The existing housing stock in the UK is the oldest stock in the whole of Western Europe, leading to poor housing conditions. The Scottish Government is committed to improving the performance of the existing housing stock and one of its goals is the 2050 low carbon target. Through this initiative, the Scottish Government aims to reduce 80% of the carbon consumption of the dwellings to 1990 levels by the year 2050. To achieve this target, social housing providers have adopted different refurbishment approaches for transforming existing dwellings. To aid with the transformation of existing dwellings, this research explores the performance of existing no-fines concrete dwellings. No-fines concrete dwellings were chosen for this research, as in the 1970s this system of construction was seen as a system that saved energy. However, now, in the 21 st century, these dwellings are classified by the Scottish Government as hard-to-treat homes. • The performance of no-fines concrete dwellings before and after refurbishment is evaluated using a mixed design methodology and an exploratory approach to data collection. The main findings of this research include that the performance of no- fines concrete construction is dependent on the quality of workmanship. The thermal performance of a no-fines concrete wall is influenced by the geographic location of the wall and the quality of workmanship. The refurbishment approaches adopted on no-fines concrete dwellings are not holistic and are influenced by the funding available and the ownership of the properties. Finally, as an un-holistic refurbishment approach is adopted when heating and ventilation regimes within properties fail, mould and dampness often occur within these properties. Refurbishment approaches fail as a result of the quality of workmanship, the choice of refurbishment approach and the lifestyles of the occupants. This research provides a framework to the social housing providers and occupants to adopt during the refurbishment of existing NFC dwellings. This research suggests future work on monitoring the indoor environment within dwellings after adopting the recommendations from this research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:572824 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Charles, Antoinette |
| Publisher | Glasgow Caledonian University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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