Don’t throw your house away

We are very pleased to have been awarded funding by the RIBA for our research project Don’t throw your house away: a user manual for reducing embodied carbon in domestic extensions

As the government releases a £950m plan to upgrade the nation's homes in pursuit of operational carbon emission reductions, and new permitted development rights are rolled out across the country, we can expect a boom in house extensions and a subsequent increase in embodied carbon emissions.

This research will look at the carbon impacts of a range of scenarios, explored via a typical Victorian terraced house, a type that makes up one of the largest proportions of the UK housing stock and requires considerable engagement with existing building fabric to upgrade to modern standards.

This will culminate in a handbook for architects with recommendations for holistic design approaches and key material choices to reduce the embodied carbon of a typical British house extension, while maintaining operational performance.