Sustainable Heritage Regeneration: Future-Proofing Our Past for a Net Zero Future
This course offers a series of weekly modules over a 6-month timeframe. It is designed to provide early-career architectural professionals with the essential knowledge and practical strategies to transform built and archaeological heritage into a key part of the solution for sustainable redevelopment. The course focuses on maximising the embodied carbon of existing buildings, mastering the ‘fabric first’ approach, and sensitively integrating renewable energy.
Course Content (12 contact hours and 8 assessment hours)
Part 1: Sustainable Management
This part of the course focuses on the “fabric first” approach and mastering the management of existing historic structures to improve their performance and longevity.
Module 1: The Urgent Imperative: Heritage, Climate & Carbon
Topics: Understanding the principles by which we work to combat the climate crisis and its impacts on the built environment, defining heritage (distinguishing between pre- and post-1919 built environments), and the embodied carbon power of existing buildings.
Module 2: Decoding the Building: Building Physics & Fabric First
Topics: Historic building physics, appropriate insulation strategies for various historic wall types, and identifying/addressing damp issues with heritage-sensitive solutions
Module 3: Climate Adaptation, Buildings & Archaeology
Topics: Specific climate change impacts on archaeological sites and historic landscapes (e.g., coastal erosion, flooding), and adaptive strategies like rapid recording techniques
Part 2: Sustainable Re-use
This part of the course focuses on adaptive reuse, circular economy principles, and integrating modern interventions into historic contexts to unlock new value.
Module 4: Adaptive Reuse: Unlocking Value
Topics: Principles of adaptive reuse, the potential of industrial heritage, and balancing change with significance while retaining character
Module 5: Net Zero Compliance, Renewables & Integrated Strategies
Topics: Whole-Life Carbon Assessment, sensitively integrating renewable energy into historic contexts, navigating planning policy, and applying circular economy principles to heritage projects
Module 6: Collaboration, Policy & Future Directions
Topics: The essential role of interdisciplinary collaboration, funding opportunities, navigating policy frameworks, and emerging technologies in sustainable heritage
Expertise: Archway Heritage Ltd.
Mary Neale is qualified in built and buried heritage conservation MA(Archaeology) & MSc(Historic Conservation) and is a Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (MCIfA). Mary’s experience enables her to offer an integrated approach. The course offers an integrated approach by combining the technical and detailed aspects of heritage conservation with the broader, strategic goals of sustainability and climate action.
How it Differs from Other Courses?
1. It differs from other courses by its comprehensive scope facilitated by its more extended duration and specific audience needs. By adopting a multidisciplinary focus, the course goes beyond detailed conservation and repair techniques to include topics like current research into adaptive reuse, climate adaptation, and navigating policy frameworks. This aligns with the identified need for a multidisciplinary approach that addresses a range of skills, including social development, management, and digital competencies, in addition to technical skills.
2. Many of the other courses are highly specific and focus on individual craft skills or single topics. In contrast, this offer provides a holistic framework that connects specific skills to the overarching goal of a “net-zero future”.
3. The course is an online program, which makes it accessible to a wider audience, including those who may not be able to attend in-person training.