Freya Wise of the Open University presents her ground-breaking research in Cumbria, which looked at how historic buildings really operate, and the importance of not neglecting the building occupants in the assessment equation. Join Freya in conversation with Historic England’s Robyn Pender and Katie Parsons, discussing what this means for our approaches to retrofit.

About the speakers:

Freya’s PhD research examined the views, values and behaviours of residents within their older buildings, the influence that these have on building energy demand, and how well this performance is reflected in energy simulation models.

Dr Robyn Pender is a member of the Building Climate Change Adaptation Team, with a specialism in building environments and a strong long-term interest in the power of the historic built environment to contribute to workable solutions in the face of the climate emergency.

Katie Parsons is an experienced built and heritage environment professional with expertise in historic environment policy, strategic planning, spatial regeneration, and development management. As a full member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation and a Chartered member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, she is well-versed in legislation and procedure, policy development, and advising on the future management of the historic environment.