Overheating Risks in UK Low Energy Housing Retrofits – A Case Study

Improving energy efficiency through retrofit of the existing housing stock might cause overheating or thermal discomfort (DCLG 2012; CIBSE 2016). This paper investigates the energy performance and overheating risks of a retrofitted case study house in Sheffield and 5 proposed UK regions in the current and predicted future climate. The findings are in line with other research for new-build dwellings and suggest that a retrofitting to low energy house is likely to still be beneficial in a future changing climate. Furthermore, the most effective overheating mitigation strategies included the reduction of glazing g-values to appropriate values taking into account different localities, temporary internal shading, permanent external shading and night cooling. With a combination of adaptation measures, overheating is predicted to be minimal or non-existent in a future changing climate. Thus, active cooling would not be necessary for dwellings to achieve summer thermal comfort with appropriate passive measures.