A badly maintained building cannot be an energy efficient building. That’s the key message of SPAB’s (Society for the Protection of
Ancient Buildings) 2012 National Maintenance Week Campaign at the end of this month.
The week takes place each year to remind anyone who looks after a building, regardless of its age, type or purpose, of the simple, achievable steps they can take to prepare for the worst that winter can bring.
This year NMW takes place from Friday November 23 to Friday November 30 and follows hot on the heels of the launch of the government’s Green Deal drive to make buildings across the country more energy efficient.
Since 2009, the SPAB has co-ordinated a groundbreaking research project into the energy efficiency performance of old buildings. Fascinatingly, results have shown that traditionally constructed properties perform better than commonly supposed. In fact, SPAB’s on-the-spot research suggested that 73% of the traditionally built walls sampled – including walls of limestone, slate, granite and cob – actually lose less heat than expected.
But another thing their research has shown is that, no matter the construction, material or age of a building, if it is poorly maintained it cannot be energy efficient no matter what else you do to it. For example leaking roofs, faulty gutters and blocked drains can lead to dampness… and a damp building can well be cold and possibly unhealthy.
While SPAB recognises that the energy efficiency of all buildings must be improved, the misapprehension of the degree of heat loss through traditionally built walls in particular could have negative consequences for historic buildings, potentially leading owners and professionals to adopt inappropriate energy-saving interventions that may be less effective than predicted, and also potentially harmful to the fabric of a building and to the wellbeing of its inhabitants. Too much of the wrong sort of insulation, for example, could actually lead to dampness.
With this in mind, SPAB’s NMW campaign for 2012 goes back to basics, encouraging homeowners (and people who care for public buildings such as churches, village halls and local authority properties) to be aware of the very simple, economic and achievable maintenance steps they can take at the beginning of winter to stave off costly major faults and damage at a later date – and improve energy efficiency.
Good maintenance makes a positive contribution to sustainable living, but there’s more to sustainability than saving energy. It’s about making common sense decisions about our immediate environment – the places where we live, work and meet.
On founding the Society back in 1877 one of the clarion calls of William Morris was: “Put protection in place of restoration. Stave off decay by daily care.” That simple message is as vital today as it was 135 years ago.
