The UKCMB management team, together with Nigel Griffiths, director of the Sustainable Traditioanl Building Alliance (STBA) have written a paper on some of the work and the legacy of the late Neil May, one of the pioneers in sustainable traditional buildings in the UK, and the founder of both UKCMB and STBA, among other organisations.

 

Abstract

Improving the energy efficiency of traditional buildings, which represent a large proportion of the building stock in the UK, is necessary to meet national targets on greenhouse gas emissions and alleviate fuel poverty. Traditional dwellings in the UK are defined as hard-to-treat homes because insulating them is not cost-effective or might lead to moisture-related issues. This has led to efforts from policy-makers and organisations towards minimizing moisture risk in the energy-efficient retrofit of traditional buildings. This paper presents an overview of the work done towards a moisture-safe retrofit in the UK in the past ten years, focusing on the Government’s policies and the work and legacy of the late Neil May, one of the pioneers in sustainable traditional buildings in the UK.