On this page you will find advice for home owners on:
- Improving energy efficiency
- Reducing carbon emissions
- Repair, replacement and thermal upgrading of windows
- Building maintenance in a changing climate
There is more general guidance on owning and living in a historic building <here>.
Energy efficiency
As historic buildings continue to change and evolve, they need to contribute to a greener future and be fit for purpose for the people who live in, experience and care for them. If done thoughtfully and carefully, changes to historic buildings can achieve the complementary goals of protecting our heritage and adapting to climate change. Keeping historic buildings in use, through sensitive repair, maintenance and adaptation, can help to reduce carbon emissions, reliance on fossil fuels, and energy costs.
See the Historic England Advice Note on Adapting Historic Buildings for Energy and Carbon Efficiency.
☑ Reduce carbon emissions ☑
☑ Reduce fuel bills ☑
☑ Improve comfort levels ☑
Some of this advice will help any owner who wants to improve energy efficiency, whatever the age of their home. Owners of traditional homes will also want to take account of how construction techniques have changed over time and owners of a home that is considered to be a heritage asset may also need to consider statutory approvals.
- Saving Energy and Cutting Carbon in Your Home: If you live in an older building and want to save on energy bills or cut carbon emissions, this page summarises what to do. <here>
- Energy Efficiency and Historic Buildings: the energy and carbon performance of most historic buildings can be improved, but unintended consequences can include harm to heritage value, human health and building fabric, and failure to achieve the predicted savings or environmental impact. <here>
- Energy Efficiency and Traditional Homes: This advice note from Historic England considers energy efficiency improvements to traditional homes which are described as heritage assets within the planning system. It is intended particularly for owners and applicants but also for others advising on such improvements. <here>
- Guide to Energy Retrofit of Traditional Buildings: This guide from Historic Environment Scotland describes retrofit measures which can be used to improve the energy efficiency of traditional buildings. It is designed to help home owners, local authority building control officers, architects, designers and installers approach the refurbishment of such buildings and balance various requirements. <here>
- Low Carbon Bath: The Bath Preservation Tust have published an award-winning 76-page guide called “Warm Bath” on making Bath’s historic buildings more energy efficient, and “Quick Wins” guidance offering ‘little and low cost’ suggestions for alterations that do not require planning permission. Bath and North-East Somerset Council have published Supplementary Planning Document on Energy Efficiency, Retrofitting and Sustainable Construction. <here>.
- The Responsible Retrofit Knowledge Centre presents information to assist decision making and increase learning about the responsible retrofit of traditional buildings. It is maintained by the Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance, a collaboration of not for profit organisations that aims to promote and deliver a more sustainable traditional built environment. <here>.
Reduce Carbon Emissions
Buildings are the third largest producers of carbon emissions in the UK, and Homes account for 13% of all the UK’s carbon emissions. England has one of the oldest building stocks in Europe, with a fifth of all homes being over a century old. We need to reduce the carbon emissions from our historic homes. Reports from Historic England and researchers at the University of the West of England explore some of the options. <here>.
Thermal upgrading of windows
Historic windows are often of considerable importance to the significance of listed buildings.
- A brief guide to the conservation of windows, for owners thinking of repairing or replacing. <here>
- Local guidance on Historic Timber Windows <here>.
- This guidance on thermal upgrading of traditional windows is aimed at building professionals and property owners. Advice is provided on maintenance, repair and restoration as well as thermal upgrading. The guidance also sets out the general approach when alteration or replacement requires listed building consent. <here>
- Webinar on replacement windows: <here>
Building maintenance in a changing climate
Guidance on preparing for hotter, drier summers; warmer, wetter winters; and more frequent heavy rain. <here>.
| Rising temperatures | May encourage new species such as wood-eating insects. |
| More sunshine | Will reduce the life of materials such as bituminous felt roofing, plastic gutters and windows, painted finishes |
| More rainfall | Will result in deeper penetration of water into building fabric, decay and frost damage |
| Weathering and storm events | May lead to structural failure: e.g. where chimney stacks and other higher level masonry are in poor condition |
| Intense rainfall | Means that existing gutters, downpipes and drains may struggle to cope with the volume and intensity of rainwater. |
Free webinars, hosted by Historic England’s Environmental Strategy team in collaboration with the Climate Heritage Network, provide an in-depth look at topics related to climate change presented by international experts <here>
Alnwick Civic Society 