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/Case Study
Upgrading a commercial street of Listed Buildings
Introduction
This project highlights the successful alliance between Vital Direct Ltd and a managing agent representing an Estate Portfolio in one of London’s most famous streets. The street has historically been the home of gentlemen’s tailors but is now a successful mixed retail street with art galleries and small office suites to the upper parts. Almost all of the buildings are Grade II Listed.
Over an eight-year period Vital produced commercial EPCs for all of the buildings along Savile Row and provided advisory services to the managing agent, who also worked in partnership with the City of Westminster council to rapidly obtain Listed Building consent for all of these improvements. In 2023 the final building was upgraded to achieve an EPC Grade B certificate. Savile Row was the first complete street in London where every building has achieved an EPC Grade B.
The Challenges
- Low energy efficiency for all of these listed buildings
- Reliance on a dated gas boilers and old tungsten lighting impacting on the running costs
- Desire to Grade B in line with proposed MEES regulations
Vital's Solutions:
- EPC Assessment: Comprehensive site surveys were conducted to prepare new draft EPC’s reflecting the current state of each building.
- EPC Plus Reports/Draft predicted EPC’s: Bespoke reports to identify solutions to improve the building’s energy efficiency.
- Electric Heat Pumps and LED Lighting: Building by building the properties were upgraded with LED lighting and gas boilers removed in favour of electric air-con split heat pumps. Once work was completed for each building, Vital carried out a new site surveys resulting in new EPC’s achieving Grade B, ensuring compliance with the proposed 2030 MEES (Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards) and beyond.
The Results:
- Improved EPC Rating: All the buildings now have a good B grade EPC lodged on the government database
- Reduced Running Costs: All buildings are now “all electric”, delivering reduced running costs.
- Sustainable Future: These upgrades will ensure the long-term sustainability and contribute to a net-zero carbon footprint.
