Memorandum submitted by the Historic Houses Association (ACC01)

 

 

Introduction

 

The Historic Houses Association represents the interests of Britain's historic houses, castles and gardens in private ownership. The HHA has 1,500 member properties of which nearly one third are regularly open to the public and a further 250 do so, on a part-time basis. The only criterion for membership of the HHA is that the member property is listed.

 

The HHA estimates that approximately two-thirds of the built heritage is privately owned and maintained. Between them HHA members represent, collectively, one of the greatest 'ownership' of listed buildings in Britain: both I and II* properties as well as of Grade II properties, many being ancillary buildings on large estates.

 

It is our members who manage much of the nation's finest privately owned heritage, paying for it and securing its future. Owners have extensive responsibilities in respect of the maintenance of both buildings and land, often at great personal cost. They have shown an increasing interest in and commitment to issues around energy conservation, both as measures to mitigate climate change and as a contribution to the efficient management of their properties.

 

Summary

 

· Any measures on climate change adaptation and mitigation need to comprehend the particular needs of historic buildings and not be simply imposed in blanket fashion. 

· The efforts of those responsible for the historic environment to adapt their properties in order to introduce measures that will ultimately play a role in mitigating climate change should be encouraged.

· The environmental benefits of maintaining historic buildings, as opposed to demolishing them and embarking on new build, should be acknowledged.

Key issues

 

1. The Climate Change Act 2008 established a statutory framework for work on climate change adaptation, including the requirement to undertake a UK-wide Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) and report on it within three years of the Act coming in to force, that is in January 2012 and also to set out a statutory National Adaptation Programme as soon as practically possible after publication of the CCRA and report on it at two yearly intervals. It is important to ensure that these processes fully take into account the particular needs of historic buildings which, by their nature may vary from those of more the recently built environment.

 

2. The HHA welcomes the development of a more robust and comprehensive evidence base about the impacts and consequences of climate change on the UK and of raising awareness of the need to take action now and help others to take action. Historic houses may have the opportunity to play particular roles in taking action to reduce the causes of climate change.

 

3. The HHA supports the need to mitigate climate change and promote better energy efficiency in homes. Indeed many of our member houses have already introduced energy efficient measures that are appropriate to construction of their individual houses.

 

4. Some historic houses are in a particularly strong position to develop small scale renewable projects and to maximise the use of biofuels, acting as examples of good practice in this area. For example, Stansted House in Hampshire responded to the situation whereby the rising price of oil in recent years has coincided with the falling value of chestnut coppice. In 2006, the Trustees decided to move to a biofuel heating system, utilising the chestnut coppice on the Estate. The boiler at Stansted is specified for high efficiency, minimising waste and double burning exhaust gases. The carbon emitted is balanced entirely by the additional carbon absorption from the management of the chestnut coppice, which is harvested on a 12-15 year cycle. Use of each tree is efficient too, because nearly 100% of the tree goes through the chipper, far more efficient than a normal firewood operation. The tiny amount of ash from the boiler, very high in potash, can go straight on the borders around the House.

 

5. However, the initial investment in such an operation is very substantial and the full capital costs inevitably fall on the owners. Under the circumstances, the provision of incentives, such as reductions in taxation on the purchase and installation of new equipment that will contribute to the mitigation of climate change, would help maximise examples of good practice such as that at Stansted.

 

6. Historic houses often have access to and utilise sustainable, renewable energy sources and there is an inherent environmental value in conservation as against new build. Dr Edmund Werna of the UN's International Labour Organisation, encourages heritage conservation, because it 'promotes small and medium enterprises, causes the drop of foreign exchange requirements by 50 to 60%, decreases overall cost by 10 to 30% and reduces environmental impacts'.

 

7. In addition, the planning system must take a flexible approach to the need for changes in the historic environment that enable energy saving and other measures that may reduce the causes of climate change.

 

8. The CCRA and the additional 'adaptation economic analysis' to improve understanding of the costs and benefits of adaptation measures, to give an overall indication of the scale of the challenge and to help identify priority areas for action, should bear in mind the unique challenges and opportunities which face the historic environment in this respect.

 

9. Many historic houses are businesses that act as the hub of local economies, particularly in rural areas, generating an economic contribution of over £1.6 billion and the maintenance of such businesses helps to reduce commuting and consequent enlargement of the carbon footprint, as does their emphasis on the cultivation and sale of local produce.

 

10. Under the Energy Performance Building Directive, Member states will be required to introduce by 2010 energy performance standards, which all buildings must eventually meet. HHA has urged the UK Government to accept and implement the exemption which is provided for under this Directive. Many historic houses and buildings will not be able to adapt to the aspirations of building control without potential damage to important historic features. In worst cases an inflexible approach may see the destruction of original windows, doors, flooring and roofs; while the long term damage as a result of ill considered 'improvements' to ventilation can lead to outbreaks of dry rot and death watch beetle

 

11. There are clear environmental benefits in maintaining historic buildings rather than demolition and new build. Much of the "green building" movement focuses on the annual energy use of a building, but the energy embodied in the construction of a building is 15 to 30 times the annual energy use. A recent study in the United Kingdom found that it takes 35 to 50 years for an energy-efficient new home to recover the carbon expended in constructing it.

 

12. According to the American academic Dominic Rypkema, '100% of heritage conservation advances the cause of the environment. You cannot have sustainable development without a major role for heritage conservation, period. The loss of historic buildings is the polar opposite of sustainable development; once they are gone they cannot possibly be available to meet the needs of future generations'.

 

 

1 October 2009