Victorian Houses Can Have A Green Makeover Too
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07. 7.08
Victorian houses in Toronto
It's all very nice to talk about green, energy efficient housing from the ground up, but what do you do if you live in an old Victorian house with solid brick walls? As Louise Bloom of the South East England Regional Assembly told the Guardian, 'Eco design is very sexy, but it's good to see what ordinary householders can do. The majority of our housing is old, so it's important to put across the message that a lot can be done to improve it.'
One Brighton area family spent eight months insulating floors and walls, adding solar hot water and radiant heating to cut CO2 emissions by 72%.
It is tough working with old houses; changing the windows can destroy the character of the building, and insulating often means gutting the whole interior. It's also expensive, but as one woman said about her skeptical husband: 'He didn't believe we would ever get back what we'd spent, although, with what's happened to gas and electricity prices, it won't be long before he has to eat humble pie.' ::the Guardian
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I'd like to see an update on this story in a few months, with a results-based estimate of the payback time. Is it 2 years? 5? 8?
Rehabbing an old house can be easily done in a 'green' sustainable way that doesn't have to gut the interior, uglify it, or otherwise make it an expensive disaster.
Windows can be readily upgraded with repairs, weatherstripping, storm windows, better latches, removal of counterweights and filling of voids.
Walls and ceilings can be insulated with blown-in insulation through very small holes (
Might want to spare some thought for awnings or large trees to the South side of the house. When you re-roof, choose light color shingles - same price.
Insulation and sealing can do wonders for the livability of an old house, and are often one of the least expensive/highest payback strategies. Once that is done, you can look to replacement of older heating and cooling equipment that's past the end of its service life or about to need repairs. Well chosen new equipment can be more than twice as efficient as what is installed. Point of use water heaters, condensing furnaces, Energy Star rated appliances, etc. This is also where properly sized and situated solar collection can make some contribution.
You can spend wildly, or try to make the house do things in ways its utterly unsuited for. But there's no need. Older houses usually have lots of features built in that are tailored to the local climate. Listen to your house and work with it.
Personally, I wouldn't be so concerned about the reductions in their bills, but the astonishing improvement in quality of living in one of these houses. They're drafty and difficult to heat as a result. I'm sure that there were plenty of places that you just wouldn't want to be in this house during the winter months. Plus the radiant heating would make the whole place feel that much nicer. That alone would be worth the money spent - the savings on your electric and gas bills would be icing in comparison.
Personally, I wouldn't be so concerned about the reductions in their bills, but the astonishing improvement in quality of living in one of these houses. They're drafty and difficult to heat as a result. I'm sure that there were plenty of places that you just wouldn't want to be in this house during the winter months. Plus the radiant heating would make the whole place feel that much nicer. That alone would be worth the money spent - the savings on your electric and gas bills would be icing in comparison.
i love victorian houses and it's nice to know that you don't have to knock the whole thing down to go green. it's preserving the environment and history
I always like hearing about ways to improve older homes—especially in urban or urbanized suburban areas—as opposed to new construction. I live near Philadelphia, PA and there are tons of empty homes in need of this treatment (or any treatment) in Philly.
I agree with SheepGuy. Philly is one of those places that makes me wonder why there is suburban sprawl at all- the United States needs to address why there are hundreds of thousands of abandoned structures while new, shoddy housing is (still) being built- around the ring-of-scum suburbs in my hometown- Memephis, TN, for example.
I am going to buy and green up one of those old Philly houses sometime soon! So here's to me!
I live in an outdated house. Brick walls, old furnaces, and nearly-impossible to change lighting. And with rising food costs, gas prices, and soaring bills, we have no time to "green" our house, let alone have enough money to actually do it. so, i take my hat off and applaud to whoever has the patience (and money) to do this like the couple in the article.