Demolishing over a million energy-inefficient homes in order to meet future carbon emission targets is not an option, but the Prince of Wales and the Building Research Establishment have a crafty plan to save the planet and our housing stock at the same time.

The plan is a pioneering partnership to transform Victorian buildings into energy efficient accommodation for 21st century living and will be launched today by HRH the Prince of Wales, President of The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment

The collaboration between The Prince’s Foundation, BRE, the East of England Development Agency and the University of Hertfordshire will begin with the refurbishment of a Victorian stable block at BRE’s Headquarters in Watford, Hertfordshire.

The project will demonstrate and analyse how older buildings with solid walls, poor insulation, draughty windows, inadequate heating and in a state of general disrepair can be transformed to provide attractive, flexible and energy efficient accommodation for the future.

Britain has the oldest housing stock in the developed world and much of this is represented by the Victorian terraced housing that characterises the centre of our urban areas. There is much talk about the house of the future and the regeneration of our older urban areas, but the reality is that, at current demolition rates, the average house will have to last for 1000 years before it is replaced.

David Strong, managing director of BRE Environment said: "Oxford University’s 40% House Report suggests that over a million Victorian terraced houses would need to be demolished by 2050 and replaced with new energy efficient homes to meet future carbon emission targets"

"The BRE Victorian House of the Future project will show that there is another option open to us. One that allows us to upgrade existing stock whilst avoiding the waste associated with demolition and of course preserving the mix of architecture that makes our urban landscape a more humane and interesting place in which to live and work."

Hank Dittmar, chief executive of The Prince’s Foundation agrees: "By retrofitting these old buildings you save the embodied energy within them – rather than using more energy to make new buildings."

"Furthermore, these Victorian terraces were built in a more sustainable urban layout - a layout that in itself can help reduce fossil fuel consumption - than the suburban layouts produced in the post war era."

The project will benefit the East of England region where more than 50% of ongoing construction output will be connected with existing building stock, rather than new build.

The completed scheme will incorporate a demonstration house, an adjacent refurbishment education centre, workshops and first floor offices and meeting rooms. The layout will show the enormous versatility this type of older building can offer.

The overall aim of the project is to find a route that makes the economics, technologies and environmental demands stack up into a viable blueprint for future similar refurbishment.