Greening the valley terrace

A demonstration project in Penrhiwceiber, Wales, intends to show that 19th Century terraced homes can be brought ever-greener into the modern world

When they were first built, the houses of Tyrfelin Street gave home to the men and their families who worked in Penrhiwceiber’s coal mines. It was a tough industry, in tough times, especially back in the 19th Century, but miners were notoriously stoical about the hardships they faced.

The last pits closed in 1985, ending a chapter in Wales’ social and economic history, but the houses remain; a living testament to the individuals and their communities both past and present. Housing standards, and lifestyles, have changed a great deal since those days – and we’re not just talking about outside toilets and a tin bath in front of the fire – so it can be a serious challenge to bring them up to a modern standard.

“Internally, the houses on Tyrfelin Street are fairly small, they’ve got very steep staircases – which these days wouldn’t get past building regulations – and they’re not thermally efficient,” said Antonia Forte, chief executive of Cynon Taf Community Housing Group.

They do, however, typify many of the properties that exist in thecommunities throughout the Welsh valleys, so the organisation has embarked on a programme to establish how best – and cost-effectively – such terraced homes can be transformed into greener, more energy-efficient homes that are suitable for modern and future living.

A tall order that may be, but it is instructive not just for the Welsh housing association, but for everyone across the UK looking to answer the question: how do we best go about reducing carbon emissions and improving the thermal performance of the nation’s more antique properties?

Cynon Taf has subjected six of its homes in Tyrfelin Street to a radical transformation in an effort to answer this question. It has worked in partnership with the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG), and the BRE, to remodel and refurbish the properties. The scheme represents an investment of £800,000 –funded jointly by Cynon Taf with its own resources and matchfunding from the WAG’s Heads of the Valleys Regeneration Area Programme.

Work saw four of the six houses knocked into one to create two new homes suitable for family dwelling, while the remaining two were left as single dwellings. The homes, owned by Cynon Taf, had been refurbished to give them inside bathrooms and toilets in a much earlier refurbishment, but the side-effect of this was to reduce the interior living space. In part, therefore, combining two properties into one, helped re-address space considerations to create a home environment suitable for children to have their own space, areas to do home work and otherwise play. It also meant that larger windows could be fitted to improve natural lighting.

The homes have also been thoroughly retrofitted with green gadgets to improve their thermal and energy efficiency. One might say no roof was left unturned, as the work included lifting off the rafters to insulate beneath the roof. Insulation was also fitted between the floors and extensive dry-lining insulated the walls. Efforts were also made to pinpoint and plug any and all sources of drafts to ensure the properties were properly airtight.

Other green measures include energy efficient boilers, argon filledwindows, low energy light fittings and appliances, solar thermal roof panels and new rooflights to further increase natural lighting.

In some respects, there’s a certain ‘overkill’ in the sheer amount of work that has been done to the properties, as Forte concedes, but as she points out it is not intended to present a model to roll out across Wales – rather to demonstrate and evaluate the entire package to see which aspects are most suited to wider application. With the physical work completed late last year, the first residents are moving in and the evaluation process begins.

“It’s relatively expensive but we never expected this to be a project that would be rolled out in its entirety,” said Forte. “What we have tried to do is look at what could be done and then evaluate each of the different measures to see what the payback is. The internal cladding and airtightness does seem to be something that has been very efficient, giving us the best payback for the amount of money that we’re putting in.”

The Welsh School of Architecture is working with Cynon Taf and residents to monitor energy consumption within the properties, but also to educate tenants on eco-friendly ways to get the best out of the technology and save money on fuel bills, to ensure that the lessons can be fully learned from the demonstration.

Already, there are some important lessons learned. One, as Forte mentioned, is the critical importance of insulation and airtightness, but the other has been the necessity of involving tenants.

“The involvement of the community is absolutely essential,” Forte said. We worked with tenants for the original workshops we did with the architects to help us come up with the best design.”

After all, who knows best how a property works but the people who live within its four walls?