Context 154 - May 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: Social Sciences andHumanities , July, issue 155 (11 May) IHBC Annual School , September, issue 156 (13 July) Europe , November, issue 157 (14 Sept) 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 4 : M A Y 2 0 1 8 Energy crunch John Preston writes: Last year the government published its Clean Growth Strategy, one part of which could be one of the biggest threats to the character of our heritage in the 50-year history of conservation areas. The strategy’s aim is for as much fuel-poor and rented housing as possible to reach EPC Band C by 2030, and as many homes as possible to reach Band C by 2035. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is considering how the improved standard might be delivered. I am sounding the alarm for three reasons: 1 The BEIS (like the Department of Energy and Climate Change before it, in the working groups for the Private Rented Sector Regulations) is focusing on a range of relevant interests and expertise (‘including landlords, local authorities, consumer and fuel poverty organisations, product manufacturers and tenants’ groups’), which ignore traditional buildings (luckily, with one exception – the National Trust, to whom thanks for the alert). 2 The whole approach relies on the badly flawed EPC (energy performance certificate) measure. 3 One likely outcome is a rash of solid- wall insulation on a far wider and more damaging scale than has yet been seen. As ever, the challenge for the heritage and traditional buildings sector is how (without being cast in the mould of opponents of climate change adaptation) to redirect the initiative into a less damaging approach, which achieves the desired ends. Fortunately, there has been progress on two counts: 1  A much-needed critical spotlight from a sustainability perspective has been shone on flaws in the current approach: see Kate de Selincourt’s article in Passivhaus Plus on the Preston SWI debacle: https://passivehouseplus. ie/news/health/disastrous-preston- retrofit-scheme-remains-unresolved 2  The National Trust and Historic England have jointly commissioned the S ustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance (STBA) to prepare a paper reassessing the EPC approach, and suggesting how real energy savings can be made in a less damaging way. I hope to have further news of progress to report at the annual school. In the meantime, I would be grateful for any case studies and other information (to green@ihbc.org.uk ) to help make the case. John Preston, convenor, IHBC green panel; heritage chair, STBA The proposed widening of the A3 in Surrey will bring the road even closer to the Gothic Tower, a landmark in the Grade I listed 18th century landscape garden of Painshill. Members of the public are invited to sign a petition (at www.painshill.co.uk/a3 ) supporting Painshill Park Trust’s call for Highways England to reject its current preferred route.