Professional Documents
Culture Documents
of traditional dwellings
Diane Hubbard
ArchiMetrics
Email: diane@archimetrics.co.uk
Abstract:
The focus of this research is in the field of ventilation in traditional dwellings,
specifically with reference to the rule of thumb quoted by English Heritage for historic
buildings of twice the normal level of ventilation being required.
Examination of the subject has taken place through a literature review and empirical
case studies of two groups of un-improved dwellings, considering the ventilation
delivered. One of the studies has been undertaken on behalf of the SPAB.
The results challenge the orthodoxy, with a number of dwellings having air
permeabilities which comply with the current regulations for new build dwellings and
common infiltration points have been identified.
The study also includes an introductory study of air flows related to flues and chimneys,
which may be an important factor in older buildings.
Keywords:
Air permeability, chimney, flue, traditional dwelling, ventilation.
1 Introduction
Domestic space heating accounts for 18% of UK energy use (BERR 2005) and, in order
to achieve significant reductions in carbon emissions, energy use in the existing housing
stock needs to be reduced significantly.
Generally built before 1919, traditional dwellings account for about 25% of the UK
housing stock (CLG 2010) and are perceived as hard to treat because of features such
as solid wall construction, the lack of damp proof course and the use moisture
permeable materials.
Ventilation plays an important role in all dwellings, controlling levels of moisture and
other pollutants, but it has been established that losses through excessive ventilation can
be significant (Orme 1998). There is a general perception that older buildings,
especially historic ones, require a greater level of ventilation (English Heritage 2010)
despite the fact there is currently little research into the delivered levels of ventilation in
existing dwellings.
With the impending introduction of the Green Deal, major refurbishment of the
traditional housing stock without understanding basic parameters of building
performance may lead to inappropriate measures being applied.
This paper explores the level of ventilation delivered in un-refurbished dwellings.
Approached through a literature review and empirical case studies, it adds to the body
of research on the performance of traditional dwellings.
2 Literature Review
It is widely accepted the fabric of traditional buildings functions in a different way to
modern structures, though there is limited research in this field and it is viewed as
complex (Halliday 2009). Moisture and ventilation are important components of this
picture, with the former having important effects on building performance and
durability as well as the comfort and health of their occupants (Garratt & Nowak 1991).
Considering ventilation, Approved Document F (HM Government 2010) defines it as
the supply and removal of air (by natural or mechanical means) to or from a space or
spaces in a building. It normally comprises a combination of purpose provided
ventilation and infiltration. Infiltration is the uncontrolled exchange of air between
inside a building and outside through a wide range of air leakage paths in the building
structure and purpose-provided ventilation the controllable air exchange between the
inside and outside of a building by means of a range of natural and/or mechanical
devices.
Purpose-provided ventilation breaks down into three components (ibid.):
Extract ventilation for removing moisture from wet rooms
Whole building ventilation
Purge ventilation.
ion of air infiltration through air leakage paths and ventilation through purpose provided
openings such as trickle vents. BRE air leakage tests indicate that air infiltration plays
by far the greater role in most dwellings.
A blower door test for air permeability is one method of quantifying infiltration and Part
L1A (HM Government 2010) provides an objective air permeability for new dwellings
of 10 m3h-1per m2 of building envelope @50Pa using this method. However, published
test results on existing houses are limited, the most extensive being shown in Fig. 1
(Stephen 2000).
35
30
25
Number of cases
20
15
10
0
20-21
10-11
11-12
12-13
13-14
14-15
15-16
16-17
17-18
18-19
19-20
21-22
22-23
23-24
24-25
25-26
26-27
27-28
28-29
29-30
6-7
9-10
0-1
1-2
2-3
3-4
4-5
5-6
7-8
8-9
Considering air permeability, Johnston et al (2004) express a widely held opinion that
older dwellings are more permeable than modern properties, corroborated by research
(Hubbard 2010), but Stephens research (op.cit.) questions this view.
One difficulty with quantitative analysis of the field is the lack of accessible data -
unlike new buildings, there is no requirement to air leakage test existing buildings
resulting in a limited range of available test results on what is a disparate body of
buildings.
3 Research Methodology
Air permeability testing through use of a blower door was chosen as the test method for
this study because of its wide acceptance (e.g. specification in Part L1A), minimal
disruption to dwelling occupants, availability of equipment and ease of testing. It is,
however, accepted the results may not directly represent the level of infiltration (BRE
1986), with alternative methods of measurement giving a more accurate representation,
and the research has been carried out bearing in mind these limitations.
