The UK’s heritage bodies, Cadw, Historic England and Historic Environment Scotland, have teamed up to publish a new handbook to support learners undertaking retrofit skills and qualifications
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time, and the UK’s commitment to reach net zero by 2050 is an essential mitigation strategy. It is an ambitious target that requires all sectors and industries to act. The built environment is no exception.
Approximately 17% of the UK’s carbon emissions come from our buildings. It is estimated that 80% of the buildings that will exist in 2050 are already built, which means decarbonising the existing building stock is a priority to reach net zero targets.
Approximately 6.5m buildings in the UK – 20%-30% of all buildings in England, Scotland and Wales – are of traditional construction, so ensuring we have the right skills to adapt and retrofit these buildings will be key to our success.
Mitigation and adaptation
Improving the energy efficiency of our buildings isn’t just about climate mitigation. It is also about reducing costly fuel bills and ensuring our homes are healthy places to live, free from the impacts of cold, damp and mould.
The climate has already changed and, despite our trajectory to net zero, will continue to do so. Consequently, our historic buildings also need to be made resilient to a changing climate that includes higher maximum summer temperatures and increased rain and storm events so that they continue to tell the stories of our heritage and can be enjoyed by future generations.
Performance differences of traditional buildings
Traditional buildings – typically built before 1919 – used different construction methods to modern buildings and therefore perform differently, particularly in how moisture is managed. These differences in construction mean that there are specific considerations when energy efficiency measures and other adaptations are introduced.
Skills gaps in the retrofit workforce
However, there are known knowledge and skills gaps in the workforce expected to work on these buildings.
Research published in 2023 estimated that we need 205,000 full-time workers to retrofit the UK’s traditional buildings in order to meet net zero targets. This is more than double the number of people estimated to already be working on these buildings in occupations relevant to retrofit.
All of these workers – both existing and incoming to the workforce – need to know how to work appropriately with traditionally constructed buildings.
Yet only 28% of respondents to Historic England’s recent Skills Needs Analysis are confident that existing training provision for work on traditionally constructed buildings will give tradespeople the skills they need to install low carbon and energy efficiency measures.
A collaborative approach to tackling skills challenges
The UK’s heritage bodies are therefore collaborating with awarding bodies and industry to strengthen the training available. Cadw, Historic England and Historic Environment Scotland have contributed to the development and review of National Occupational Standards, Apprenticeship Standards and qualifications, as well as industry standards such as the retrofit PAS (Publicly Available Specifications).
A particular focus of this work is a qualification that centres on buildings of traditional construction. The Level 3 Award in Energy Efficiency Measures for Older and Traditional Buildings plays a key role in disseminating heritage knowledge to the retrofit workforce, giving learners an understanding of how traditional buildings perform and the suitability of energy efficiency measures for their construction type.
The award is a requirement for certain retrofit roles under PAS2035 and PAS2038 – the industry standards that set out good practice for retrofit interventions – where buildings being treated are of traditional construction.
The heritage bodies’ new publication is a handbook to support learners undertaking the award and is relevant to other retrofit qualifications, providing an additional resource to be used alongside training delivered by a registered provider. It is freely available on the Historic England, Historic Environment Scotland and Cadw websites, including in Welsh.
Robust and holistic retrofit
The handbook gives a comprehensive view of the retrofit process through a whole building approach. This means taking a holistic view that draws on a range of relevant skills and experience to develop a full understanding of the building and its context, and of the interactions between proposed measures. It also provides learners with a robust understanding of building performance and pathology.
Without this holistic approach and underpinning technical knowledge, there is a risk of unintended consequences, leading to the degradation of building fabric and health
impacts for occupants.
It is also the key to balancing climate intervention and heritage matters: improving the energy efficiency and climate resilience of these buildings and protecting their unique qualities are compatible goals, achievable through a whole building approach to retrofit.
Opportunities
At the heart of the handbook’s content is a key message: traditional and historic buildings can be retrofitted and have a role to play in climate action.
However, we need to develop the workforce that can deliver it. Through their collaborations in this area, the nation’s heritage bodies hope to break down the perceived barriers to retrofitting historic buildings by improving the standard of training and advocating for the inclusion of more traditional building content across retrofit and construction qualifications.
Cadw, Historic England and Historic Environment Scotland provide advice and guidance on looking after historic buildings and sites, including climate change adaptation, retrofit and energy efficiency advice.
The Level 3 Award in Energy Efficiency Measures for Older and Traditional Buildings is awarded by NOCN and ABBE. Find registered training providers on their websites.
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