REVIEW AND ANALYSIS 29 This could seriously change the dynamics of the built environment. Maladaptation Too many buildings have been damaged and unfortunately will continue to be damaged until legislation, regulation and knowledge on how to deal with traditional and heritage buildings are more aligned and enforced through our planning systems. Hard data There is a lack of hard data, although with the many research projects around Europe particularly, we are now getting better data. We as a sector need to drive more exemplary projects that not only implement best conservation practice and best energy efficiency retrofit measures but also records data along the journey, including post-occupancy monitoring and publication of data. RECENT INITIATIVES These are just a few examples of the wide range of programs currently being developed by the heritage sector in Britain and Ireland to extend our knowledge of climate change and to reduce carbon. Climate Change Adaptation is the subject of several recent initiatives. Workshops organised by the Irish Green Building Council (www.igbc. ie) in 2019 were aimed at developing a Sectoral Plan for Built and Archaeological Heritage. Adapt Northern Heritage is a project being coordinated by Historic Environment Scotland which is concerned with helping northern cultural heritage adapt to the impacts of climate change through community engagement and informed conservation planning. Ballinskelligs Abbey, a 12th-century monastic ruin in County Kerry, is one of nine historic places from across northern Europe that are used as case studies for the development of adaptation plans – see http://bc-url. com/yb23pc1. Understanding Carbon in the Built Environment, Historic England, 2019: research carried out by Carrig Conservation for Historic England analysed whole-life carbon emissions before and after different energy efficient refurbishment scenarios for a Victorian terrace. The research showed that the refurbishment and retrofit of the existing building would reduce carbon emissions by more than 60 per cent by 2050, outperforming a newly constructed building of the same form and size– see http://bc-url.com/yb23pc2. Urban regeneration helps communities to bring redundant buildings back into use, but its sustainability benefits can go much further. Town Centre First is a new approach to regenerating towns in the Republic of Ireland which brings together representatives of local residents, business people, community groups and other stakeholders in a team to produce a new plan for their town centre. The town team is supported by the local authority through a dedicated town regeneration officer, with the aim of creating ‘viable, vibrant and attractive locations for people to live, work and visit’. Sustainability is at the heart of policy, including improving provision for cycling and walking, reducing commuting by enabling remote working, bringing redundant buildings back into use and retrofitting the existing building stock to reduce heat loss and carbon– see http://bc-url. com/yb23pc3. Guide to Energy Retrofit of Traditional Buildings – published by Historic Environment Scotland in 2021 (http://bc-url.com/hes-retrofit), this is a practical guide to the retrofit measures which can be used to improve the energy efficiency of traditionally constructed buildings while maintaining their historic fabric and creating healthy indoor environments. The advice draws on Historic Environment Scotland’s own research and references case studies as evidence. See also The Cadiz Document: InnovaConcrete Guidelines for the Conservation of Concrete Heritage, published by ICOMOS in 2021 (http:// bc-url.com/yb23pc4) and ‘FabTrads’, a project based in University College Dublin which is taking fifty typologies of heritage buildings and doing real time U value measurements to start a database to be shared internationally (https://www.ucd.ie/biace/projects/ fabtrads/). The journey to sustainability has begun. Peter Cox FRSA is managing director of Carrig Conservation International Limited (www.carrig.ie) and was President of the ICOMOS National Scientific Committee on Energy Sustainability and Climate Change from 2013 to 2020. The town centre of Callan, a small rural town in County Kilkenny which was chosen as a pilot scheme for the development of urban regeneration in the Republic of Ireland
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=