Old and new

We can all help to address climate change by cutting the carbon dioxide produced by existing buildings. Architects have a moral obligation to provide house-owners with information that allows them to make decisions about sustainability within their financial constraints. When new building work is combined with refurbishment, potential energy savings from improving the existing building usually exceed the gains achievable in new buildings.

This is a vitally important aspect of improving the sustainability of our national building stock. Whereas there are 26 million dwellings in the UK, only 160,000 new homes are built each year. Improving the energy efficiency of existing dwellings can have more impact on the nation's energy use.

When we create a new building from an old one, we re-use as much of the original building materials as possible. We design for energy-efficient use throughout the lifetime of the building, integrating efficient and sustainable energy sources with maximum insulation to make sure that all energy is put to good use.