Climate Change and Historic Buildings Guy Bower
Event details
Historic buildings are vulnerable to the harmful effects of climate change. They are often fragile structures with inadequate protection against the erosive effects of heavy rain and freeze-thaw cycles. They are also difficult to adapt to lower energy consumption and measures to do so must consider their significance as heritage assets.
However, important historic buildings represent a very small percentage of the built environment and may be greener than you think. The need for sensitive upgrades should be balanced against a wider understanding of carbon consumption - often a historic building may use more carbon in use, but used far less in construction compared to modern equivalents.
Join Guy Bowyer, Chief Executive Officer of York Conservation Trust, and hear the Trust’s ideas for ensuring properties under its ownership are made more resilient to the direct effects of climate change and more comfortable and cost-effective to use.
Please note: There is no wheelchair access or public toilets available at this venue.
York Conservation Trust
York Conservation Trust is a charity that preserves historic buildings under its ownership. These are leased and the income is used to fund repairs, maintenance and refurbishment work across the estate. York Conservation Trust currently owns over 70 properties, mostly listed buildings in the city centre of York. Important buildings in the collection include York Theatre Royal, The Assembly Rooms, De Grey Rooms, Fairfax House and St Anthony’s Hall.
About the speaker
Guy Bowyer is the Chief Executive Officer of York Conservation Trust. He graduated from Newcastle University in 2003 and became a Chartered Architect in 2005. Having previously worked for W R Dunn & Co, he joined York Conservation Trust in 2015 to oversee several major conservation and refurbishment projects, including York Theatre Royal, The Assembly Rooms, 69/71 Micklegate, 14/16 Lendal (The House of Trembling Madness). In 2020, Guy obtained RIBA Conservation Architect accreditation. In 2023, he entered an open recruitment process to become the new CEO and now leads the Trust’s small executive team.
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