Ayrshire Housing has hosted this seminar with the Energy Agency in association with South Ayrshire Council.
Building managers and designers, and policy makers are frequently disappointed by the gap between design intentions and experienced performance when it comes to energy efficiency and air quality.
This seminar highlighted some of the latest work in this area. Professor John Currie of Edinburgh Napier University described his before and after evaluations of air source heat pumps installed in 1950s’ rural housing. His study addresses the concerns of social landlords regarding the roll out of this technology. Barbara Lantschner and Matt Bridgestock spoke about the Hab-Lab project. This is an innovative partnership between Glasgow School of Art’s MEARU, John Gilbert Architects and five social landlords, including Ayrshire Housing. It aims to come up with practical ways of improving the quality of both retrofit projects and new build housing. Their case studies address the challenges of improving the performance of houses from the late nineteenth century onwards. Hab-Lab recently won the Saltire Society’s prize for innovation in housing.
You can see a John Currie’s report here.