Looking beyond technology
Making historic buildings more sustainable involves an inherent tension. Residents want comfortable, energy-efficient homes, while interventions can affect a building’s character and heritage value. Standard solutions are not always suitable either. Historic buildings require a tailored approach.
Historic buildings are not simply structures that need to be adapted to meet today’s demands. They hold knowledge about smart and energy-efficient living. Double internal doors, vestibules and draught curtains helped retain heat. Shutters offered protection from cold and heat. Rooms were heated separately, while residents adapted their clothing, routines and use of the house to the seasons.
Many of these features are still present, but their original function has faded into the background. Shutters remain open because they are mainly seen as decorative elements. An insulating layer behind historic wallpaper may be recognised as part of the interior, but not as an energy-saving design principle. The wisdom is still there, but it has fallen silent.
Listening to the building and its residents
The designers involved in this Lab did not approach the issue from a distance. They visited historic buildings throughout the Netherlands and spoke with tenants, owners and residents of different ages and household types. They accompanied a DuMo adviser specialising in sustainable historic buildings, explored the RCE heritage library and brought together anthropologists, building specialists and architectural historians in seven expert sessions.
The same question remained central throughout: to what extent do residents listen to their historic home? By observing, asking questions and experiencing how the buildings are used every day, the designers identified where historic design principles align with contemporary habits and where they clash.
They deliberately explored the line between romanticism and realism. Not everything from the past deserves to return. Cold hallways and ice patterns on windows are not ideals worth reviving. Yet there is much to learn from how buildings, interiors and rituals once worked together to shape energy use. The designers therefore describe tacit wisdom as ‘the softer side of sustainability’: simple measures that improve comfort and reduce energy use, even if they do not contribute to a building’s energy performance rating.
Stories shape choices
One key insight from the research is that knowledge leads to appreciation. When residents described what made them proud of their homes, they mainly mentioned features with a story: an original fireplace, an old window frame or a special family heirloom. Once people understand why something is valuable, the way they treat it changes. What initially seemed like an obstacle can become a cherished part of the home.
At the same time, this knowledge is not always easy to find. A wealth of information about historic buildings and sustainability is available, but it is scattered across websites, archives and organisations. Residents rarely look for every piece of information available. They mainly want to know what is relevant to their own address, circumstances and questions.
The moment at which this knowledge is shared also proves crucial. Major decisions are often made shortly after moving, when new residents barely know their home. During this period, neighbours can be an important source of information. They know the building’s history, remember previous residents or live in a similar home. This shared knowledge is still rarely put to use.
Seven directions for further development
Based on these insights, the designers developed seven concepts. Together, they do not form a fixed final answer, but a collection of directions that can be designed, tested and developed further.
At their foundation is the Archive of energy wisdom: a richly illustrated collection of historic and contemporary examples that helps residents, designers and architects recognise tacit wisdom. The Time capsule brings that knowledge to the level of an individual home. New residents receive information about the history, characteristics and potential energy wisdom of their own house, compiled from available sources and local knowledge.
The Interior collection translates traditional principles into contemporary objects, such as flexible partitions, shutters and other elements that make it easier to heat specific areas. A travelling pop-up shop could share the stories behind these designs in places where people make decisions about their interiors.
Other proposals focus more strongly on experience and public visibility. Moving thermal images reveal what happens when someone closes a curtain or shutter. During Close the shutters day, residents are invited to use their shutters for their original purpose. Poems on the back turn an energy-saving action into a visible moment in the street.
Finally, the film series ‘Historic home: what now?’ captures the decisions residents face. It features not only successful examples, but also doubts about money, comfort and technology, as well as people’s relationship with their home. This presents sustainability as a process of making choices, rather than a simple sum of measures.
Making buildings more sustainable through better understanding
The Co/Lab shows that making heritage more sustainable is not only a technical challenge. It is also about behaviour, use and care, as well as the stories that shape what people value. This does not call for more technology, but for a better understanding of what a building can already do and the role its residents play.
The seven concepts make this perspective tangible. They offer starting points for sharing knowledge more effectively, giving residents greater agency and bringing the tacit wisdom of historic buildings back into everyday life. Not as a nostalgic look back, but as a building block for the choices of tomorrow.
Webinar?
Interested in learning more about this Lab? Register for the webinar Tacit wisdom: ‘Listen to your historic building’.
The webinar takes place on Tuesday 15 September at 11:00 during the Week of Sustainable Heritage (14–17 September). It focuses on the insights from Co/Lab: Tacit wisdom as a building block for tomorrow, which explored how the tacit wisdom of historic buildings can contribute to more sustainable choices today and tomorrow.
During the webinar, you will discover how a different perspective can help: from technology to use, from measures to behaviour and from resistance to meaningful, sustainable choices.