HERITAGE HOMES
High ceilings and thick walls in older homes offer plenty of space to implement energy efficiency upgrades
Understanding grades Most listed building owners are likely to live in a Grade II building, which account for 92 per cent of all listed buildings. ● Grade 1 – much older, historically important buildings such as cathedrals, castles, towers and town halls. An example is Buckingham Palace. ● Grade II* – particularly important buildings of more than special interest. An example is Manchester central library. ● Grade II – subject to regulations that protect their historical and
architectural significance. Alterations and building work can’t be carried out without written consent from the relevant authorities.
standard ways of heating, so there have to be upgraded options.” Part of the issue is a lack of knowledge, Strikovs says. “Builders don’t know or don’t care. Suppliers of ASHPs don’t explain how they work, but they should provide guides to builders and work with photovoltaic companies and battery storage providers to have sustainable, energy efficient back-up systems rather than having to rely on the electricity supply or a gas boiler.” Despite earlier complaints of budgets in retrofit projects, Strikovs says when it comes to heritage homes, there is often a bigger budget to preserve these listed buildings of historical importance. People are more at ease to invest in them and architects are motivated to add more value. “The UK has a good tradition of preserving historical values so that shifts the perception in all project stakeholders’ minds to make a particular project really good and even more beautiful for another 100 years.” For a retrofit project to succeed, in heritage properties and modern buildings, Strikovs says educating the client and engaging the architect are fundamental. “Create a retrofit guide or document to present to the client about energy efficiency and the measures that can be taken, explaining the budget for this type of work. Then be the link between client and architect to all join stakeholders together.”
architects have designed, so they do
some of the work, focusing on the newly built additions
such as the loft conversions or home extensions, and forgetting about the existing building. “Nobody bothers about that because it comes down to budget. But the problem is the house will never be energy efficient without taking a whole house approach, with integrated insulation and improvements. There may be one new area that is nice, but overall nothing changes if the existing areas are forgotten. “These types of projects need to be planned from scratch. Architects must do a lot more to educate clients, explaining to them that they also need to insulate existing property to keep it to standard. Then the client needs to allocate this work in the budget and not just budget for the new space.” Strikovs advocates for taking a holistic or whole house approach to retrofit work.
“Before you even get to ASHPs, we need to start with insulating and ventilating the floors, external walls and the roof to prevent massive amounts of heat loss. “If you forget about the floors and insulate everything else, the cold still comes on. If you forget about the roof, the heat escapes through it. The house will always be cold so a holistic approach is absolutely important and then you can think about ASHPs – and you would need to insulate the home as heat pumps are low-temperature systems. They will never work with standard ways of insulation and
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Master Builder
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