6 C O N T E X T 1 3 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 4 Periodically Perhaps one of the most significant issues of a journal for several years is the latest Historic Environment: policy and practice (Vol 5, No 2, 2014). It is entirely devoted to the issues relating to improving the energy performance of historic buildings in a systematic attempt to explore this contentious issue. The issue, bringing together contributions from both practitioners and academics from the UK, Sweden and Italy, highlights the nature of interdisciplinary solutions. This could not have come at a better time, given ever-growing concerns about climate change and the government’s ill-considered Green Deal initiative in relation to upgrading traditional construction. Practitioners know that legislation and good practice require special regard to be paid to architectural, historic, aesthetic and social considerations when managing historic buildings, but rarely how to strike a balance between the intrinsic value of heritage and the need for greater energy efficiency. There is a considerable amount of valuable material here. It is not possible to rehearse the arguments in great detail, but readers are recommended to check out this special issue. Following a long editorial from Kalliopi Fouseki and May Cassar of University College London looking at the future challenges and research needs, Henoc Agbota (also of UCL) looks at some of the unintended consequences of decarbonisation policies stemming from the UK’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. The author concludes that there is a lack of studies on the human health effects of energyefficiency interventions in historic buildings (and by extension the effect on the condition of historic collections); that energy efficiency is underestimated by building software models; and that insufficient emphasis or guidance is being given to the key role played by occupiers. So far there are few thoroughly explored case studies to draw on, but Oliver Smith of the 5th Studio, an architectural practice in Cambridge, explains the balance that needed to be struck in the sustainable refurbishment of the Grade I listed New Court at Trinity College, Cambridge. This involved the multi-disciplinary input of architects, engineers, building physicists, building condition surveys and industry experts. Smith emphasises not only the complexity of the project but also the difficult, nuanced judgments that had to be made at every level of building physics, design and the interpretation of policy. Projects of this kind require time, money and intellectual rigour, resources not always available for lesser buildings and from less discerning clients. A composite article from four authors (Petra Eriksson from Sweden, Carsten Hermann of Historic Scotland, Sára Hrabovszky-Horváth from Hungary and IHBC member Dennis Rodwell) explains the impact of heritage methodology inherent in the EFFESUS (Energy Efficiency of EU Historic Districts’ Sustainability) research project. This programme commenced in 2012, involving a consortium of 23 partners from 13 European countries. It runs until 2016, comprising six research modules. The authors concentrate on three: the evaluation of heritage significance; definitions of heritage impact; and the heritage balancing process. They illustrate their application to retrofitting measures within a historic district of Visby in Sweden. In a companion paper, six authors based at three universities in Sweden look at the potential and consequences of energy retrofitting in Swedish historic buildings. One third of these were built before 1945. They constitute an important part of the country’s built heritage, despite the majority not being formally protected. Although a methodology is put forward for guiding decisions on the consequences of improving energy performance, the authors make clear that each step of the proposed method requires simplifications, choices and uncertainties that will have an effect on the result. Furthermore, modelling will always involve a balance between, on the one hand, resolution and accuracy and, on the other, manageable data that will permit manipulation to take account of heritage values. Another case study involving institutionally managed buildings looks at the Durham University estate from an interdisciplinary perspective. Four authors from the university and one from Copenhagen IT University argue that applied heritage research has tended to focus on thermal and energy properties of buildings, as distinct from their social meaning and use, and that better outcomes might be achieved if greater contextual consideration were given to the existing possibilities afforded by historic buildings and their users. The authors highlight that within the imperatives of climate change, buildings change and develop over long periods, and are shaped in complex ways by the associational values of users whose behaviour is an important determinant of energy use. They conclude that the inefficiencies relating to energy use may derive less from their intrinsic physical characteristics than from the ways in which institutional contexts produce
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