Refurbishment

We have 25 million housing units in the U.K. New houses are being built at a rate of just under 200,000 per year, and the rate of demolition is about 20,000 per year. According to the Sustainable Development Commission ‘even the most pessimistic estimate is that 75% of the current housing stock will still be in use in 2050’. So although it is important to raise the standard of new homes, in terms of energy saving, far greater savings can be made by increasing the energy efficiency of existing houses.

The Energy Saving Trust has some excellent free information on refurbishment which is available in the centre. We also have some models to show what can be done to existing solid -walled housing to increase the insulation in the walls, floor and roof.

To find out how to do refurbishment in a really sustainable way there is a host of information available from the Greenspec website.