Energy Guidelines for Historic Buildings: Reviewing the Regulatory Context and Recent Trends

Historic buildings have traditionally been granted exemptions in energy codes in both the US and EU.  This talk reviews existing guidance on energy efficiency and retrofits in historic buildings, in order to provide context for ASHRAE’s recent work. The defining features of historic buildings and special considerations for their retrofit are introduced, along with the basic tenets of historic preservation.  The nature of code exemptions is explored in some ASHRAE’s standards (e.g. 90.1, 100) and from the EU. The contents, approach, and key recommendations in a number of existing guidance documents (CIBSE, AiCARR) are reviewed, highlighting similar trends and major differences.