Gwynne Anthony 2020

ART506 Dissertation 2019. Anthony Gwynne . 93 (viii) New standards being produced for guidance are too expensive to buy (PAS 2030, 2035 and BS 7913). These costs are putting guidance out of the reach of most people who will not be able to use them and likely to default to the free of charge Approved Documents for guidance. 8.3Drivers of change (i) Home improvements and energy efficiency measures are being driven by building owners through: o Aspirations of improved thermal comfort o Changes in climatic conditions (wetter winters and dryer/hotter summers and increased humidity). o Changes in legislation and the Building Regulations (ii) Improvements to insulation standards and energy efficiency targets to the existing building stock is being driven by the UK Governments to achieve net zero carbon by 2050. (iii) Decarbonization of Welsh housing by 2050 is being driven by the Welsh Government and have produced reports making the following recommendations: o Existing housing stock is to be made more energy efficient. o There should be no distinction between performance standards for retrofit and newbuild. o There should be no distinction between standards based on tenure or housing type. 8.4Case studies The five case studies in section 4 demonstrate how the guidance for upgrading modern buildings in the Approved Documents is being inappropriately applied to traditional, historic and listed buildings by designers, builders and property owners. Case studies 1, 2 and 3 are good examples of how inappropriate upgrading is being carried out. Case studies 4 and 5 are good examples of the unintended consequence of applying inappropriate upgrading to a vapor permeable walls, causing caused deterioration (and even collapse in case study 5) of the building fabric, leading to mould growth hazardous to the occupant’s health.