Retrofit Centre for Traditional Buildings

This investment will enable Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to establish a centre for innovation in the retrofit of traditional buildings and the use of low carbon retrofit materials. Improving the energy efficiency of traditional buildings is vital to meeting government net zero targets. The UK has the largest proportion of traditionally constructed buildings in Europe: 19% of Scotland's buildings are of traditional construction, including homes, schools, offices, cultural venues, and visitor attractions, and 21% of England's housing stock is traditionally constructed. The installation of energy efficiency measures to these buildings can require significant intervention and care: care both to ensure that retrofit measures are installed correctly and work with the way that each building was designed to deal with moisture, ventilation and thermal performance, and care to ensure that the cultural significance of each building is maintained in the adaptation process But retrofit of traditional buildings also creates significant opportunity for innovation, whether through application of new methods, or through experiment with low-carbon materials for fabric interventions such as insulation.

As the lead public body for Scotland's historic environment, we are increasingly being asked - through both our technical research service and in our statutory planning role - for advice on the practicalities of retrofitting traditional buildings, and for support in testing retrofit products that utilise traditional, sustainable materials. However, we currently lack the space and resources necessary to meet this demand. RICHeS funding will enable us to procure a building to house a new national centre for best practice in the retrofit of traditional buildings. This centre, located next to our existing Engine Shed facility, will work alongside our activity there, and house our retrofit activities and related training and technical research. Through this new space and targeted...