RETROFIT & SUSTAINABLE BUILDING DESIGN How do we tackle the retrofit challenge? T
The Insulation Manufacturers’ Association highlights the challenge of poor energy efficiency affecting millions of existing homes across the UK
he long-awaited Future Homes Standard and Future Buildings Standards will set the building performance levels for the coming years, and we hope, will be sufficiently robust to ensure all
new buildings from 2025 (2028 for non- domestic) will meet the requirements of our 2050 Net Zero targets. But what about the abundance of buildings that already exist with poor energy-efficiency, including nearly 30 million existing homes across the social, owner occupier and private rented sectors, many of which will need significantly improving? The UK’s housing stock presents an energy efficiency challenge with nearly six million houses built before 1919 and over half built before the first insulation requirements were added to the Building Regulations in 1965. These ageing, poorly insulated homes lose a lot of heat and are in varying states of repair. As a result, there is no simple, one-size-fits-all solution for retrofitting all these properties.
New regulatory environment
With the government relaxing the steps to Net Zero and the opposition scaling back its green investment programme, this casts considerable doubt on our ability to meet these challenges within the allotted timeframe. Higher standards for energy efficiency were introduced for new build housing - the new and updated Part L of the Building Regulations for England came into force in June 2022, followed by new energy efficiency updates in Scotland and Wales in November and December 2022 and the Future Homes Standard is still expected for 2025 - all new homes as well as other buildings must be built to ultra-high levels of energy efficiency. Unfortunately, there is very little to promote and deliver the improvements needed for existing buildings, with the PM having stated ‘no households will be forced to make their homes more energy efficient now’. Prior to the most recent green U-turn, the government had a vague aim of upgrading existing homes to EPC C by 2035, but only where ‘practical, affordable and cost effective’ but then scrapped the requirement for landlords to upgrade their properties to an EPC grade C by 2035. These contradictory statements indicate they have no real strategy in place and it is difficult to see how the necessary improvements can be achieved.
The Heat and Building Strategy published in 2021 expands on the detail of heat in buildings, but there is little on improving energy efficiency, reducing demand or the essential policy needed to support any largescale approach to mass retrofitting. If we are to move to a Net Zero carbon country by 2050 (2045 in Scotland), it will be vital to make improvements to homes and other buildings to reduce emissions. This means installing a whole range of energy saving measures; from better insulation and more efficient appliances to replacing fossil fuelled boilers with low carbon alternatives such as heat pumps.
Fabric first
PIR and PUR insulation has an invaluable role in upgrading our poorly performing housing stock and ensuring a sustainable future. Good insulation is essential and is one of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to reduce energy demand and cut CO2. The better or lower the U-values in walls, floors and roofs, the less heat that is lost, resulting in enhanced thermal performance which in turn will help to deliver the standards required.
Highly effective and versatile, PIR and PUR insulation solutions are available in a range of forms including boards and blocks, cavity injected, composite panels, as well as a spray and panel insulation. The use of PIR insulation, with lambda values as low as 0.022 Wm/.K means it is possible to achieve the highest insulation values using the minimum thickness of material compared with traditional insulants.
Health and wellbeing
Well insulated buildings can also have substantial impacts on the lives of building users and occupants. The importance of thermal comfort, providing pleasant internal conditions during the winter and summer months, is a
10 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER MARCH 2024
prime example. This factor is seen to influence performance and productivity, as well as the physical and mental health of building users. Another social benefit associated with enhanced levels of insulation is the reduction and potential elimination of fuel poverty. This issue is alleviated as a greater proportion of heat is retained more effectively in homes when incorporating superior fabric efficiencies. The provision of an enhanced building envelope results in a reduced overall fuel demand needed to achieve equivalent, sustained warmth over the winter months than for a building with lesser thermal performance.
Digital building passport
Another challenge in raising energy efficiency standards is the lack of ability to measure and demonstrate a building’s performance over its lifetime. Residential and commercial properties could benefit from a building passport, with regular checks being made, normalising the concept that buildings, like vehicles, must be judged over time and meet certain standards. This could also provide full traceability of products and services installed into a building, so that when it is bought/sold or renovated an accurate and informative log is kept. Such a passport could contain building-related
information on energy consumption/production, maintenance and building plans, and could be transferable between building owners. This digitalisation could go some way to ensuring buildings are sustainable and perform to the standards intended. Upgrading and retrofitting our ageing housing stock with high performance insulation is instrumental in decreasing heating demand, lowering CO2 emissions whilst simultaneously tackling fuel poverty and improving comfort and wellbeing. Only through such concerted efforts can we create a long-term asset that will benefit generations to come with minimal environmental impact.
Read the latest at:
www.bsee.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46
