6 <strong>Bath</strong> Preservation Trust and the Centre for Sustainable Energy
Improving the energy efficiency of traditional homes in the City of <strong>Bath</strong> 1. <strong>Bath</strong>: past, present and future <strong>Bath</strong> is one of the most celebrated cities in the world. The beauty of the architecture, clarity of the town planning and consistency of the urban landscape combine to create an exceptional public environment. This environment is an asset which the people of <strong>Bath</strong>, and the people of the world, are keen to protect. The special qualities of <strong>Bath</strong> are appreciated by everyone regardless of age or special interest. At the workshops organised to inform the development of this guidance, participants told us what they valued in the built environment of <strong>Bath</strong> (see overleaf). Despite their diverse interests, participants’ views were remarkably consistent. When asked “How important is it to you to preserve the historic environment of <strong>Bath</strong>?”, 98% said this was important to them. However, local people also recognise that <strong>Bath</strong> is part of a changing world, a world in which the problems of climate change and fossil fuel shortages are likely to worsen as the century progresses. They do not wish to sit back and ignore these problems. There is a clear consensus that the fossil-fuel dependent society that we currently take for granted has to change. Among the workshop participants, 91% said that reducing carbon emissions was personally important to them. The preservation of the built environment of <strong>Bath</strong> and the creation of a sustainable future for the city need not be in conflict. There are many ways of improving the fabric and use of traditional buildings in <strong>Bath</strong> without radically changing their appearance or their historic fabric. For example, the renovation and draughtproofing of sash windows significantly reduces heat losses and the use of shutters helps to keep the heat in during the dark evenings of winter, just as the original builders intended. If, however, we are to plan for a truly low carbon future – the national target is for an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 – we will have to go beyond traditional approaches to conserving energy. And this may involve more substantial changes to the buildings of <strong>Bath</strong>. Some, such as double glazing, can be achieved with minimal visual impact if appropriate materials and products are used. Other measures, such as wall insulation and solar panels, are potentially more disruptive to the look of the city. The challenge is to find the right balance between preservation and change for the many traditional buildings in <strong>Bath</strong>. ‘Re-use’ has always been a good environmental maxim, and keeping old buildings in use instead of building new ones is a good example of this, not least because all the energy that went into building them is valued for another generation. But this does not justify leaving buildings exactly as they are. If we want to sustain the traditional buildings of <strong>Bath</strong> for another two centuries, we must look beyond the energy standards of their Georgian and Victorian builders. These issues are most acute for listed buildings in <strong>Bath</strong>, for which listed building consent has to be sought for any changes to the fabric of the building. Currently, the options for conserving energy within these buildings are limited and, as a result, many people in <strong>Bath</strong> have to cope with homes that are cold and expensive to heat. In our survey, 43% of the respondents who live in listed buildings in <strong>Bath</strong> said their homes are much colder than they wanted them to be in the winter, compared to only 11% of those who live in unlisted buildings. Every change to a listed building is always assessed on its individual merits, a principle which provides an exceptional degree of protection for the historic buildings of <strong>Bath</strong>. However this principle should not inhibit the development of policy on energy improvements. Ultimately, the listed houses of <strong>Bath</strong> are homes and if they are uninhabitable because the heating costs are too high – one of our survey respondents described struggling to get his indoor temperature above 15C even with the heating on – they become a liability rather than an asset. We must be more innovative in improving these buildings without sacrificing their contribution to the heritage value of the city. Over the coming decades, energy security will be an ever-pressing issue in Britain, as in the rest of the world. Increasing global demand for fossil fuels, matched by tightening supplies, will inevitably lead to escalating 7
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