Retrofitting Historic Buildings - Westminster City Council

This guidance will be of most use to owner occupiers in pre-1919 properties of a solid wallconstruction, but many measures are equally applicable to later buildings. It covers energyefficiency measures, domestic microgeneration equipment, which will contribute to a reduction inenergy bills, and green roofs which increase biodiversity and reduce flood risk. It will be of use tocouncil officers, architects, engineers, developers and residents who would like to improve theperformance of their building.While most cost-effective to undertake a comprehensive programme of retrofit measures to anempty building, this will not often be possible, so the guidance highlights opportunities where it isparticularly practical or cost-effective to undertake certain measures together. It also identifies risksinherent in particular measures, and requirements arising from Part L1B of the BuildingRegulations. Importantly, while this can require energy efficient upgrades when certain definedworks are undertaken, historic buildings are exempted from the full requirements. They arehowever required to be made as energy efficient as possible to the extent that this does notprejudice the character of the building or increase the risk of long-term deterioration.Conservation of historic buildings is part of sustainable development – it minimises the use of newnatural resources; prevents the wastage of existing resources; provides economic value throughtourism revenue; and contributes a range of social values important to our health, well-being andeducation 5 . Appropriate refurbishment of historic buildings is a crucial part of their conservation toensure they have a sustainable future. Improving the environmental performance of buildings andprotection of the historic built environment are therefore complementary objectives. Planningpolicies for both heritage conservation and sustainable design have a crucial role to play. So toodoes guidance to illustrate how this balance can be achieved through the developmentmanagement process.5