Energy conservation improvement of the existing building park, constraints and challenges: case of granite traditional constructions in the United Kingdom.

The increase in energy price has sparked a debate in the UK as to what would be the best way to address this problem. The British Prime Minister gave a straightforward and radical answer, suggesting that, existing building stock should be improved to reach a certain standard. The goal is to reduce the energy consumption to ensure a reduction in the running cost of household asset in the UK. The government initiative was to make grants available to dwellings that shows a lack of energy efficiency this includes the increase of insulation of the buildings envelop as well as renewable energy generator and end use equipments. The CO2 emissions per capita and the reduction of the national dependency on finite fossil fuel resources are achievable via major refurbishment programmes of both owners occupied and rented properties. Many of the easy measures have been done, leaving only the major areas that need addressing. These areas are complex and expensive therefore home owners and private landlords are deterred from addressing them. Incremental improvements are no longer cost or physically effective, however; therefore a holistic and integrated approach to buildings refurbishment is required. Dealing with the existing building stock will become an important topic for architects, town planners and civil engineers [1]. The aim of this research is to present the different possible scenarios of refurbishment based on the most popular building typologies in the UK