Understanding Carbon in the Historic Environment. Scoping Study
Author(s): Aidan Duffy, Aneta Nerguti, Caroline Engel Purcell, Peter Cox
Carrig Conservation International Ltd, a specialist multi-disciplinary consultancy on energy efficiency in existing buildings, was commissioned by Historic England to undertake a research project as part of the Historic Environment Forum’s Heritage Counts report for 2019 https://historicengland.org.uk/research/heritage-counts/2019-carbon-in-built-environment/carbon-in-built-historic-environment/ which looked at carbon in the historic built environment. Buildings and the construction industry are one of the largest carbon polluters in the UK today and there is consensus that we urgently need to tackle carbon emissions from buildings. Using data from case studies on a Victorian terrace refurbishment and a chapel conversion, Carrig developed a life cycle assessment model to estimate the whole life carbon emissions before and after different energy efficient refurbishment scenarios. The research shows that carbon emissions are reduced by more than 60% by 2050 as a result of the refurbishment and retrofit options. The findings also highlight that although historic buildings need refurbishment to achieve energy efficiency similar to new buildings, the existing regulations, which consider operational emissions only, are misrepresentative of the total carbon emissions of demolition and new construction. In the case of the new build, the omission of embodied carbon emissions would underestimate the total emissions by nearly 30%. The prioritisation of refurbishment over demolition is inherently sustainable, as the waste of many materials with carbon already embedded in them would be avoided. The report includes recommendations on decision tools, data, guidance and further research.
- Report Number:
- 215/2020
- Series:
- Other
- Pages:
- 79
- Keywords:
- Building Building and Landscape Conservation Carbon Emissions Energy Historic Retrofit
