Investigations into Large Scale Energy Efficient Upgrading of Existing Public Housing in Glasgow

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This paper describes a project undertaken by the Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit (MEARU), which investigated options for energy efficient upgrading of existing public rented housing estate in Glasgow. Wyndford was constructed in the 1960’s and 70’s and is typical of much of this type of stock in Scotland. It contains the major salient defects of the period, such as low levels of insulation, cold bridging, poor ventilation, expensive and uncontrollable heating systems. It is becoming increasing clear that targets for reductions in CO2 emissions can only be met by addressing the problems of this type of legacy stock, but so far the technical, economic and social implications of this have not been given sufficient attention. This project is significant for a number of reasons. Firstly it proposed and costed a series of options for both energy efficiency refurbishments (reduced energy demand) and also options for on site generation (increased energy supply) in an existing public housing scheme.

Secondly the stock is managed by a community controlled Housing Association, a form of housing management pioneered in the West of Scotland that enables a high degree of user participation. Users are represented in the management committee and user engagement was a key element of the project.

Thirdly, the project encompassed the whole of the Wyndford estate, with 5 different house types, ranging from maisonettes to 26 storey tower blocks, with over 1900 properties. Thus the scale of the project gave greater scope for holistic approaches, with economies of scale and long-term strategies, and can be seen within the context of housing policy in Scotland and the UK.

The paper will provide an overview of the strategies and summarise social, economic and technical findings of the project.

Stream: Environmental Sustainability, Economic Sustainability, Social Sustainability

Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

Dr. Sharpe has both practice and research experience in a number of fields, including user participation, particularly using digital technology, environmental and low energy design and sustainability. His Ph.D. examined the nature of community architecture and design participation and looked in detail at the potential for CAD for participatory design projects.

He applied and developed this research in practice whilst working as an architect for the Technical Services Agency, a tenant managed Community Technical Aid Centre, where he worked on a variety of housing and other design and rehabilitation project, and developed further expertise in energy related technical issues.

He is now the Head of Architectural Technology at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, and Co-Director of the Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit (MEARU). The unit has an established track record of high quality research into environmental architecture and undertakes both research and consultancy.

It operates at a unique interface between architectural design, science based research and human factors. The unit is built on an established track record in passive solar energy design and participatory design, but its remit now includes all aspects of construction, low energy design and sustainability.