Retrofit Review

Welcome to the new issue

An interesting and diverse range of newsy-news and articles for you this issue (as ever) and some really great retrofit jobs too. Plus some super-interesting retrofit-related training and workshops to investigate.

Birmingham's online retrofit conference is coming up soon (AM 7 Dec; link below) - a fast-paced and focused morning looking at the city's commitment to scaling up high quality retrofit across Birmingham's homes.

Grab some minutes to catch up on it all. Read on, retrofitters...

📰 News & Opinion

“The opportunity presented by retrofit is simply enormous" - Installer Online

Matt Handley, Category Innovation Manager, Jewson: “The opportunity presented by retrofit is simply enormous. Around 60% of all homes in the UK need to be upgraded to meet energy efficiency targets, and tradespeople who embrace this drive towards a more sustainable built environment will be in high demand for years to come.”

NatWest partners with Airbnb and the Energy Saving Trust to help hosts improve the energy efficiency of their homes

NatWest is announcing a new partnership with Airbnb and the Energy Saving Trust to help UK hosts improve the energy efficiency of their homes. NatWest and Airbnb are introducing an end-to-end journey that will support hosts to retrofit their homes. The existing journey provides a personalised home energy efficiency assessment and action plan for hosts, offering information about potential steps they could take to improve the energy efficiency of their home. The brand-new partnership offers the surfacing of financing options from NatWest and Airbnb grants as part of a 500k extension to the £1m fund launched last year.

EDF announces acquisition of CB Heating | Heating & Plumbing Monthly Magazine (HPM)

EDF has acquired air source heat pump installer group CB Heating. The acquisition follows on from the strategic investment made by EDF into CB Heating in 2022, a statement said. The deal would see EDF putting a dedicated team in place to deliver heat pump solutions for a wide range of homes across the country, it said. Philippe Commaret, managing director of customers at EDF, added: “The investment we’re making in the heat pump market is representative of all the work we’re doing to help Britain achieve Net Zero."

Changeworks unveils new home retrofit service | Scottish Housing News

Environmental charity Changeworks is launching a new innovative service that will support homeowners to make their home more energy efficient. EcoCosi from Changeworks is a comprehensive service that provides tailored solutions, advice, and end-to-end support to households through the process of retrofitting their home.

Refurb work edges construction back to slow growth | Construction Enquirer News

Two consecutive months of construction output decline ended in September as the industry edged back to slow growth. The 0.4% recovery was driven by a 2% rise in repair and maintenance, which offset another fall in new work during the month of 0.8%.

Utilita Energy and partners launch smart energy trial - elemental

Utilita has joined forces with the smart technology innovator Hildebrand, the University of Salford and the Data Communications Company (DCC), to demonstrate how a new smart energy Internet of Things (IoT) device can automate a home’s energy use in response to periods of cheaper and cleaner energy availability.

Poor housing and Covid deaths: it’s the same damn map | Architect's Journal

Poor housing does not just reduce life expectancy, it kills people suddenly – as the Covid pandemic grimly demonstrated. The solution involves a whole-house retrofit approach to existing homes, says Tania Jennings

Octopus and Bellway Homes announce "Zero Bills" partnership - elemental

Not retrofit, but very noteworthy... Octopus Energy and Bellway Homes have announced a long-term partnership to deliver Zero Bills homes at scale. Zero Bills allows customers to move into homes which have no energy bills for at least five years, guaranteed, thanks to a mix of green energy technology – including an air-source heat pump, a home battery, and roof-mounted solar panels – which are then optimised by Kraken, Octopus Energy’s tech platform.

Natwest brings out energy efficiency platform to help homeowners - Mortgage Solutions

High street bank NatWest has launched the Home Energy Hub which will allow borrowers to understand the energy efficiency of their property and make changes.

Solar panels and heat pumps OK on listed buildings, says Historic England | Construction Index

Historic England, the government body tasked with protecting the country’s heritage, says that modern solar panels and heat pumps can be fitted to listed buildings so long is it is done discreetly. Listed building consent will always be required for the installation of photovoltaic and solar thermal panels, Historic England says, but they will generally be acceptable on non-principal roofs. Similarly, the installation of heat pumps will generally be acceptable, provided that they are sympathetically sited.

IAQ specialists call for "new industry" to tackle ventilation crisis - elemental

Air quality experts have come together to call for the creation of a new industry to tackle the problems caused by poor ventilation in buildings.

