The UK's ageing houses must be insulated against uncontrolled heat loss, but this will require accepting changes to their appearance, according to a series of British architects who have recently carried out their own energy-led retrofits.
"The majority of homes in the UK were built before we understood about climate change," explained Sarah Wigglesworth, an architect who recently retrofitted her own home in London.
"If we do not insulate our homes and offices we are burning fuel just to throw it away into the atmosphere," she told Dezeen.
UK housing oldest and most poorly insulated in Europe
Housing in the UK is among the most poorly insulated in Europe, according to research by German technology company Tado. As Wigglesworth implied, this is largely due to its age. The Building Research Establishment (BRE) found that the UK has the oldest housing stock in Europe, with 38 per cent of the homes built before 1946, which compares to 29 per cent in France and 20 per cent in Italy. Additionally, 78 per cent of UK residents keep warm using gas central heating, the UK Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has found.
This means that most UK homes, which continue to rely heavily on burning fossil fuels for space heating, are losing warmth through their inadequately insulated envelopes.
Sarah Wigglesworth recently improved the energy efficiency of her Straw Bale House in London
Architecture for London founder Ben Ridley said that impr...