Challenges to carbon reduction policies upon residential heritage buildings (RHB): a Low Carbon Village study

In the UK, residential heritage buildings (RHB) are facing significant conservation challenges from policies aiming to achieve net zero carbon emissions and associated retrofit recommendations. Currently, most studies are primarily focused on investigating the impact of carbon reduction policies upon non-heritage buildings with limited regard for vernacular conservation principles, emphasising the need for a detailed study to understand policy changes upon RHB. Consequently, this long-term (2007- ongoing) study focuses on specific geographic locale, rather than the generic, considering current policy influence upon a cluster of 12 RHB on the National Trust’s Wallington Estate in Northumberland, England. Data was collected using a combination of building measurements and survey observations, alongside assessing tenant behaviours through an interview process. Firstly, case studies emphasised the weaknesses of energy performance certificates (EPC) as a policy tool when considering energy retrofit options to RHB, despite a 53% increase in EPC ratings following retrofit. Furthermore, supporting the recent turnaround on proposed minimum EPC ‘C’ standards, collected post-refurbishment tenant perspectives highlighted tenant behaviours and the unrealistic policy proposal to increase minimum EPC ratings within the UK’s existing housing stock, particularly upon idiosyncratic RHB.