Retrofit and Insulation

In addition to the general sites mentioned on the main Resources page, the following sources of information have been found helpful:

Your home’s EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) tells you how efficient your home was at the time of assessment, and includes advice on priority actions to improve its efficiency, their cost and benefit.  Most homes now have one – you can download it from the government website, which also explains what the certificate tells you. Most homes in Kinver are EPC D or worse.  Modern homes are usually better insulated.

Herefordshire Green Network is a great resource of information on green living and action.  Its  Building Sense project includes an excellent series of retrofit webinars on youtube, including on older homes. Search for them on Youtube under HGN Building Sense.   e.g Retrofitting a traditional terraced home.

The AECB  (Association for Environment Sensitive Building) is aimed largely at professionals, and works towards environmentally responsible building practices

Publications:

Two excellent general guides to retrofit and insulation are:

Sustainable Renovation Scotland : a comprehenisve guide to retrofit – it references Scottish standards, but the principles are sound.

Herefordshire_Net_Zero_Retrofit_guide

Many of our homes in Kinver, are solid wall (ie not cavity wall).   These were designed to ‘breathe’, and insulating them raises some special issues.  The following two sources focus on insulation of solid walls and of older homes in general:

A Bristolian’s guide to Solid Wall Insulation is by now a standard guide to insulating older homes, clear and practical.   (on our  website)

Retrofit and Energy in Historic Homesand other Historic England publications deal with solid wall insulation and protection of historic value.