jukić, architect

Once completed, the renovation resulted in wide-ranging benefits for students and staff at the center. The school achieved 84% energy savings for heating thanks to an entirely insulated building envelope (windows, floors, roofs, façade), and a heat pump was also installed as a renewable energy resource, generating additional energy savings on bills.

Emissions were reduced, but also the quality of living and working in the building were improved due to increased air quality, replacement of a dangerous asbestos roof, increased fire safety and security, installation of heating, cooling and ventilation systems, and better accessibility for disabled children and those with mobility restrictions.

Such projects not only save energy, but also reduce emissions and improve the quality of life and work inside the renovated building.

Anđelka Toto Ormuž, Rockwool Adriatic & Hupfas association representative

Originally meant for energy savings, the renovation project also triggered the addition of a sensory park for children with disabilities (the school is specialised for children with hearing disabilities and autism) which was the result of the school investing some of its own funds. The sensory park stimulates all students’ senses from the moment they step into the school property (ex: the walkway has pebbles rather than soft cement, which stimulates feeling and sound), providing enormous benefits to their learning experience.

The EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) could facilitate more projects like this by prioritising the renovation of our worst-performing buildings. This project shows the wide-ranging benefits to renovating our worst-performing buildings now and the positive impact it can have on our daily lives.

For a 360° virtual tour of the renovated building and new sensory park please visit : http://virtualnesetnje.eu/showcase/slaveraskaj