Baselining Buildings: the importance of understanding building performance

1 - 2pm, Wednesday 22 April

Who is this talk for?

Ideal for buildings professionals and students, as well as those with wider interest in conservation and repair of our built heritage.

Price

£20 (£15 concessions*)

What this talk is about

Relatively few UK dwellings are currently benchmarked prior to energy efficiency improvements. This means assumptions are made by specifiers regarding how the building currently performs, which may - or may not - reflect the actual performance of the building. Older buildings can often be misjudged, and incorrect assumptions could result in unintended consequences and/or client disappointment.

Diane Hubbard will examine some of the assumptions made about existing dwellings, drawing on her wide experience of testing hundreds of buildings of all ages.

IT requirements

This talk will be held via Zoom as a webinar, including a live Q&A session with the speaker.

You will need a computer, phone or other device with a stable internet connection.

The recordings will also be available to those attending to watch for one month after the events.

Speaker(s)

Diane Hubbard, Founder, Green Footsteps Ltd

Diane is passionate about the need to understand our existing dwellings and the importance of understanding air tightness whatever the age of the building.  From an academic research base in pre-1900 buildings, she has spent more than 15 years working in practical building physics consultancy, testing a wide range of buildings from colleges to cottages and castles to understand the roles of moisture, infiltration and deliberate ventilation. Diane’s practical work with her consultancy, Green Footsteps, has helped her identify a key gap in the retrofit process - the importance of baselining a building pre-retrofit. To address this issue, she has written and delivers the Home Energy Doctor Baselining Buildings course (NOCN accredited), providing the practical training to enable existing building professionals to baseline buildings pre-retrofit using air tightness testing equipment and thermography. In 2025, Diane established Home Energy Reduction CIC to work with third sector organisations, with the aim of reducing the retrofit performance gap on existing projects through the delivery of Baselining Buildings training.  

Accessibility

Closed captions are available for this talk.

Anything we can do to make this event more accessible for you? Please email education@spab.org.uk

* Concessionary prices are available for students and people who are unwaged or on low income. There are no eligibility criteria, these discounts are available for anyone who needs them. This is a trust-based system and we do not require proof or even an explanation of the rate you choose.

All bookings are subject to our Terms and Conditions.

Photo credit: Diane Hubbard