York’s rich history and built heritage provides a unique place to live, offering a direct and tangible link to the past, and it is crucial these buildings are well looked after and protected. For the benefit of future generations, we believe it is equally important that they are used and enjoyed, maintaining their relevance in society and place in our cultural identity.
Across our 70+ buildings there are around 150 tenancies, half of which are residential, and we know that our tenants take pleasure in adding their own story to the history of the building they occupy. We want our tenants to get the most benefit from our properties. Whilst every historic home is different, and certainly to their modern counterparts, we all have concerns about energy efficiency and rising bills, and ensuring we have a comfortable, as well as a healthy home.
We’re pleased to be working with City of York Council through the LEAD (Local Energy Advice Demonstrator) Home Energy Advice Scheme for Conservation Area and Listed Property Owners. This grant-funded project will allow us to undertake surveys and seek recommendations for retrofit options to 20 of our historic homes, adhering to the PAS2030/2035 (Publicly Available Specification) framework for historic buildings.
Keen to enhance the ease and experience of people living in historic buildings, the assessments, surveys and advice made possible by this grant will allow us to plan future work and improvements effectively. It will give us a greater understanding of the most appropriate and effective ways to enhance energy efficiency across our portfolio.
We are grateful to City of York Council for this grant, which will enable us to fast-track our plans to work towards upgrading our historic and conservation residential properties to meet a higher standard of energy efficiency.
All residential tenancies are required to have an EPC (energy performance certificate); however, these often make retrofit recommendations that are unsuitable for listed buildings, or which would not be acceptable in York’s central historic core, due to planning regulations.
Described as a holistic, whole-house approach, PAS2030/35 work begins with assessing the significance and context of the building, going on to consider the relationship between building fabric, services and occupants, and involving everyone in the process of design, installation and use. Working in this highly collaborative way, it’s hoped to reduce any unintended or negative consequences arising from the retrofit and upgrades.
Suitable for buildings with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of D or below, we have invited 20 existing tenants to participate in this project. We hope to provide an update on the project next Spring.
The grant funded work will deliver a greater understanding of the most appropriate and effective ways to enhance energy efficiency across our portfolio to the benefit of our tenants and the useful life of the building themselves.
Our thanks go to:
PAS2030/35 is a British Standards Institute (BSI) standard that sets out the requirements for commissioning, installing and handover of Energy Efficiency Measures (EEM's) in domestic retrofit projects.
Our pilot project will allow us to identify a suitable property, not just to better protect it for the future, but also increase the comfort of residents and mitigate higher energy costs. What we learn, we can then apply to the improvement of our wider historic and listed residential properties and support others in the conservation sector.
Use the QR code or visit this link to access the City of York Council LEAD Home Energy Advice Scheme information for conservation areas and listed properties.
