Installed Measures:
Personal Story
Kate Calvert lives with her family in an 1860 end of terrace property. They have refurbished their house and achieved a 62% carbon saving. They have installed numerous measures to make it more sustainable. These include double glazing, selective internal and external wall insulation, loft insulation, roof and floor insulation, a new condensing boiler, wood burning stove and solar PV panels.
Motivations
Reducing carbon emissions and climate change.
Maps of the area and the interior of the property suggest it was built in the 1860s.
A photograph taken in 1904 shows it in a very poor state of repair and the bomb damage map suggests there was some damage during WWII and indeed, part of the rear elevation is not in original brick. As it was bowing, this was partially rebuilt as part of the refurbishment works.
By 1984 the property had been significantly bodged about and had spent time as bedsits, complete with asbestos panels over the original doors. It needed a new valley roof, new flooring in three rooms, new plumbing and more. Possibly as a result of the bomb damage, the house tilted forwards rather than back, draining rain into the building rather than down the gutter.
This was all addressed, not least with a new roof, but by 2010 it needed refurbishment as the roof leaked in heavy storm weather. Furthermore, the bathroom extension, built it seems immediately after WWII, was parting company with the house. The insurance company required that we cut down our fine bay tree but on rebuilding we found the problem was from an old soakaway drain.
As we had acquired the yard behind the house to create a garden we undertook a total refurbishment, which offered the chance to introduce a large number of eco measures. This included replacing the valley roof with a pitched roof, enabling the installation of PV panels.
A trainee Green Deal assessor has used the house as a case study and reports that it currently rates 77 on an Energy Performance Certificate – a high C rating. Were we to install secondary glazing on our sash windows, which we may after we have tested their refurbishment through a winter, that would bring us up to a B rating. We understand that is the highest level achievable in a retrofitted house.
Benefits:
A bonus is that we should be warmer. The Islington climate change thermometer has at times advised us that the house was cold enough (15oC) to be at risk of respiratory illness.
