Maintenance and Repair for Energy Efficiency
Building condition has a major influence on energy use. Defects such as damp walls increase heat loss, due to their higher thermal conductivity. Poorly fitting doors and windows substantially reduce thermal performance due to convective heat loss. Poorly maintained building services do not operate efficiently.
Studies have quantified the scale of operational energy savings provided by maintenance and repair. Investing in regular and timely maintenance, identifying and repairing building defects, and rectifying inappropriate past interventions:
- optimises the building's thermal performance
- prevents faults developing into major defects and the need for larger, more costly invasive works
- are key energy saving and thermal improvement measures
- are essential prerequisites to implementing any measures to improve energy efficiency
- are essential to the success of any whole building approach for energy efficiency and climate resilience
Techniques and materials must be compatible with those they are applied to, ensuring the moisture management properties of the traditional building fabric are not compromised.
Areas of dampness should be identified, sources established, and repairs undertaken. Close attention should always be paid to the adequacy and condition of rainwater systems.
Failure to deal with sources of damp (such as leaking rainwater goods or defective drains) can lead to serious damage that may harm the fabric of the building and/or its occupants' health and wellbeing. In extreme circumstances, a building may become uninhabitable if it is not brought into good repair before implementing energy efficiency interventions.
Learn more: Maintenance and Repair of Older Buildings
Learn more: The Role of Maintenance and Repair in a Low Carbon Future
Learn more: Webinar on Retrofit Fundamentals
