Top 20% EPC Rating Awarded to Historic Building Where Science of Greenhouse Gases was Established in 1861

Royal Institution Grade I listed home set to surpass sustainability targets

The Royal Institution (Ri) is on track to achieve a remarkable 42% reduction in carbon emissions at its Grade I listed Georgian building – surpassing its original target of 35% – thanks to a £4.35 million grant from the Mayor of London.

A centre for scientific discovery for over 225 years, with sections dating from 1705, the Royal Institution’s home on Albemarle Street has undergone transformative works to move from a commercial building EPC D rating, to a B rating, placing the iconic building in the top 20% of non-domestic properties awarded ratings in the UK since 2009.

The works mean that the Ri already meets the target efficiency rating expected to be applied to all commercial buildings from 2030, four years ahead of schedule, and demonstrates that London’s historic buildings can become sustainability leaders without compromising architectural heritage. They also secure the environmental future of one of the UK’s most-loved places of science and create a fitting backdrop for Undaunted, a partnership between the Ri and Imperial College London that powers exciting early-stage climate innovation across London and the UK.

As part of ‘Project FootpRint’, the Royal Institution has:

• installed air source heat pumps to ensure only electricity is used to run the very building where Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction.
• installed a new intelligent building management system that will learn how the building works over the course of a year to maximise efficiencies – for example, CO2 sensors in the 225-year-old Lecture Theatre will monitor how much fresh air is required for different numbers of people at different times of the day.
• improved thermal insulation.
• upgraded LED lighting in the Lecture Theatre (which has hosted world-leading scientists including Michael Faraday, Pierre and Marie Curie, Sir David Attenborough, Professor Hannah Fry, Sir Jonathan Van-Tam and Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock).
• eliminated natural gas for all but necessary scientific use in the Ri’s working laboratories.
• applied an innovative new solar-reflective coating to the building’s Georgian Windows – pioneered by a UK start-up company who have been part of the Better Futures Project run by the GLA and others, including Undaunted, the Ri’s climate-tech partnership with Imperial College London.

All of the above was achieved with only strictly necessary closures to public visitors to the Ri’s free science museum, and while maintaining the majority of the Ri’s science engagement activities (including its 200^th CHRISTMAS LECTURES® series) and protecting live research programmes using highly sensitive machines that could be affected by dust from building works.

It was in the basement laboratories of the Ri between 1859 and 1861 that John Tyndall proved that gases like water vapour and carbon dioxide absorb and radiate infrared heat. His experiments showed that these gases trap heat in the atmosphere, suggesting that changes in their concentration could alter Earth’s climate. This is now more commonly known as the Greenhouse Effect.

The Royal Institution’s archive holds an ‘internationally significant’ collection of scientific items all uniquely linked to the work of scientists at the Ri over the past 227 years. This includes the archive of Tyndall’s work encompassing his notebooks covering 1859-62 and containing all the write-ups for his experiments on greenhouses gases, the notes for the CHRISTMAS LECTURES® he delivered on the topic, and first editions of his book Contributions to Molecular Physics in the Domain of Radiant Heat (1862). On public display in the Ri’s free museum is the rudimentary apparatus that Tyndall developed to establish that certain gases absorb more heat in the atmosphere than others.

Other pioneering scientists who have lived, worked and/or achieved major scientific breakthroughs in the Albemarle Street building include Michael Faraday, Humphry Davy, Kathleen Lonsdale, James Dewar, William and Lawrence Bragg and Sir George Porter. The building’s multi-use history – as residences, workplaces and a meeting place for the public and scientists – was apparent in the works, which were complicated by the various ways the building had been reconfigured over several centuries.

The Ri’s transformation – ‘Project FootpRint’ – was made possible thanks to £4.35m funding from the Mayor of London, with Coniston Limited, a heritage conservation specialist, as the principal contractor. The results help secure the future of the Ri as a place where the public and scientists can explore science together and the base from which the Ri’s charitable activities inspire curiosity in people of all ages throughout the UK and internationally. They also ensure the Ri remains a fitting backdrop for Undaunted, which enables talented climate innovators to turn their ideas into impact, and which has received support from the Mayor of London on a number of its programmes and activities. The startups that have progressed through Undaunted’s accelerator programmes have gone on to secure over $1.3bn investment and create over 1,600 jobs in 30 countries

Katherine Mathieson, Director of the Royal Institution, said:

“While the science of the greenhouse effect may have been established at the Ri, today we faced the same challenges as the UK’s many other iconic heritage spaces, in adapting our 300-year-old building to meet our climate responsibilities.

“We are extremely grateful for the Mayor of London’s visionary support, which has demonstrated that the UK’s hard-to-tackle older buildings can achieve dramatic carbon reductions while preserving centuries of history. We would be delighted to share our learnings – including the challenges – from our project with custodians of other such cherished assets who are looking to start a similar journey..”

The Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, Mete Coban said:

“The Mayor is proud to have invested in the transformation of the Royal Institution, one of London’s most prestigious heritage buildings and the home of climate science.

“This incredible transformation shows how every organisation can play their part in tackling the climate crisis, regardless of the age or status of commercial buildings, and acts as an inspiration to other historic organisations across the city. It shows how by working together we are building a city for the future and a fairer, greener London for everyone.”

Scott Evans, Project Manager, Coniston, said:

“When you’re working within a Grade I listed building that’s evolved over two centuries, every time you open up a floor or start tracing pipework you uncover another part of its story. You’re constantly learning how the building has changed over time.

“What made it genuinely fascinating was doing all of that while the building stayed operational as far as possible. Every crane lift, every roof installation, every system changeover was planned around the day to day life of the building.

“Beyond the technical achievement, there’s a real sense of history here. Seeing a Grade I listed building lead the way as an example for decarbonisation at this scale, feels like a full circle moment. It’s the kind of project you’re proud to be part of.”

Alyssa Gilbert, Director of Undaunted, Director of Innovation at Imperial’s Grantham Institute, and Co-Director, Imperial School of Convergence Science: Sustainability, said:

“Project FootpRint is a great example of the kind of pilot scheme that helps Londoners understand the direct benefits of new technologies – as well as getting a sense of how these technologies can help us tackle the climate crisis.

“In many parts of our lives, our homes and other buildings included, it’s going to take a pioneering attitude to help validate and scale new green technologies in a real-world setting. It’s fantastic, and valuable, to see this project come to fruition with such success. If you’re a potential corporate sponsor or you have a pilot project in mind, reach out to us at Undaunted to see how we might work together.”