Shropshire has a high number of historic and traditional buildings which are part of what makes the county special. Understanding that these historic buildings can be made more efficient without destroying their historical interest is an important realisation. Sensitively taking measures to bring these buildings to an environmental standard comparable to modern structures ensures that they'll continue to have a place in our modern towns. We adopted a strategy to encourage community-scale energy efficiency and carbon reductions in these historic and traditional buildings.

We intend to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and reduce our carbon emissions by 100% by 2030. We'll do this through:

• Changing the ways we use energy
• Investing in measures to reduce the energy we need
• Creating our own electricity and heat

For more guidance on historic areas in Shropshire, please take a look at our Conservation Areas webpages. For more general guidance on historic buildings and climate change, take a look at the English Heritage website and (free to download): Historic England: Efficiency and Environmental Management of Listed Buildings. In addition there are very good case studies on historic cities such as Bath and from the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE). Please see our buildings efficiency guidance for additional information.

Important aspects of the SECHURBA project include:

• Engagement with the local community to establish historic community climate change strategies as a route map for dealing with the pressures of climate change and cultural preservation
• Engagement with key stakeholders, including planning authorities and policy makers and installers, and highlighting the opportunities that exist in using current technology to promote a reduction in energy and CO2 emissions in traditionally sensitive areas
• To build an intelligent application tool to enable effective and appropriate renewable energy to be generated, and energy efficiency advice to be made available, for historic buildings and communities
• To identify case studies for improvement in a variety of historic buildings and communities, to carry out energy audits in all case study areas and buildings and to identify potential sources of funding for carrying out suggested improvements/installations