Work

Residential Heritage Buildings in the Low Carbon Transition: Policy and Practice Challenges

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Residential heritage buildings (RHBs) are facing complex conservation challenges due to national policies aimed at achieving carbon emission reductions and associated retrofit recommendations. This long-term study (2007–ongoing) focuses on how such nationwide policies, particularly energy performance certificates (EPCs) and minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES), affect a cluster of 12 RHBs on the National Trust’s Wallington Estate in Northumberland, England. Data were collected using a combination of building measurements and survey observations, alongside assessment of tenant behaviours through an interview process. The research findings revealed a 53% average improvement in EPC ratings following a retrofit. However, the tenant interviews exposed some key limitations in current policy tools, including their failure to reflect actual energy use and behavioural patterns. For instance, despite improved EPC scores, some tenants reported high fuel costs and continued to experience heat loss and dampness in the RHBs. These novel findings of this longitudinal study challenge the suitability of current retrofit metrics and advocate for a people-centric and context-specific approach to energy efficiency in heritage buildings. They also highlight the drawback of proposed minimum EPC ‘C’ standards within the UK’s existing housing stock, particularly in relation to idiosyncratic RHBs.

Source: Buildings

DOI: 10.3390/buildings15173045

Authors: Fiona Forster, Kishor Zingre, Shashwat Shashwat

Institutions: National Trust, Northumbria University, University of Ulster

Language: English

Topic: Building energy efficiency and sustainability

Subfield: Building and Construction

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Sustainable cities and communities, Climate action, Affordable and clean energy

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,137