An Assessment of Low Energy Design Practices in Housing Retrofit Projects

Abstract

The UK housing sector accounts for approximately 30% of total energy demand and accounts for 27% of carbon emissions. The uptake of low energy retrofit (LER) within the existing housing stock is piecemeal and currently not sufficient to achieve the 80% carbon reduction legally binding commitment by 2050 in the UK. Literature reveals that improving thermal insulation is the most preferred LER design approach in housing projects. Furthermore, there are no legislative requirements to drive architects to design in low energy housing retrofit strategies in their current projects. Therefore, this research engaged architects specializing in housing refurbishment through a questionnaire survey to investigate LER design challenges and enablers. Results indicate that high capital costs for micro- generation technologies; disparity in VAT between new build and refurbishment; and the complexity of the UK existing housing stock are the most considerable LER housing design challenges. On the other hand; a tax rebate for LER driven projects; removal of the VAT difference between new build and refurbishment; increased research to produce affordable low energy technologies; and increased government low carbon programs were identified as the key incentives to drive the LER housing agenda.