Tudor houses 'leak less energy'

Tudor homes used local materials and had a low carbon 'footprint'

Tudor homes have better energy efficiency than many more recent buildings, a survey suggests.

The 16th Century dwellings leak 10.11 cubic metres of air an hour for every square metre of wall - much less than many other more recent dwellings.

Buildings built in the 1960s leaked as much as 15.1 cubic metres.

The British Gas survey also found that because the wooden-beam buildings were made airtight with stones or wattle and daub, they had fewer carbon emissions.

The smartest way to save energy may be to live in a Tudor house and insulate the attic and repair the windows Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment

Their use of local material also lessened their environmental impact, the research from IRT Surveys said.

It found that houses built in the 1970s leak 11.7 cubic metres of air an hour for every square metre of wall, while those from the 1980s leaked 12 to 40.1 cubic metres and hour, and 1990s buildings leaked between 12 and 23.6 cubic metres.

Hank Dittmar, chief executive of The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, said "Wind turbines, solar panels and other high tech green devices may get the media attention.

"But the smartest way to save energy may be to live in a Tudor house and insulate the attic and repair the windows."

'Corner-cutting'

Stewart Little of IRT Surveys said: "The construction industry has made superb progress in terms of technology and materials over the years.

"The problem we are faced with is the rapid rate of progress required in today's construction market.

"Commercial pressure to deliver means corners are often cut to speed up the delivery of buildings. This corner-cutting normally happens in areas that we don't see, such as missing insulation in walls and roofs."

British Gas said more than £5bn a year is wasted because of poor energy insulation and efficiency in British buildings, and each household emits more than six tonnes of carbon dioxide a year - more than the average car.