The UK’s building regulations didn’t start to consider energy consumption until the 1960s, when very basic requirements to conserve energy were placed on house builders. These requirements have slowly been tightened over the decades and the introduction of the Code for Sustainable Homes has accelerated this in recent years.
The intention is that new build homes built from 2016 will be zero carbon (although the exact definition of ‘zero carbon’ in this case is still up for grabs). The problem is that the UK’s housing stock is the oldest in the developed world, with 8.5 million properties over 60 years old and an estimated 24 million homes built up to 2016 expected to still exist in 2050.
Zero carbon new build homes are definitely needed so that new homes don’t add to emissions, but all of the carbon reductions will have to happen in homes that have already been built.
In the previous post we looked generally at a whole house approach to sustainable refurbishment. The Energy Saving Trust has recently published an interesting new publication which looks at this in more detail and points the way towards an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions in existing homes. This guide is aimed at homeowners as well as housing developers and builders and is clearly written and nicely presented.
It gives an excellent overview of the energy efficiency measures that can be implemented in the UK’s homes including the different types of wall, roof and floor insulation, improving windows and doors, increasing air tightness as well as efficient heating and hot water systems and lighting and appliances. Also covered are microgeneration, water efficiency, waste and recycling and even climate change adaptation.
If you want to get a good picture of what needs to be done to our homes, then this is a good starting point. Hopefully it will stimulate you to consider which of these measures can be applied in your home.
The Energy Saving Trust has lots of interesting technical guidance. More information can be found here.
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Thanks for the interesting info.
I recently attended an interesting seminar about solid wall insulation at the Ecobuild conference. Iain McCaig, senior architectural conservator at English Heritage, said that wall insulation with vapour control layers could do serious long term damage to older buildings which need to breath. Moisture can build up inside the wall and slowly ruin the building fabric.
I was really concerned to see that on page 13, the EST are prescribing exactly what Ian McCaig recommended against!
It’s true that it can do damage, but it doesn’t have to. It’s just got to be applied correctly in the right situation. This guide can’t go into too much detail unfortunately but that solution is acceptable in many, but not all homes.
I’m hoping to get a guest post on the ins and outs of solid wall insulation soon from someone who knows a lot more about this than I.