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In an ideal world every occupied building in Ireland would be energy upgraded to the highest standard, tapping into numerous benefits for the building occupant, the construction industry and society as a whole. Construct Ireland is calling for the introduction of pay as you save, a repayment model which offers the potential of making significant energy upgrade investments achievable in the vast majority of Irish buildings, as Jeff Colley reveals.
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Historic buildings are all too easy to ignore when considering
potential candidates for energy upgrade work. The heritage value of an
historic building can often mitigate against the most obvious
interventions, such as adding some form of wall insulation or replacing
windows. Architect Fergal McGirl takes a typical Georgian building in Dublin through the energy rating process and proposes some considered upgrade measures.
Is the conservation of buildings compatible with global warming and energy efficiency agendas? At the outset it is worth mentioning that the “old is cold” maxim applied to old buildings may not always hold true. A study of the energy efficiency of law courts in the UK, Cutting down on Carbon (1), was carried out by John Wallsgrove for the Ministry of Justice. The results were interesting in so far as the pre-1900 buildings tested turned out to be the most energy efficient with 1940s - 1960s buildings being 35-45 per cent less efficient. Buildings from 1900-1930 and 1970-1980 performed similarly at around 20-25 per cent less efficient. The pre-1900 buildings performed well due to high thermal mass construction, natural lighting and ventilation strategies. The later buildings performed badly due to lighter construction and the 1970-1980 stock tended to rely on artificial lighting, heating and air conditioning.
The above is instructive but may not hold true for all buildings of these periods. What is important however is that in the context of an energy upgrade, each individual building is approached without preconception in the context of its intended use pattern. The building should be studied and understood both in terms of its historical phases and measurements taken to establish as much information as possible about its thermal performance. An ‘industry-standard’ approach cannot be taken to historic buildings due to variations in the historic quality and interest of the stock and variations in the building fabric itself.
The implementation of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, subsequent advent of BER certificates, amendments to Part L of the building regulations and uncertain fuel costs, has provoked the building industry and authorities in Ireland into action to standardize the production of more energy efficient buildings.
Historic properties have been given significant latitude within the new legislation, with national monuments and protected structures being exempted from the requirements of the BER regime and the 2007 amendments to Part L. Furthermore, relaxation of the requirements of Part L may be acceptable to building control authorities for buildings, which although not protected structures may be of architectural or historical interest, where it can be shown to be necessary in order to preserve the architectural integrity of the particular building.
The exemptions and latitude for historic buildings should not however be seen as a license to ignore the issues that Part L are intended to address. It is considered that the arrival of BERs, significantly higher standards for energy efficiency in modern buildings and rising fuel costs will reflect poorly on historic buildings as the cost implications of a relative lack of efficiency of some of these buildings becomes more apparent.
The BER regime should be treated with caution however when applied to historic buildings as the results may not be accurate and could lead to inappropriate interventions being recommended. English Heritage has issued a Home Information Pack entitled Energy Performance Certificates for Historic and Traditional Homes which advises caution in relation to acting on the recommendations of an EPC (UK equivalent of a BER). This is due to the standardised approach which may not be suitable for an historic or traditional building. The standard recommendations generated by a software package may not be applicable or suitable to an historic building.
Fuel consumption estimates are based on modern comfort levels and temperature set points, which may not apply to an historic building that may be partially heated or the occupants may expect lower temperatures. English Heritage notes that traditional buildings tend to record a poor energy rating on certain aspects of the efficiency scale (perhaps unfairly so by assuming for example default U-values for walls), which could trigger a disproportionate response by an owner keen to increase the rating to save fuel or improve the market value of the property. Interventions should follow best conservation practice and be compatible with the existing building fabric.
The BER methodology nevertheless does give a comparison between different buildings and the BER scheme for commercial buildings should be successful in raising awareness of energy efficiency for building owners and tenants, as seems to have been the case with domestic BERs for new dwellings. The requirement for BERs for sale and leasing of existing commercial and non-domestic buildings was introduced at the beginning of 2009 and as such its full impact is slow to emerge given the current market conditions.
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