A Comparative Study of the Climate Resilience of Timber Frame and Masonry Homes of Similar Designs in the UK

Although the majority of British housing is built using traditional masonry construction methods, a growing proportion of it is now being built using modern methods of construction (such as timber frame), and this number is expected to rise significantly over the next decade. Currently, there is no substantial evidence that these dwellings perform better or worse than traditionally built masonry dwellings with regards to comfort and energy use, and particularly not if a future warming climate is considered. Nevertheless, many authors suggest that methods that have a lower level of thermal mass may present more overheating, and that masonry construction should perform better. Two low-energy dwellings built at the Green Street development in Nottingham were used as vehicle for investigation. Using dynamic thermal simulation we were able to compare the thermal performance of masonry against timber frame construction methods under current and future climate change weather scenarios. The main focus was the risk of overheating due to the different levels of thermal mass; consequently, the results were presented as the frequency of hours in a year when the predicted temperatures in the houses go above the standard thresholds. The results suggested that the additional thermal mass in the brick and block configuration presented limited benefits when compared to the timber frame with regard to mitigating overheating and should always be considered in conjunction with other strategies. Further work is required to investigate the benefits of integrating higher quantities of thermal mass.