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 expansion of our existing mobile testing equipment for understanding the performance of buildings pre- and post-retrofit, we will enhance and upscale our ability to look at thermal and moisture performance and indoor air quality, all of which have negative effects on human health and wellbeing if not properly addressed.

Heritage science will sit at the heart of this new centre, with scientific research helping us to inform practice and set standards. Through the resulting new retrofit centre, we will work with academic and commercial partners to test and develop new methods and products. This work will be done through and alongside our technical research programme, in which we test conservation and enhancement interventions on a variety of building types and share resulting learning through publications and policy guidance.

Collaboration will be key to the activity of the new centre, and we will work not only with academic and commercial partners, but with local authorities and third sector organisations to target interventions where they can best inform standards or help residents in need. The new centre will also provide a dedicated learning space where we will work to upskill contractors and other specialists in the use of the monitoring equipment so that their use and benefits can be widened.

Although based in Scotland, training will be available to anyone resident in the UK, thus supporting the interdependent UK heritage and construction sectors. By investing in understanding and making our heritage assets fit for the future, we can ensure that their occupants lead healthier and happier lives.