Wrest Park is our pilot  property for sustainability  

We want to start with Wrest Park, because if we  can get it right here, we can get it right everywhere

Britain's energy needs are set to  double by 2050, so we at English Heritage

like so many other conservation charities, need to use  tools such as smart meters to reduce energy waste  

and bring the country's outdated energy system  into the 21st century

Understanding the data, understanding all the energy use helps us then  decide where we're going to target our activities  

Sometimes it's the small changes that make a  significant difference

For example, replacing our old light bulbs with LED lighting which use  up to 90% less power than incandescent bulbs  

In our plant room we're currently installing pipe  cladding to improve insulation in the property  

This involves the application of mineral fibre  insulation sections to the currently exposed  

steel pipe work and large cast iron valves

This will reduce energy loss in the building by approximately £1500 per year

We're looking to install solar panels in the modern, low-lying areas of the property, such as our cafe roof

so we have no impact on the wider historic setting

This would enable us to capture 150,000 kilowatt hours of electrical energy from UV light each year

reducing our annual power usage by approximately 25 percent

Wrest Park, like many of our historic  properties, relies on an oil burner for heating  

Our aim is to replace this with either a biomass  boiler or potentially electrical heat pumps  

which will make our heating systems 15% more energy efficient

Our goal at Wrest Park is to reduce our energy consumption by 30% a year

saving us £60,000 on energy bills which can be reinvested into caring for our properties and collections

We need to act now because we know that while England's past has been shaped by its climate, so will its future

We have to put plans into place to ensure that our properties are well cared for and start to adapt to a changing climate