BAARCH — Building Analytics & Applied Research for Climate and Humans

Why We Exist

Renovating well is more than upgrading equipment or refreshing finishes. It is the act of rectifying what was overlooked: the blind spots of past codes, the shortcuts of budgets, and the absence of an eco-design culture in many projects. We work with an honest premise: buildings are living systems that must serve people today and remain adaptable to tomorrow.

This is not only about older assets. We often find performance challenges in buildings less than a decade old—and sometimes in projects still in design. The gap is cultural as much as technical: a habit of prioritizing short-term capital savings over long-term comfort, operational value, and carbon reality.

What BAARCH Means

Building Analytics is our discipline of evidence: performance studies, forensic energy audits, daylight and thermal simulations, and rigorous diagnoses that reveal how a building truly behaves.

Applied Research is our discipline of courage: translating insights into practical interventions—passive first, then efficient systems—so that design choices stand up to climate, culture, and time.

For Climate and Humans states our dual commitment: reducing operational and embodied carbon while improving comfort, health, and experience. A building that is unkind to people will always perform poorly in the long run.

Principles That Guide Our Work

• Rectification before addition. Start by fixing root causes (orientation, solar gains, controls, setpoints) before layering technology.
• Passive first. Shade, insulate, ventilate properly; reduce loads so systems can be simpler, smaller, and quieter.
• Whole-life value. Judge decisions on both CAPEX and OPEX, with attention to maintainability and future retrofit paths.
• Comfort is measurable. Thermal comfort, daylight quality, IAQ, acoustics—quantified and balanced, not left to chance.
• Context matters. Climate, culture, operations, and use patterns are design inputs—not afterthoughts.
• Data informs judgment. We use measurements and models to support responsible decisions, never to replace professional integrity.
• Accountability. Claims must be demonstrable in summer and winter, in peak and part-load, at commissioning and a year later.
• Courage. Say what the building needs, even when it is inconvenient. Being “heard” is not enough—what matters is being considered.

What It Means to Renovate Well

We have seen the cost of “savings” that save nothing. In one emblematic project—an old clinic converted to offices—external solar protections were value-engineered out at the last minute. The first summer brought widespread overheating, complaints, and lost productivity. Studies had to be redone and the protections installed after all—at greater expense than if they had been built correctly the first time.

The lesson is simple: a renovation is successful only if it works in reality—on the hottest afternoon and the coldest morning, with real occupants, real operations, and real constraints. “On time and on budget” means little if the building underperforms for the next twenty years.

How We Work (In Practice)

• Diagnose. Forensic audits, metered data review, walk-throughs, and dynamic simulations to map loads, gains, and controls.
• Decide. Options and trade-offs made explicit—thermal comfort vs. glazing ratio, shading vs. cooling plant size, CAPEX vs. OPEX.
• Design. Passive envelope moves, daylight and glare control, right-sized HVAC, sensible setpoints, and robust controls logic.
• Deliver. Site support, commissioning and re-commissioning, tuning setpoints and schedules with the operations team.
• Demonstrate. Post-occupancy evaluation to confirm comfort and performance; iterate if reality teaches us something new.

We are happy to work at any stage—concept, design development, tender review, construction, or post-occupancy—because responsibility does not end at handover.

Our Commitment

We will not chase novelty for its own sake, nor reduce sustainability to a checklist. Our promise is to apply engineering judgment and design restraint where it matters most, and to advocate for choices that stand the test of time—economically, environmentally, and humanly.

Signature

BAARCH stands for Building Analytics & Applied Research for Climate and Humans. It is both our name and our method: evidence first, courage always, and respect for the lived experience of occupants.