Issue 42 summer 24 web - Flipbook - Page 24
ELECTRIFICATION OF
HERITAGE BUILDINGS
by Geraldine O’Farrell CEng FCIBSE FIET FSLL
Geraldine is a Senior Building Services Engineer with Historic England, and before that its predecessor
English Heritage, for the last 25 years. She is the author of Historic England’s guidance on Fire alarms,
Internal and external lighting, Daylight harvesting, Surge and Lightning protection and the Electrification of Heritage Buildings. She has given webinars on these topics, recordings of which can be found
on the HE website under “Technical Tuesdays”.
The electrification of our heritage building stock is an
essential component of enabling the UK to meet its legal
obligation, under the Climate Change Act 2008, to meet
net zero carbon by 2050.
Before the electrification process is started it is a good idea
to consider what you want to achieve from this work and
ensure that the most appropriate technology for the heritage building is used. You should also establish the listing
grade, the construction, orientation and location of the
building in question as all will impact on what you are
likely to be able to install and where. It is recommended
that engagement with the local planning authority is
made early on, before any *decisions are made, to estab
lish if permissions or consents are likely to be required.
There is detailed guidance on listed building consent
available from the Historic England website.
All buildings are major contributors to the UK’s carbon
emissions. This is primarily through using fossil fuels such
as domestic heating oil, liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and
natural gas to supply heating, hot water and to a lesser extent cooking. Fossil fuels have a high carbon content, and
this is released into the atmosphere when the fuel is burnt
in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is one of the
greenhouse gases that causes global warming. Fossil fuels
are non-renewable and therefore it is predicted, at the
current rate of consumption, that they could be depleted
by around 2060. It is essential therefore that we cease our
dependence upon these types of fuel and switch to renewable energy and more efficient systems of heating and
lighting our buildings.
You will also need to have an Energy Performance
Certificate (EPC) for your building which will give you
the necessary recommendations on improvements that
ought to be made to and cost-effective ways of improving
the rating. It is also a requirement for some government
backed grants (such as the Energy Company Obligation
(ECO4) or the Boiler Upgrade schemes) that are available
for this type of work. It should be remembered that while
fabric improvements can increase the effectiveness of any
electrification work by reducing the energy that a building
consumes; care must be taken to avoid maladaptation
when contemplating such interventions and appropriate
expert advice should be sort.
So, what is meant by electrification? It is the process that a
building goes through where existing building services
technology is replaced with more efficient systems that use
renewable electrical energy. Examples of this are where a
gas boiler is replaced by a heat pump or incandescent and
fluorescent lamps are replaced with LEDs.
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Conservation & Heritage Journal
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