Interview with Sustainability Operations Manager at the University of Gloucestershire Dr Jon Furley

One of the main issues regarding the sustainable renovation of listed buildings is that there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. Each building is different due to its location, the way in which it faces in its microclimate, the materials with which it was built, the changes that have occurred over the years, the way in which it is lived in and the systems installed to keep it warm and dry (Morgan, 2018). Morgan (2018) explains that the main issues at work in the deterioration of an old building include heat, moisture, and air but that their interrelationships with the building and its occupants are what causes the level of complexity associated with listed buildings whilst also acknowledging the need to drastically reduce energy consumption.

Dr. Jon Furley a Sustainability Operations Manager at the University of Gloucestershire backs this up in an interview I conducted for my dissertation on the sustainable renovation of listed buildings. I started by asking Jon: “What are the most common issues regarding sustainability (in terms of energy efficiency) with old buildings?” – Furley, responded by saying:

“There’s not really a one size fits all solution for old buildings due to the traditional way people used to design houses called the Passive Haus approach whereby a building is built to react and suit its specific surroundings and uses at the time which is what makes the research so difficult because there’s such an array of problems within old buildings and you find that most are completely different to one another and have completely different needs in order to make them more efficient.”

In the UK, the temperate climate often requires temperatures indoors to be warmer than the temperature outdoors therefore artificial heating is a necessity. However, this can cause condensation and when an old building with solid masonry walls built with lime mortar and finished with lime plaster is retrofitted with modern insulation techniques, the building can no longer breathe and ventilate itself which can result in the condensation turning into damp and mould over a long period of time, causing significant harm to human health (McCaig et al, 2018). Reinforced by Furley who states:

“The fear [with retrofitting an old building] is, however, that by adding sustainable aspects such as insulation, double glazing, and the likes, you are interfering with the original passive design making the building unable to react to its surroundings which can cause more problems than you started with like mould and damp within the building which obviously isn’t good for anyone.”

In a report conducted by the sustainability assessment tool BREEAM, it was suggested that an improvement to the building fabric, window casement and glazing, heating and ventilation systems could preserve the way the original building was designed (e.g., breathability) whilst enhancing thermal performance (Balson, et al, 2014, p7). Furley supported this and disclosed that the best place to have a low U-value number includes walls, floors, ceilings, roofs, and windows as these are typically the areas that omit the most heat. He then went on to explain the economic considerations of building improvements and often it’s a case of arguing why it’s worth spending money on a new efficient heating system if the heat is going straight out of the single-glazed windows that due to the listing requirements cannot be changed. Furley also went on to explain that the outcome of the design depends on the conservation officer assigned to the project. This can be another uncontrollable variable that makes the sustainable renovation of a listed building even more unpredictable.

The main question I wanted to answer when starting this dissertation, was how can a designer retain the heritage of a historic building, whilst taking all of the aspects of sustainability into consideration. Through my research, using information from literature written by academics such as Moxon (2012), Fujiwara et al. (2014), Dyson et al. (2016), Mynors (2006), and many more, I have found that it is not an easy task to achieve. I posed this question to Furley to gain further clarity on the issue and his solutions included:

“Changing the heating system to an electricity-based heat pump system powered by renewable sources, change the electricity supplier to a renewable source like Blub or Ovo energy, install draught preventing measures around windows and doors, apply for permission to install sensitive double glazing and be willing to compromise with planning/conservation officers, use breathable hemp insulation in roofs and floors where possible, place radiators in logical positions i.e. not right beneath a window, install underfloor heating too where possible, try to make use of any excess heat for example if you have a wood burner, install a back boiler which can heat water for heating from the heat of the fire, invest in quality doors and maintain their draught reducing features, invest in high quality, interlined and thermal lined curtains and blinds to retain heat and only heat rooms that are frequently used.”

Most of these alterations (excluding changes to infrastructure or building fabric) should be achievable without having to maintain permission or listed building consent from a planning or conservation officer but the owner should always check with the local council before making any changes.

This study aimed to investigate the sustainable restoration of listed buildings within the UK and if such a thing was possible. When beginning the research, I wasn’t entirely sure it was possible to renovate a listed building sustainably because of the stringent and renowned listing restrictions to old buildings, however, through research and an extensive review of literature, I have been able to conclude that although difficult - it is possible. Further primary research presented first-hand knowledge of the concept from local expert and Sustainability Operations Manager, Dr Jon Furley.

Within this study, I have identified the three pillars that inform a sustainable building outcome including social, environmental and economic considerations and have applied this to the renovation of listed buildings with reference to a number of different academic sources. I have also considered the legal implications of such changes and researched how listing impacts the viability of sustainable improvements whilst investigating industry standard ways of measuring how sustainable a design is whilst incorporating the concept of embodied energy of materials used within the construction of a building. This research has answered the questions set out within the introduction of the dissertation in a literate, structured way using relevant resources to support and discuss factors affecting sustainable renovation and has used primary research to provide context to such findings.

In answer to one of my main questions identified within my introduction: does UK legislation significantly impact the sustainability of listed building redesign? I found that whilst legislation is there to be followed and is designed to protect heritage, it very much depends on how the conservation officer designated to the project interprets that legislation as to how much you can change with a listed building and this can be very difficult to regulate.

The second question I set out to answer was: How can measurements of sustainability be used to justify the renovation of listed buildings? Through research I found that the main reason sustainability improvements are not implemented into buildings is because it is difficult to justify the price of the work against the ecological benefits therefore assessment tools such as the LCSA have been implemented to calculate the total carbon emissions of a building, including the associated embodied and running energy. Once the building is operating, it is possible to be able to measure the U-value of the property and therefore implement energy saving solutions to be able to lower such values.

The third and final research question I posed to answer was: How can listed residential buildings in the UK be made more sustainable? I have been able to conclude that whilst it is a difficult, often long, expensive and uncertain challenge to undergo – it is certainly possible to achieve more sustainable listed buildings and within my third chapter I was able to list a series of solutions to increase the energy efficiency of listed buildings in the UK.

Limitations in this research include the use of only one source of primary research. This was down to the location of study and scope of qualified interviewees available to me within my local vicinity with little to no option for travel to interviews. This was also not helped with the continuation of Covid-19 Restrictions and general unwillingness of experts required to facilitate the research. The topic of study for this dissertation required using an informal and unstructured interview technique which if posed to a wider selection of experts, would be a challenge to quantify and present data due to the control variable (the questions) likely being different for each person depending on their role and experience within the field.

A suggestion for further study would be to relate research to the sustainable interior design and renovation of listed buildings with a focus on materials and processes for the interior designer. However, this would be challenging due to the available existing research being heavily science and engineering-based.