In light of the recent declaration of the Climate Emergency, the sensitive energy-efficient retrofit of historic buildings has never been so critical to lowering our carbon emissions and energy consumption.
We have listed a variety of helpful, professional conservation recommendations for the successful implementation of energy-efficient measures within historic buildings and their setting, whether in Bath or further afield:
- Warmer Bath – an award-winning document produced by BPT regarding best practice for improving the energy performance of traditional homes in Bath. We also produced guidance called Jobs for the Weekend via our social media platforms to help residents keep up with the care and maintenance of their traditional homes and encourage sustainable living in Bath.
- Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Guidance: for Listed Buildings and Undesignated Historic Buildings – a Supplementary Planning Document produced by B&NES Council for use in conjunction with local planning policy regulations regarding listed buildings.
- Sustainable Construction and Retrofitting – a more general Supplementary Planning Document produced by B&NES Council that discusses sustainable retrofit options alongside the sustainable construction of new-builds.
- Energy at Home – a B&NES-run website offering guidance and examples of energy-saving measures in homes within the Bath and North-East Somerset area. Grants and loans are also highlighted to help cover retrofitting costs.
- Green Open Homes – a network that aims to support low-carbon open homes events across the country. Case studies include previous events in Bristol and Frome.
- STBA Guidance Wheel – a free, interactive tool to best enable a whole-house approach when considering possible retrofitting measures.
- Futureproof Energy Saving Measures – free guidance for homeowners investigating possible retrofit options within the home. It is worth highlighting that this guidance is not exclusively tailored to the needs of historic buildings.
- CPRE Solar Design Tips – advice on the sensitive integration of solar panels into a distinctive local, historic environment. More comprehensive guidance includes Ensuring Place-Responsive Design for Solar Photovoltaics on Buildings to enable the best compromise between energy-efficiency and vernacular character.
- Energy Efficiency and Historic Buildings – guidance produced by Historic England for the retrofit of listed buildings. Specific advice for the installation of Solar Electric (Photovoltaics) is also available.
- Know Your Home, Know Your Carbon – new guidance was released in 2020 as part of the Heritage Counts series, focusing on owner-occupiers of historic homes and how carbon emissions can be reduced in our pre-1919 homes. There’s No Place Like Old Homes was published earlier in 2019 regarding the potential contribution of historic buildings to the UK’s 2050 net zero carbon targets.
- Improving Energy Efficiency in Traditional Buildings – guidance produced by Historic Scotland for the retrofit of listed and unlisted historic buildings. Other, more specific guidance packages include Microrenewables in the Historic Environment and Fabric Improvements for Energy Efficiency in Traditional Buildings. A Guide to Climate Change Impacts was also produced to provide information about how the Climate Crisis will continue to affect our historic environment, and how we can mitigate environmental pressures on our traditional buildings.
- Energy Efficiency in Old Buildings – SPAB-produced guidance for the collaboration of building conservation and adaptation.
- Responsible Retrofit of Traditional Buildings – STBA’s report on existing guidance and research with recommendations for retrofits that follow the ‘whole-house approach’.
- Centre for Sustainable Energy – a national charity with a wealth of resources regarding general approaches to sustainable energy, tackling fuel poverty, and insulation solutions. Guidance tailored to historic properties includes The Sustainable Use of Energy in Traditional Dwellings published in conjunction with Historic England, and Love Your Old Home.
- Heritage Energy Efficiency Tool – an online tool produced by Oxford City Council to assess individual energy efficiency improvements for historic buildings.
- Renewable and Low Carbon Energy in Buildings – guidance produced by the Welsh Government for the production and use of green energy.
- Energy: Grow Your Own – National Trust’s approach to more sustainable energy options, including case studies from their own estate. Their later release of Forecast Changeable documents their approach to the Climate Crisis, and the future of our material heritage.
- Future of Our Pasts: Engaging Cultural Heritage in Climate Action – a report released by ICOMOS to tackle climate change within the historic environment globally. A helpful overview as to the international historic context to which the Bath World Heritage site contributes.