Under the UK standard test method for air permeability testing (ATTMA 2010), a 50Pa
differential to external conditions is maintained within the building and deliberate
ventilation such as trickle vents, extractor fans, chimneys and other flues are excluded.
The air permeability is measured in m3 per hour per m2 (m3h-1m-2@50Pa) of building
envelope, including party walls, ground floor and ceilings. For the purposes of this
study, the buildings were depressurized below atmospheric pressure which permitted
the use of a thermal imaging camera to identify the key points of ingress through the
fabric.
Using the calculated building volume, the air changes per hour (ach @50 Pa) can be
calculated. This figure is easy to relate to but has the disadvantage of losing the
relationship to the surface area of building fabric.
In some cases, a secondary test on part of a dwelling was carried out. In accordance
with the ATTMA standard applied to accommodation such as apartments where the
dwelling forms only a part of a building, it was noted where it was not possible to vent
the untested part of the dwelling to external conditions.
It is recognized in the literature review that flues and chimneys could be a significant
factor in the ventilation levels in older buildings, but these are excluded from the
standard test procedure. As a crude indication, the intake for each flue was uncovered
whilst the building was depressurized. This offers no indication of actual air flow
related to chimneys, but can at least present some means of comparison of between
dwellings tested under the same conditions.
4 Findings and Discussion
Two groups of un-refurbished dwellings have been studied by the author. The first, Fitz
Steps was undertaken as individual research and the second, the SPAB Building
Performance Study is a two year study which is currently in progress. For both studies,
examination of air permeability forms only part of the research project.
The results of the air permeability testing are outlined in Table 1 and the following
comments can be made:
The air permeability results are around / just above the current requirements for
new build dwellings (L1A 2010, 10 m3h-1m-2 @50Pa)
These results are lower than anticipated from the literature review
They are similar to Stephen (2000), with a UK dwelling mean of 11.48 and an
air change rate for pre-1900 dwellings of 12.3ach @50Pa.
As part of the test process, the main air leakage points in each building were identified
as being via the ceiling / floor void and from the roof space (via stud walls).
Drewsteignton
Lower Brailes
Riddlecombe
Shrewsbury
Ashburton
Property
Consols
Skipton
Devon
Floor area 60 210 113 86 332 325 161
(m2)
Location Shropshire North Warwick- Devon Devon Devon Devon
Yorkshire shire
Approx. Earlier than 1790 19th 19th Early 19th 19th Mid 19th
Age 1820 Century Century Century Century Century
Type End terrace Detached Mid- Semi- Mid- Detached Mid-
with rear with 19th terrace Detached terrace (at barn terrace
extension. and 20th with 20th with least 3 conversion
century Century early and stages of with 1970s
additions extension late 20th building) extension.
Century
additions
Constru- Brick Sandstone Hornton Cob with Limestone Granite Clay-
ction of rubble stone (no cement rubble and slate
original rubble render timber rubble
dwelling core) frame with
slate
hung or
rendered
exterior
Number of 1 5 1 5 5 2 1
occupants
Building Yes Yes No No Yes No No
work in
progress?
Table 2 shows the diversity of the dwellings tested and the air permeability test results
are detailed in Table 3. It should be noted the dwelling at Ashburton could not be
depressurized to a 50Pa differential, so an extrapolated result is shown for this building.
Table 3 shows the broad range of air permeability results, ranging from
5.5 m3h-1m2 @50 Pa at Riddlecombe to 22.6 m3h-1m2 @50 Pa for Ashburton. Drawing
comparison to the building regulations for new dwellings (L1A 2010, 10 m3h-1m2 @50
Pa), three of the dwellings have an air permeability which is within this standard and in
the case of Riddlecombe (5.5 m3h-1m2 @50 Pa) substantially better.
With exception of Devon Consols, the dwellings which have higher air permeability
rates had an element of refurbishment taking place at the time of testing.
Table 3. SPAB Building Performance Survey 2011- summary of air permeability test results.
(Source: Rye & Hubbard 2011a)
Whole dwelling
Habitable building volume m3 134 458~ 263 189 817 759 379
Dwelling envelope area m2 185 401~ 285 245 690 708 380
Measured air flow m3h-1 @50 Pa 2106 6789~ 2478 1355 15615* 6139 7615
Air permeability test result m3h-1m-2 @50 11.4 16.9~ 8.7 5.5 22.6* 8.7 20.0
@50Pa Pa
Air changes per hour @ 50Pa ach @50 Pa 15.7 14.8~ 9.4 7.2 19.1* 8.1 20.1
Part of dwelling
Measured air flow m3h-1 @50 Pa 520 2152 927 11494 2804
Air permeability test result at m3h-1m-2 @50 6.4 9.4 5.0 22.4 5.9
50Pa Pa
Air changes per hour @ 50Pa ach @50 Pa 12.8 9.6 7.5 17.9 5.1
*Ashburton whole house figures may not be inaccurate due to human error.
