Raising the energy performance of historical dwellings
Abstract
Purpose
Earlier studies assume that historical dwellings and post-war dwellings in particular, are less sustainable than modern dwellings, justifying its demolition. Over time, historical buildings have been transformed and their energy performance improved. However, there is little known on the energy performance of historical dwellings. The purpose of this paper is to unveil the role of historical dwellings and its transformations in improving urban sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
In this research, historical dwellings (built=1970) are distinguished in listed and unlisted dwellings. Three cities were selected as case study – Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam – and three post-war neighborhoods – New-West, Mariahoeve and Ommoord. This research uses the difference in energy label (original vs current performance) to discuss the transformations of dwellings: comparing modern and historical; post-war and other historical; and listed and unlisted dwellings.
Findings
Findings reveal that historical and post-war dwellings have great potentials to raise the energy performance e.g. by applying after insulation and renewable energy sources. Furthermore, The Hague and its post-war neighborhood Mariahoeve have a considerably lower energy performance. Further research could relate the raising of energy performance to the cultural significance of such dwellings, to better discuss the role of attributes and their transformation to raising energy performance.
Originality/value
This paper addresses the knowledge gap of the current energy performance of historical dwellings, by presenting and discussing its role in improving urban sustainability.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed) and 3TU.Bouw, linking Eindhoven University of Technology in cooperation with TUDelft. Without their support, the research would have never been possible. The authors would like to thank the tutors Dr A.R. Pereira-Roders, L.C. Havinga, R.C. Verbruggen, Professor B.J.F. Colenbrander and Dr H.L. Schellen for their help and guidance during this research project. The authors would also like to thank the fellow students; Else Ferf Jentink, Michael Gravers, Anahita Haghparast, Sandra Sanchez, Eirini Sfakiotaki, Leon Tonnaer, Tim Willems, Peyvand Yavari, and volunteers involved with the fieldwork. Further, project partners as VideoHero, Vannut, Atriensis, as well as, the municipalities of Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam were crucial to its success.
Citation
van Krugten, L.T.F., Hermans, L.M.C., Havinga, L.C., Pereira Roders, A.R. and Schellen, H.L. (2016), "Raising the energy performance of historical dwellings", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 27 No. 6, pp. 740-755. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-09-2015-0180
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited