The Department of energy and Climate Change is supporting a new approach to retrofitting existing buildings. This is due to new research by the Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance (STBA), whose report calls for a change of the retrofitting process to maximise the effectiveness of sustainability improvements to buildings built before 1919, which account for a quarter of the UK housing stock.
One of the major findings is that traditional buildings often perform consistently better in terms of heat loss through the fabric than in standard models and assessment methods. It was also found that traditional buildings required different assessment procedures and measures for the control of moisture.
There is also a lack of available research for the energy performance of traditional buildings, occupant behaviour, indoor air-quality and ventilation rates. The consequence of this is that it is difficult to predict the impact of retrofit programs, which may also miss the opportunity for more effective measures.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change are working closely with the STBA to develop new guidance tools which will maximise the benefit of retrofit programs. The Energy Minister, Greg Barker, said, ‘The Green Deal will pave the way for one of the biggest retrofit programmes in our history, helping to make our buildings more energy efficient.’
