Lessons From An Ambitious Retrofit In A Glasgow Tenement

By
Rosemary Foulds
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exterior view of a four storey building, which was constructed in the 19th century
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It looks like any number of 19th century tenements in Glasgow, Scotland, but there have been big changes behind the scenes.

This writer has never been to Scotland, but 107 Niddrie Road in Glasgow has become a familiar address. The building is over 100 years old and belongs to the Southside Housing Association, which owns and manages social rent housing in neighbourhoods on the south side of the city.

The Southside Housing Association decided to renovate 107 Niddrie Road, which contains eight one bedroom flats. The Housing Association set their sites high, aiming to achieve the Passivhaus EnerPHit rating1. Affordablehousing action has reported on this renovation at various phases2.

At the end of this long process, there’s some good news and some bad news. Let’s start with the bad news: the renovation did not achieve the Passifhaus Enerfit standard. This was very disappointing for the building team, who had worked so hard during the renovation.

Still, 107 Niddrie Road is a very energy efficient building. It exceeds the Scottish Government’s highest standards for energy efficiency3. And significantly, the tenants at 107 Niddrie Road did not see their energy bills spike after Russia invaded the Ukraine.

The project was the first of its kind, which always involves unexpected costs. There were also unexpected delays. The project cost a lot of money because the renovation was so extensive4.

With these extra cost factors and the delays, you’d almost expect that the renovation would receive a negative assessment, especially when compared with tearing down the old building and constructing a new one. Researchers applied the Scottish government’s stringent methods and standards to complete the cost benefit analysis for the renovation. Their conclusion? The renovation project conferred more benefits and fewer costs than tearing down the building and replacing it with new construction.

The UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CACHE) has pulled together a summary video that discusses the project from start to finish. At six minutes, it is ideal for people who want the headlines and don’t have the time or inclination to read cost benefit analyses and technical reports. The video includes an interview with one of the new tenants.

You can watch and listen on CACHE‘s youtube page:  Niddrie Road: lessons learned from a net-zero tenement retrofit

Footnotes

  1. Read more about EnerPHit at the Passive House Institute: EnerPHit Certification
  2. Try: Energy Retrofits In Older Homes: A Case Study
  3. The government is not expecting every home in the country to achieve the Passifhaus Enerfit standard, but has set an ambitious goal to reduce emissions.
  4. Making it energy efficient required stripping out the interior and adding insulation and an air circulation system. Its historic designation limited the change that could be made to the front of the building.