Context 153 - March 2018

Editor Rob Cowan Editorial Coordinator Michael Taylor, ihbceditorialboard@gmail.com Editorial Board Tom Copp Nigel Crowe Peter de Figueiredo (book reviews) Rebecca Madgin Fiona Newton Gordon Sorensen Jonathan Taylor Michael Taylor (chair) Cartoons by Rob Cowan Context is distributed to all members of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation. © Institute of Historic Building Conservation 2018 ISSN 0958-2746 Publisher Cathedral Communications Limited, High Street, Tisbury,Wiltshire, England SP3 6HA 01747 871717 context@cathcomm.co.uk www.buildingconservation.com Non-member subscriptions to Context Context is available to corporate bodies at an annual subscription rate, including postage, of: United Kingdom £60.00 Elsewhere £90.00 Context on-line archive Past issues of Context can be viewed on the IHBC website. The archive provides a searchable database and reference for key articles. See www.ihbc.org.uk/page55/ context_archive. The views expressed in Context are not necessarily held by the IHBC or the publisher. Neither the publisher nor the IHBC shall be under any liability whatsoever in respect of contributed articles. We gratefully acknowledge the support of firms whose advertisements appear throughout this publication.While every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this issue of Context is current and correct, neither the IHBC nor the publisher can be held responsible for any errors or omissions which may occur. Briefing Context themes and copy deadlines Context is published five times a year, in March, May, July, September and November. The next three themes and copy deadlines are: Lime and Stone , May, issue 154 (9 March) Social Sciences andHumanities , July, issue 155 (11 May) IHBC Annual School , September, issue 156 (13 July) Please contact Michael Taylor at ihbceditorialboard@gmail.com to discuss any editorial submissions or for information about the Context editorial board. 2 C O N T E X T 1 5 3 : M A R C H 2 0 1 8 Private rented sector regulations start to bite this requirement is just the first stage of a ratchet that will bite ever more sharply on buildings of traditional construction. The government’s Clean Growth Strategy wants all fuel-poor homes, as many private- rented homes are, and as much social housing as possible, to reach Band C by 2030. It wants as many homes as possible to be EPC Band C by 2035 ‘where practical, cost-effective, and affordable’.² The Committee on Climate Change notes that 19 million homes out of 27 million are below Band C, and 64 per cent of all energy performance certificates registered in EnglandWales are below Band C.³ Government guidance has been issued to landlords in relation to non-domestic (February 2017)⁴ and domestic private-rented property (October 2017)⁵. The domestic guidance is notable for including good advice on traditional buildings. Chapter 3, ‘Technical advice for John Preston writes: What do you know about the private rented sector regulations (PRS)? From 1 April 2018 they will start to bite in earnest, and traditional buildings are right in the frame. Tenants have had the right to request improvements since 2016, but from 1 April a landlord of a private- rented property with an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) rating of F or G must not grant a new lease or renew an existing lease of that property until works have been carried out to improve the energy efficiency to a rating of E or above.While these requirements relate to new or renewing leases, landlords will feel the full force of compulsion from 2020 for domestic, and 2023 for non-domestic, properties; from these dates, they will not be able to continue to let a property until it has been improved to band E or above.¹ Band E has been specified, for the present, as the minimum energy efficiency standard (or MEES), but Damp proof membrane Modern Historic Ventilation Exchange with fabric Diffusion losses Occupants Ventilation Exchange with fabric Diffusion losses Capillary rise Rainwater penetration followed by evaporation Exchange with fabric Capillary rise Leaky windows Vapour barrier Plaster Vapour barrier Extract fan Trickle ventilator (controllable ventilation) Well-sealed window Insulation Water vapour absorbed by fabric;evaporates when conditions change Rainwater runs down waterproof cladding Occupants Performance characteristics of modern and historic buildings, illustrated by Robyn Pender in government guidance