Hundreds of houses across the UK are taking part in a new pilot programme to test a sustainable refurbishment standard being developed by the Building Research Establishment (BRE).
BRE is developing the new standard –
BREEAM Domestic Refurbishment – to ensure sustainability is maximised when existing UK housing stock is refurbished.
There is a growing need to tackle the carbon emissions of the UK’s existing housing stock.
Buildings contribute 45 per cent of all carbon emissions in the UK, with 27 per cent of emissions coming from homes.
The UK Government has committed to an 80 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, when 80 per cent of existing buildings will still be in use.
The Coalition Government has pledged to help homeowners make their properties more
energy efficient through a 'Green Deal’.
The BREEAM Domestic Refurbishment standard will provide a single standard to assess the performance of housing refurbishments against environmental objectives, including minimising energy, but also
waste and
water consumption as well as using environmentally sensitive materials.
Variety of house styles
In total, 338 properties are being assessed in the pilot project across the UK, in locations as far north as Newcastle and a far south as Brighton and including London and Manchester. The houses include a wide range of styles, including low-rise flats, Victorian terraced properties in a conservation area, a care home conversion and more traditional semi-detached properties.
Work began on the new BREEAM Domestic Refurbishment standard last year and the pilot assessments are the latest stage in developing the standard.
Rating system
Based on BRE’s EcoHomes standard, the refurbishment standard aims to complement the Code for Sustainable Homes, the Government-endorsed standard for measuring the sustainability of new house builds. Just as the Code provides a rating of one to six, the BREEAM Domestic Refurbishment standard will provide a rating of Pass to Outstanding to demonstrate the environmental credentials of refurbishment work.
BREEAM assessors are leading the work on the housing refurbishment pilot. However, a BRE spokesperson said there was also wider involvement "with the client, construction companies, designers and others" to ensure the standard works in reality.
"This pilot process will test the standard against a variety of house types around the UK in order for us to ensure it is pitched at a sensible level that is appropriate for our existing housing stock but also delivers key sustainability objectives," BRE said.
Once the pilot assessments have been completed the results will be analysed and fed into the development of the final version of the standard, which BRE expects to launch later in 2010.
Related news: