FuturHist is a research project co-funded by the European Union under its Horizon Europe research programme and UK Research and Innovation. It stands for ‘an integrated typology-based approach to guide the future development of European historic buildings towards a clean energy transition’.

FuturHist aims to develop replicable retrofit solutions for historic buildings of the future whilst preserving their cultural significance. The project’s goal is to shift the focus from individual buildings to building typologies. As such, it will develop tailored intervention approaches that can be standardised and replicated in all buildings of the given typology with minor modifications. The overall ambition is to accelerate the sensitive retrofit of the historic building stock across Europe.

The project started in January 2024 and will last 4 years, until December 2027. It is implemented by a consortium of 18 partners across the whole Europe (Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, UK), coming from various backgrounds: research institute, universities, architectural practices, SMEs, NGOs, local authorities, heritage organisations (ICOMOS, INTBAU).

The project’s tasks include:

• Developing and testing a multidimensional decision-making methodology and a decision support system, structured as a step-by-step toolkit, to be integrated into the design process of historic building renovation
• Developing innovative solutions such as bio-based materials, internal insulation systems, window retrofits, HVAC, and RES integration for historic buildings
• Testing the toolkit and implementation of the innovative solutions in real-life ‘Demonstration Cases’ in Poland, Spain, Sweden and the UK 
• More information can be found on FuturHist’s website, here.

How EWH will contribute:

EWH will contribute to several Work Packages (WP), lead Work Package 6 ‘Scale Up’ and facilitate the implementation of the 2 UK ‘Demonstration Cases’. WP6 aim is to ensure that project results and research outputs can generate impact, covering 3 themes associated with targeted audiences: adaptation and transferability of FuturHist typology approach to achieve replicability to support public/private decision makers; policy proposals and heritage authorities’ knowledge transfer for policy makers; and management of the project’s technological results targeting technology suppliers.

The UK’s demonstration cases, aims and objectives:

The 2 UK’s ‘Demonstration Cases’ aim to test and showcase an innovative product (self-healing lime render), technical solution(s) (historic window retrofit) and strategies (passive ventilation) in the context of two historic buildings located in Edinburgh: 

• Scottish Veterans Residences lodge – testing an innovative external lime render product with enhanced self-healing properties and potentially improved thermal performance s 
• Lister Housing Co-operative flat – retrofitting historic windows and implementing passive ventilation strategies. Watch our colleague explain our work in Lister in this video (also below)

These products, solutions and strategies will be developed during the FuturHist project by project partners and will then be tested in these two buildings. Their performance will be assessed through technical/social monitoring of the buildings that will take place before and after the works.