A survey of air leakage from buildings has shown that the best performers are those built in Tudor times, followed by Victorian buildings, while modern buildings have only reached comparable standards since new building regulations in 2000.

The survey was carried out by thermography and thermal imaging specialists IRT Surveys for British Gas. The company has software for relating the air losses to the resulting carbon dioxide generation and found that the half-timbered/wattle and daub buildings performed well, as did the solidly built Victorian buildings. The worst performers for air leakage were 1960s buildings and improvement since then was slow until recent innovations.

“Tudor buildings are more air-tight than modern buildings,” says IRT managing director Stewart Little. “They tend to get less air-tight when you get into the lightweight buildings built since the Sixties. But since the 2000 regulations, things have dramatically improved.”

He says thermographic imaging can show hidden problems. One survey of 30,000 homes which the Council had provided with cavity wall insulation and double glazing revealed that the wall insulation had effectively leaked away. They can show where contractors have cut corners in new buildings too.

Source:
http://www.irtsurveys.com/index.html