Rethinking Housing Refurbishment Taking stock regulations, standards and best practice for BRE refur

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Rethinking Housing Refurbishment - (Taking stock
- regulations, standards and best practice) for
BRE refurbishment exemplars

• Kate Symons
• Associate Director of Refurbishment and
  Regeneration, BRE
• John OBrien
• Principal Consultant Housing Futures - BRE

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BRE

• Our mission
• to build a better world
• Providers of research, consultancy and testing
  services
• Founded in 1919
• Set National and International Standards for
  construction
• Source of BREEAM, Eco homes and sustainability
  codes
• Home of the Innovation Park

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Todays Presentation

• Why Refurbish?
• What would a coherent refurbishment strategy
  look like?
• Existing regulations and standards
• BRE Rethinking Housing Refurbishment
  Programme
• Headline challenges
• Regulations standards and hard to treat
  properties.
• BRE Exemplar project rethinkinghousingrefurbis
  hment
• Including a brief outline of
• Innovative and sympathetic materials for
  refurbishment
• Measuring outcomes for increased performance

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Why refurbish?

• Climate Change Bill sets legally binding target
  for reducing UK CO2emissions - at least 80 by
  2050
• Address fuel poverty - ensure decent and
  affordable homes for all
• Sustainable refurbishment is key
• Alternatives demolish/rebuild wasteful and
  leave greater emissions
• All buildings generate nearly half of our
  emissions
• Lack of comprehensive and coherent strategy in
  dealing with existing stock standards

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What would a coherent strategy look like?
Discussion point warm up to the issues

• Comparative programmes (BRE rethinkinghousingrefur
  bishment)
• Strategy Framework
• Scenario based solutions
• Measured and proven limits the art of the
  possible
• Links to Best Practice documents
• Recommendations to spend wisely
• Sequence working
• Inclusive of neighbourhood solutions
• What else?

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What are the existing standards/guidelines for
Refurbishment?

• Part L1B Building Regulations (statutory)
• EST Best practice in refurbishment (guidance)
• Decent Home Standards (public sector
  prescriptive)
• WHQS SHQS
• Generation Homes
• Cert Programme (mandatory for grants)
• Low Carbon Building Programme (mandatory for
  grants)
• Rethinkinghousingrefurbishment programme watch
  this space!

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What is the BRE Rethinkinghousingrefurbishment
project about?

• BRE programme to promote the case for sustainable
  refurbishment - nationally
• To ensure that Refurbishment is no longer
  Cinderella
• To provide guidance for the construction industry
• Ensuring that training and education for dovetail
  with the step change agenda

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The rethinkinghousingrefurbishment programme
geared towards promoting new standards

• Overarching programme of 10 National
  Exemplars measured on a before and after
  basis to prove the case for refurbishment and
  to inform refurbishment guidance documentation to
  promote step change working with the HMRAs
  Nationally.
• Locations-
• Stoke on Trent
• East Lancashire
• Sheffield
• Hull
• Leeds
• Plus other partner exemplar schemes across UK

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Principles embracing sustainability

• Target reduction in CO2 or percentage improvement
  against building regulations
• Fabric First, renewables Second
• Before and after testing to prove the case
• Identify heating source and distribution
• Decide on building aesthetic
• Lighting and appliances
• Water and Waste considerations
• Doing what is best for the building

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Challenges we face

• Creating drivers for refurbishment
• Wide range of housing types
• No agreed formal standards yet!
• Sourcing sympathetic materials
• How to reach 70 owner occupiers

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Headline challenges time for a step change

• Housing energy use is responsible for 27 of UK
  CO2 emissions
• Existing buildings are the key to improving
  this-
• UK housing stock amounts to 26 million dwellings
• Annual new-build rate
• Two-thirds of current housing stock will still be
  standing in 2050

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Headline challenge Hard to Treat Homes (HTT)

• 43 of English stock (9.2 million dwellings) is
  HTT
• Responsible for 50 of all CO2emissions
• 70 of HTT homes (30 all dwellings) have solid
  walls

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Headline Challenge Non decent homes

• 8.1 million (37) of English Homes are non-decent
• 59 (4.8 million) fail HHSRS criterion with
  excess cold being most common Category 1 hazard
• Just over half (4.1 million) fail to provide
  adequate thermal comfort

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Refurbishment is about sustainable communities

• Refurbishment keeps existing communities intact
• Conserves heritage
• Provides options for telecare and assistive
  technology
• Allows climate change adaptation
• Provides neighbourhood solutions

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rethinkinghousingrefurbishment
BREs flagship refurbishment project
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After refurbishment
A sustainable future
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Project Team

• BRE
• HMR Pathfinder Agencies
• EEDA
• University of Hertfordshire
• Princes Foundation
• PRP Architects
• Wates Living Space
• Scott Wilson
• E C Harris
• RSK Environmental
• The Wolseley Group
• We are actively seeking more..

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Full testing programme

• Thermal Imaging
• Acoustic testing
• Air tightness testing
• Indoor air quality
• Monitoring of the interior of the building fabric
• Pre and post-occupancy evaluation
• And more.................

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BRE Expected Outcomes (1)

• Monitoring to include performance of-
• - insulation systems
• - drying out of the walls
• - building air tightness and improvements
• - thermal performance of the building fabric
• To inform-
• Guide to Best Practice refurbishment of Victorian
  solid wall houses
• Potential code for sustainable refurbishment
  plus climate change
• Costs per square metre to inform best practice
• More. Including new products for
  refurbishment.

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BRE - Expected outcomes (2)

• Demonstrate innovation in refurbishment
  materials and methods
• (thin wall insulation - external breathable
  membranes - resins)
• Demonstrate renewable technologies and skills
  (new NVQs)
• Show intelligent technologies sympathetic to
  refurbishment
• Demonstrate co-incidental working practices
• Provide ongoing training and education for crafts
  and skills
• Ensure that lessons learnt are applied to future
  refurbishment projects.

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Code for Sustainable Refurbishment
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Todmorden, Calderdale
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Todmorden, Calderdale

• Back to Back property
• No garden
• 2 Bedroom
• Stone fronted Heritage property
• EPC rating D, 59
• Old windows
• Solid wall

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Todmorden, Calderdale

• Upper bedroom window Air Leakage around opening
  casement
• Mortar joints visible, so porous and leaking air
• Front door very poor

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Todmorden, Calderdale

• Bedroom wall 8.5 at base, major risk of
  condensation and mould
• Drawer of unit is cold, contents liable to damage
  
• Appliances on standby are emitting lots of heat

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RHR projects

• Renew, North Staffordshire

• Huntingdonshire DC
• EPC rating F 33

• Elevate, East Lancashire

• Huntingdonshire DC
• EPC Rating E55

• Sheffield Ecoterrace
• EOC Rating E39

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Centre of Refurbishment Excellence (Core)

• A new iconic building for Stoke
• A national showcase for sustainable refurbishment
  
• Training and skills
• Centre of Excellence
• Business incubator hub
• Knowledge Transfer

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Existing Guidance

• Energy Efficiency Best Practice for Housing has
  published technical guides and case study
  documents on
• Refurbishing HTT homes
• External and internal wall insulation
• Other related topics
• Can be found on EST website at
• http//www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/housingbuildin
  gs/publications/

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www.rethinkinghousingrefurbishment.co.uk making
the step change..
Thank you for listening.

• Kate Symons
• Associate Director of Refurbishment and
  Regeneration, BRE
• John OBrien
• Principal Consultant, Housing Futures, BRE