Congratulations on being the owner of a heritage place or living in a heritage area.

The National Trust and the City of Greater Geelong would like to help you retain the heritage value of your property whilst implementing energy saving measures. This leaflet is a guide to enhancing the heritage and sustainability of your place.

Heritage places reflect the diversity of our community. They enrich people’s lives and provide tangible connections to the past and lived experiences. Importantly the conservation of heritage places can have environmental social and economic sustainability benefits.

Retain rather than remove

Can keeping heritage buildings make a difference to the environment? If you think of the energy that has also been consumed in producing the building the answer is yes. Known as embodied energy in existing building stock it is equivalent to 10 years of the total energy consumption for the nation.*

Once a building reaches over 50 years in age recurring embodied energy savings increase dramatically. It can therefore be better for the environment to retain reuse and adapt heritage buildings rather than demolish them. This is because the need for new construction materials is minimized especially if designed carefully.

Heritage dwelling Geelong West with energy-efficient rear addition

* C. Tucker ‘Embodied and Lifetime Energies in the Built Environment’ CSIRO 2000.

Solar panels

Solar Panels require careful consideration about their placement to ensure no heritage impacts on the character of the building. Where possible rear roof faces are the best heritage outcome.

North-facing Edwardian dwelling with solar panels installed on the side roof face.

Although north roof faces are most ideal installations on east or west roof faces are possible and more ideal as they have far less heritage impact on the character of the front portion of north-facing buildings.

In situations where alternative less visible locations on the roof might not be possible installations on garages and other outbuildings might be an option.

Solar panels installed on the rear garage instead of the front roof face of the dwelling.

Freestanding panels

Freestanding panels (below) might be an alternative where solar panel installations on the roof of a significant dwelling will have a visual impact or where the panels might damage significant roof cladding.

Outbuildings

This farm outbuilding (below) was used for solar panel installation allowing the significant dwelling to remain unencumbered of panels on the north roof face that is highly visible from the road.