Reference: Developing a database of energy use of historic dwellings in Bath, UK (2012) Moran, F., Nikolopoulou M. and Natarajan S.

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Abstract or summary

Historic dwellings in the UK make up 20% of all homes. In the Georgian city of Bath this rises to 30%. These buildings are amongst the most poorly performing part of the English housing stock in energy use terms, with the lowest SAP rating and highest average annual CO2 emissions.

The UK legal aim to reduce CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050 will involve all existing dwellings, including historic buildings. The degree to which proposals to retrofit the UK housing stock can reduce emissions depends on how much energy they currently use, what it is used for and how much CO2 they emit.

This paper establishes a benchmark of gas and electricity energy use and CO2 emissions for 102 pre 1919 (historic) dwellings in Bath, permitting comparison of their energy performance against other parts of the housing stock.

The level of energy use found was less than expected using SAP values; it was also less than national, regional and local authority averages. The benchmark established allows a base line from which to monitor future performance and to gauge the direct benefits of retrofit adaptations.