~ Skipton not full area of dwelling due to issues with building preparation.
Five of the dwellings tested had 20th Century additions to the original building and a
number of secondary tests were made on either the original building or extension.
Subject to a proviso expressed under methodology, one addition appears to be less
airtight than the original dwelling (Drewsteignton) and two further properties show
similar results (Lower Brailes and Riddlecombe).
The thermographic surveys carried out in conjunction with the air permeability testing
identified a number of common infiltration points, including ingress via ceiling / floor
voids, around windows, door surrounds and loft hatches. In terms of more specific
problems, ingress around service pipes was noticeable at Lower Brailes. The property at
Devon Consols demonstrated a specific problem with significant ingress through the
external slate hung wall, which could account for its high air permeability.
Table 4 Air flow rates recorded under 50Pa pressure differential for the SPAB test dwellings.
Devon Consols
Drewsteignton
Lower Brailes
Riddlecombe
Shrewsbury
Ashburton
Property
Skipton
7 Acknowledgements
The funded SPAB Building Performance Survey has been supported in part by a grant
from the Dartmoor National Park Sustainable Development Fund.
The thermographic survey work was carried out using equipment kindly loaned to the
project by Cumbria Action for Sustainability.
8 References
ATTMA (2010), Technical Standard L1: measuring air permeability of building
envelopes (dwellings) October 2010 issue.
http://www.attma.org/downloads/ATTMA%20TSL1%20Issue%201.pdf, viewed
1/2011.
BERR, Domestic energy consumption by end use 1970-2005.
http://berr.gov.uk/energy/statistics/publications/ecuk/domestic/page18071.html, viewed
12/6/2008.
BRE (1986), Domestic draught proofing: ventilation considerations Digest 306, BRE,
Garston.
CLG (2010), English Housing Survey Headline Report 2008-2009.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/pdf/1479789.pdf, viewed on
21/5/2010.
English Heritage (2010) Energy efficiency in historic buildings application of part L
of the Building Regulations to historic and traditionally constructed buildings,
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/professional/advice/advice-by-topic/climate-
change/energy-conservation/building-regulations/, viewed on 8/3/2010.
Garratt, J. and Nowak, F. (1991) Tackling condensation: a guide to the causes of, and
remedies for, surface condensation and mould in traditional housing, BRE, Garston.
Halliday, S. (2009), Indoor air quality and energy efficiency in traditional buildings.
Historic Scotland Technical Conservation Group Technical Paper 6,
http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/traditional-buildings-air-quality-energy-
efficiency.pdf, viewed on 2/4/2010.
H M Government, (2010) The Building Regulations 2000: Approved Document L1A
Conservation of fuel and power, RIBA, London.
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_ADL1A_2010.pdf, viewed on
8/10/2010.
H M Government, (2010) The Building Regulations 2000: Approved Document F
Means of ventilation, RIBA, London,
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_ADF_2010.pdf, viewed on
8/10/2010.
Hubbard, D., (2010) Ventilation and condensation in traditional Lakeland dwellings:
controlling moisture and maintaining building performance. MSc AEES thesis,
Graduate School of the Environment, Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth.
Johnston, D., Wingfield, J. & Bell, M., (2004) Airtightness in buildings towards
higher performance. Interim Report No. 1 Literature review and built examples,
http://www.lmu.ac.uk/as/cebe/projects/airtight/airtight1.pdf, viewed on 19/3/2009.
Orme, M.,1998. Energy impact of ventilation: estimates for the service and residential
sectors, Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre (International Energy Agency),
Coventry.
Rye, C. and Hubbard, D. (2011a), The SPAB Research Report 2: SPAB Building
performance survey 2011, SPAB, London.
Rye, C. and Hubbard, D. (2011b), SPAB Building performance survey 2011 for
presentation at Salford Retrofit 2012 24 26 January 2012.
Stephen, R., (2000) Airtightness in UK dwellings IP1/00, BRE, Garston.
Warm, P. and Oxley, R., (2002) CIBSE Guide to building services for historic
buildings, CIBSE, London, pp18.