📅 Events

Birmingham Retrofit Conference, 7 Dec (AM), online

The free-to-attend event staged by Low Carbon Homes will take place online on Thursday 7th December and will seek to explore how the city can capture maximum benefit for citizens and local businesses from this major retrofit programme, laying the foundations for scaling up of retrofit across all tenures.

Retrofit Action Week 2024 | Low Carbon Homes

Following the success of the first Retrofit Action Week (RAW) in Greater Manchester last month, we're planning 2 RAW campaigns in 2024 - a first-time RAW for Birmingham and the West Mids (May 2024) + we return to Greater Manchester in October.

Stay informed

👷🏽‍♀️👷🏽‍♂️ Skills and Training

Skills Bootcamp in Place-Based Decarbonisation - Keele University

Place-based decarbonisation will be a key part of the net zero transition. Understand your role in bringing net zero to life in your community. Learn from our experts what place-based decarbonisation means for you and your organisation and visit leading demonstrator sites throughout the Midlands. Develop the confidence to lead on the transition and identify the co-benefits of action.

Introducing Home Retrofit | fabric

Weekly sessions in Manchester, aimed at home owners, designers, consultants, builders, installers and anyone interested in learning the basics about low-carbon retrofit... there are over 20 million homes we need to improve by 2050!

🏠 Residents & Engagement

Heat pumps tempt Twickenham residents – if the house is ready for one | Energy efficiency | The Guardian

In one well-to-do London street, eagerness to make the shift from boilers is dampened by worries about disruption and hidden costs. On paper, it should be the simplest of tasks for Colin Thomas, head of service delivery at Octopus energy, to sell the idea of switching from gas boilers to air source heat pumps here. The people who live in Park House Gardens know all about climate change and want to do their bit in the battle to achieve carbon net zero. And with homes changing hands for about £1.5m, they generally do not have to count every penny.

Developing support interventions for social housing tenants with heat pumps - elemental

Nesta, the UK’s innovation charity, is launching a pilot project to explore how to successfully engage with social housing tenants to design, prototype and test scalable initiatives to improve their experience of heat pumps and other low-carbon tech.

🤩 Local/Regional Action

North West needs 14,000 new retrofit workers to meet net zero targets - Place North West

Data released by Historic England highlights that the region could benefit from £1.6bn of direct economic output by making traditional buildings more energy efficient. The government body has for the first time revealed local data on the estimated need for retrofitting skills to deliver net zero on buildings built before 1919 in order to meet the government’s 2050 target.

Get the highlights of Greater Manchester's recent Retrofit Action Week

🌍 International

Average homeowner facing €40,000 bill for 'one-stop-shop' deep retrofit upgrade | Irish Examiner

Ireland. The cost and affordability for households to retrofit their homes is a key risk to meeting vital climate targets, with the average homeowner facing a bill of nearly €40,000 for a “one-stop-shop" deep retrofit upgrade.

💬 Reports, Research, Guides

Study shows lack of knowledge on energy efficiency in private rental sector - elemental

British Gas has released a report into greening the private rental sector, which reveals that 81% of landlords believe that further improvements are required to make their property more environmentally friendly, yet only 23% would make these improvements.

New study reveals stagnation of retrofit rates and building emissions amongst leading G20 Nations | BDC Magazine

Reductions in carbon emissions from buildings are stalling in several G20 countries in Europe (UK, France, and Germany) and emissions are now rising in the USA, warns a major new study from sustainability consultancy 3Keel for Kingspan.

Priority Places for Insulation Index: Mapping the UK’s Home Insulation Needs - Which? Policy and insight

Which? has developed an index to identify local areas in need of insulation by combining data on housing stock and the socio-economic and health indicators of the local population

🆕 Jobs

Three roles at Furbnow | LinkedIn

Furbnow is a retrofit service for homeowners looking to start their journey to reducing their energy bills and carbon emissions, and having a warmer home - and they're hiring across 3 roles: Product Manager, Supply Chain Manager, Operations Associate.

Researcher - Energy House Labs | University of Salford

The Energy House Labs Research Assistant will become part of the dynamic Energy House Labs Team at the University of Salford. The successful applicant will be part of a rapidly growing team in the field of net zero and energy efficient homes, supporting the commercial and funded research programmes across the group.

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'Til the next issue 👋🏼

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