Mitigating for Climate Change whilst preserving our Heritage (Part 1)

By Anesh Chauhan

One of our largest clients at Rider Levett Bucknall has a large portfolio of buildings which are either a Listed Building, within a Conservation Area or in some cases, both. As part of a sustainable approach when adapting their buildings, we continually aim to reduce carbon in any way we can.

While there may be cases when climate change objectives conflict with conservation of heritage assets, many opportunities exist for enhancing and improving energy efficiency, use of renewable energy and improved adaptation in historic buildings, without adversely impacting on their Conservation importance.

So what are Conservation Areas and Listed Buildings?

Conservation Areas are areas of special historical or architectural interest which have a character that it is desirable to preserve. In conservation areas the view of a building from the public realm is considered the main concern to ensure that the street appearance is preserved as well as the quality of the architecture. 

Listed Buildings are buildings which are included on the national register of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest; they are protected by law. As such, a Listed Building may not be extended or altered, internally or externally, in any way which may affect its special character, without Listed Building Consent being approved by the local planning authority.

Overall energy efficiency is the most cost effective approach to carbon reduction and minimising energy use. There are a variety of free and low to medium cost measures to improve energy efficiency which is unlikely to require planning permission or Listed Building Consent.

These simple measures will be described in Part 2 of this blog.