HERITAGE HOMES
KNOW YOUR
HERITAGE
A round 25 per cent of the UK’s building stock is more than 100 years old. Look further into the past and you’ll find properties dating back to the 1700s. While not necessarily all listed buildings, many UK homes predating World War II may well be considered traditional properties. For Nik Nelberg, Managing Director at Earl & Callam Design & Build Ltd in London, most of the homes he works on date back to Georgian (1714-1837), Victorian (1837- 1901) and Edwardian (1901-1910) eras. “We work on the building stock we have in London,” Nelberg says, “which just so happens to be old.” Regardless of the age of the property, retrofit methods and approaches to energy efficiency are often similar. “It doesn’t matter what sort of building, you have all sorts of issues where moisture forms,” Nelberg says. “Moisture is the biggest killer of retrofit and builders need to do more to understand building physics. “When trying to increase the U value of the wall to keep heat in, for example, you change the profile of how the wall works. On a traditional, solid-wall construction building, you don’t want nasty mould or interstitial condensation within the fabric of the building, which then rots things and causes problems.” Part of the solution, Nelberg explains, is using sustainable materials. “Building with timber is fabulous because it ticks all the boxes: it’s sustainable wood to create a building product that locks in carbon. “Natural materials make heritage work simpler because they allow moisture to pass through them. For example, if you take a piece of PIR (polyisocyanurate) for internal insulation, you need to create a cavity because moisture is going to form
on the cold side of it. The aim is not to have anywhere for moisture to form. You’d use lime mortars to stick timber insulation onto the wall to keep it breathable.” The benefits of old homes Three out of five projects are retrofit jobs for Daniel Kozinski and his team at DK Building in Warrington. Retrofit is good for business with many opportunities and it aligns with his social and environmental responsibility aspirations. DK Building is currently retrofitting a 19 th century house, a 100-year-old home and a modern building from the 1970s. The three jobs give Kozinski a unique perspective on making homes – no matter their age – more energy efficient. The truth, he says, is that retrofitting is similar across all three of the properties. Unless the property has structural problems or is listed or situated in a conservation area – meaning there are limitations as to what elements of the building can be changed, particularly on the external facade – working on older buildings that predate World War II is a little easier, Kozinski argues. “The houses are usually well built, with higher ceilings, wider walls, bigger joists – generally they didn’t spare money on materials back then. These older, solid walls have no cavity so it’s easier to bring them up to energy efficiency standards, as cavities are often of unknown quality and size. Cavity walls can be more challenging with various moisture risks and from a thermal bridging point of view. “There’s more space to do whatever measures are needed. High ceilings and big solid walls are easier to insulate, and they act as a passive radiator to some extent. The challenge is making sure there’s
Carrying out energy efficiency measures on traditional homes can be particularly satisfying work, and even easier to do compared with modern homes
Retrofitting older homes to be more energy efficient is similar to when working on newer buildings
25
Master Builder
www.fmb.org.uk
Made with FlippingBook - PDF hosting