A New Method to Improve Energy Efficiency of Historic Buildings

How can historic buildings become more energy efficient while conserving their heritage values? A doctoral thesis provides the answer by presenting a new method for combining climate goals and heritage values in historic buildings stocks.

Renovate to improve energy efficiency of historic buildings - and at the same time preserve them for the future. It is not easy to balance careful administration of historic buildings with the need to make them more energy smart. A new thesis at the University of Gothenburg has taken up the challenge and shows the way towards improving energy efficiencies that does not damage the historic and cultural values. The goal is to make it easier to develop strategies for energy efficiency in large building stocks.

"Historic buildings are a significant part of our total building stocks," says Petra Eriksson, who has conducted her research in a collaboration between the University of Gothenburg and Uppsala University. "There are excellent opportunities for improved energy efficiency here. At the same time, we need to take into account the buildings' importance as part of our cultural heritage. If we are to achieve our climate and energy goals, we need a broad-based approach that addresses not only individual historic buildings, but entire building stocks."