Greening Old Homes Could Save Up To 84% in Carbon Emissions

A house
A house
A house
A house

Carefully retrofitting our historic homes could save up to 84% in carbon emissions, according to this year’s Heritage Counts report.

The report was published on 25 March by Historic England on behalf of England’s leading heritage organisations which make up the Historic Environment Forum.

Buildings, including homes, are the third largest producers of carbon emissions in the UK today and homes alone account for 13% of all the UK’s carbon emissions. As 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, says the Historic Environment Forum. But this is a complex process as every building is different and how they function is affected by a range of elements, from size and number of occupants, to the impact of regional weather patterns.

 

North-south divide

New research in this year’s report shows that when comparing a traditional terraced home in north-west England with an identical property in the South-East, there is a 17.6% increase in heating needs for the North-West home, which results in a 13.8% increase in total CO₂ emissions.

 

Empowering homeowners

This year’s Heritage Counts report aims to support and empower the people who look after our historic buildings. It shows the value of good custodianship, the power of small behaviour changes and the need to recycle and reuse buildings first to reduce carbon emissions.

 

A Victorian case

A Victorian townhouse in Clapham (pictured above and with thanks to Arboreal Architecture) saw the building’s original single glazed sash windows given particular attention to improve airtightness and heat loss whilst retaining historically important features. The solution found was to install tilt-and-turn secondary double-glazing (with thermally broken frames) that precisely matched the sightlines of the original windows.

 

Reuse rather than demolish

The report says the scale and urgency of climate change requires people to take action now to reduce carbon emissions.

 

 “Our buildings are important sources of embodied carbon, so we know we must reuse them, rather than demolish and rebuild but we must also address their daily emissions. From small behavioural changes to larger energy efficiency improvements, new research demonstrates that we can greatly reduce the carbon footprint of our precious historic homes, whilst maintaining what makes them special'.

– Duncan Wilson 

Chief Executive, Historic England

 

Avoid waste, avoid carbon

Demolishing buildings not only produces millions of tonnes of waste (three fifths of all waste produced in the UK every year comes from construction, demolition and excavation) but building new has high energy costs and guzzles resources.

There are no simple solutions to reducing the carbon footprints of historic homes but homeowners need to consider the retrofit option that avoids waste and avoids carbon, says Historic England. This means keeping on top of repair and maintenance at home to improve the condition of its existing materials. It also means planning well for a retrofit, using fewer new materials with large carbon footprints, which are often imported from abroad.

 

Modelled examples

Modelled examples in the report show that carefully retrofitting historic homes can lead to substantial carbon savings in the long term. Carbon emissions could be reduced by up to 84% in a detached Victorian home, 62% in a Georgian terrace, 58% in a 1900s terrace, 56% in a Victorian semi-detached and 54% in a Victorian terrace.

 

Greening historic homes

Homeowners and occupiers have various steps to consider for reducing the carbon emissions of their homes, including keeping up with small repairs. Old windows and doors would originally have been made as accurately as the skills of a traditional joiner would allow but over time they need maintenance. Cracked joints in brick and stone walls similarly allow water in where it would once have been kept out. Regularly repairing this minor decay will enhance the building’s performance and durability and avoid future potential higher costs.

Loft insulation is a quick and cheap way of improving energy efficiency. Adding insulation where there is currently none can result in annual emissions savings of between 16-18%.

Single glazed windows can be improved by adding secondary glazing, which the report shows is one of the most cost effective measures for reducing emissions and can reduce annual CO₂ emissions by up to 7%.

Reducing energy for heating is a key aim of the UK’s net-zero targets. Turning down the thermostat from 21°C to 20°C and having the heating on for an hour less each day can result in an almost 10% reduction in annual CO₂ emissions. Adding draught-proofing can see those emission savings more than double.

 

Birmingham case

Former Gas Retort House was built in 1822 for the Birmingham Gas Light and Coke Company. APEC Architects completed work to retrofit the building. They improved the building’s thermal performance by installing insulated roof panels, steel secondary windows, whilst insulated raised timber floors were installed throughout, and air source heat pumps now heat and cool the space.

Pictures: Gas Retort House with thanks to APEC; a Victorian townhouse in Clapham, which underwent a sensitive retrofit project in 2012, with thanks to Arboreal Architecture; Victorian semi-detached houses conjoined to form the Zetland House passive house in Manchester (front and back views) with thanks to photographer Rick McCullagh.

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
26th March 2021

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