Heritage Declares signatory and volunteer, Emma Healey, led the Barton Willmore Heritage Team in assisting the University of Reading with their sustainability upgrade projects in some of the listed university buildings, including Grade II* listed, Greenlands.
The current system was outdated with only two control centres leading the over- and under-heating of the buildings. The applications sought to gain Listed Building Consent and a Certificate of Lawfulness of Proposed Works to a Listed Building to upgrade the heating system within the buildings to increase their sustainability performance.
The aim of the project was to create a more sustainable heating system which could more easily be controlled but also reduce the costs of heating the building and reduce its carbon footprint. The team worked alongside the University and engineering team to develop a system that could be sympathetically installed within the listed buildings which would be more sustainable and financially viable for the University.
The system developed allowed each room to be heated individually, minimising the financial implications and reducing the harmful environmental impact. After negotiations with the council, the team successfully demonstrated that the proposed scheme minimised the impact to the building fabric and would not affect the character of the listed building as a building of special architectural or historic interest and the sustainability benefits would act as a clear public benefit, outweighing harm to the listed buildings.
Both projects were granted consent in 2021 with upgrades due to take place in 2022.
Find out more about the project on the Barton Willmore Website or email signatory Emma Healey.
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