Tag Archives: Retrofit

Use of GIS to determine domestic energy efficiency potential

June 2012: Presentation by the Energy Saving Trust (EST) on helping overcome what EST say is the “disconnect between data managers and delivery teams when delivering retrofit schemes.”

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Shaping cities for health

May 2012: Researchers  have set out in a paper published in the most recent issue of The Lancet  that climate change will mean that London will have temperatures more like Hong Kong in the future.  Shaping cities for health: complexity and the planning of urban environments in the 21st century highlights that:

The research paper highlights that: “There are 3·2 million dwellings in London, almost all of which will need some modification to meet decarbonisation targets. This huge scale of refurbishment presents enormous and complex challenges—in part because of the nature of London’s buildings. This stock is not only diverse in its construction methods, which span several centuries, but also in ownership. The level of energy efficiency of the stock is also highly variable. Many properties have already undergone some energy efficiency refurbishments that are not, however, adequate for the 2050 commitment. Indeed, these moderately refurbished properties might provide the greatest retrofit challenge.”

The paper picks up on a potential health issue associated with improving the energy efficiency of homes as a result of increasing the air tightness of homes.

“One of the key problems for retrofit policy is to ensure that greater energy efficiency does not compromise health. If energy efficiency is in part achieved though greater ventilation control (reductions in air exchange), ventilation might become insufficient to remove pollutants from indoor sources. Conversely, uncontrolled ventilation impairs protection against outdoor pollution. The optimum ventilation rate for buildings has not been adequately researched, but decarbonisation strategies are prescribing ever tighter ventilation controls. For example, in a mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) system, warm, moist air is extracted from kitchens and bathrooms via a duct system and is passed through a heat exchanger before being released into the environment. Mitigation measures might affect health through a range of pathways, several of which are likely to be as important as the usual exposures, if not more important. Thus a wider array of pathways than has been attempted previously should be considered. Encouragingly, there is at least a growing recognition of the associated complexities, and, for example, relevant guidance for the Building Regulations for England and Wales is continually updating its treatment of building-material permeability and ventilation control.”

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Local authority large scale retrofit: A review of finance models

December 2011: EST guide reviewing the characteristics of the various approaches to large scale retrofit finance that are currently being developed and deployed, and to draw up a features and benefits matrix, such that any local authority can understand which model may be most appropriate for their own circumstances.

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Retrofit Energy Efficiency Planning Guidance for Camden

November 2011: Camden has over 60 per cent of its properties in ‘conservation areas’ and to help householders assess the range of energy efficiency and renewable energy retrofit opportunities available to them, Camden has produced Retrofitting Planning Guidance which “sets out a range of measures that householders can carry out and explains the necessary planning consents that are required for these works.” The guide is detailed and provides case studies of some typical properties in the borough that would be suitable for retrofitting, and then outlines which measures would be permitted and which would require additional consultation with the council.

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Financing model for energy efficiency retrofits

November 2011:    The Local Energy Efficiency Project (LEEP) team, which involves the Energy Saving Trust,  have been working with local authorities in the UK on a financing and delivery model for rolling out energy efficiency retrofits designed to work with private sector partners. The aim of LEEP is to create a sustainable and replicable solution that attracts commercial capital at scale for a national domestic eco-refurbishment program delivered through local authorities. A final report has just been produced which summaries the groups findings (scoll to the bottom of the  page to find reference to the report).

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London – ‘Getting Ready to Retrofit’

September 2011: Next weeks sees a really excellent series of FREE seminars and site visits across London by some of the UK’s leading green retrofit experts.
These have been organised by Open-City’s Green Sky Thinking strand and the Institute for Sustainability who have put together these events to demonstrate how industry professionals and trades can understand and seize the business opportunities emerging in the fast-expanding area of low carbon building and retrofit.

The seminars run from September 20-22 and comprehensively cover all issues of the building energy retrofit process including case studies, finance and procurement issues, behaviour change, engaging communities, skills and so on.
A really packed series of talks and tours have also been arranged as part of this week’s activities include:
Open Practice: Who is driving sustainable building and retrofit?
What makes a sustainable building? Success stories from the commercial sector
What makes a sustainable neighbourhood?
Retrofit Exemplars

Booking is essential for all events and details of how to confirm a place are provided on the links above.

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Visit a London Superhome!

August 2011: The Sustainable Energy Academy’s Superhome initiative seeks to establish “a network of exemplar, old dwellings which have undergone an energy-efficiency retrofit and are local and publicly accessible, within 15 minutes, to nearly everyone in the country”. A number of these highly energy efficient  Superhomes can be visited during London’s Open House Weekend on 17 and 18 September 2011 including:

Many of the homes have managed to achieve CO2 reductions of 60%+ using a variety of measures ranging from draught proofing, triple glazing and high levels of insulation (external and internal wall insulation, flooring insulation and flat roof insulation) to LED lighting, sun pipes,  PV, solar thermal, micro wind turbines and also wood burning stoves. Find out more by visiting these Superhomes.  The links above provide details of how to book a tour.

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Redbridge greener homes project picks up a third accolade

14 July 2011: Greener Homes for Redbridge was crowned Retrofit Project of the Year at the Construction News Awards 2011 ceremony Tuesday evening in London. The project transformed 20 Redbridge street properties with a range of water and energy saving improvements looking at what it would take to achieve reductions in carbon emissions by up to 80%. Detailed testing after the refurbishments confirmed that at least ten of the properties achieved reductions in carbon emissions ranging from 62% to 82%.  Further information on the Greener Homes for Redbridge project on East Homes website here and here.

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High Rise Retrofit

July 2011: Interesting case study from United House of a ‘climate change’ retrofit of two high rise blocks in Barking & Dagenham,  improving  energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions where measures included triple glazed windows, external insulated render, photovoltaic cells and smart metering to all 200 properties.

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Energy Efficiency PAYS Trial Update

June 2011Gentoo has published a report which outlines early findings from the Pay As You Save (PAYS) trials. The DECC sponsored pilot currently incorporates 117 properties where energy efficiency improvements including condensing combi boilers, double glazing and solar PV panels have been installed with no upfront costs to the customer.  The costs of these improvements are being recovered through a weekly PAYS charge to the customer.
Gentoo has used experience from its previous energy efficiency Retrofit Reality project to ensure that customers are not charged more than they will save.

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Housing ‘eco-retrofit’ completes

13 June 2011: Gifford engineers have completed a comprehensive retrofit project in Harrow that will now be monitored to see how effectively the country’s existing housing stock can be converted into energy efficient homes to achieve deep cuts in carbon emissions.
“A whole house solution for everyday living” has been delivered by Gifford’s Sustainability Team at a 1960s semi-detached house in Harrow, North West London. The team designed a number of energy efficiency measures for the property, including super insulating the building envelope and sealing it to reduce heat loss, a ventilation system coupled with heat recovery, low energy lighting with specialist LED fittings, solar thermal panels, a room-by-room control system and a ‘last man out’ switch to stop appliances being left on stand-by. Read more here.

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Waltham Forest Home Retrofit Project

June 2011: Profile of a home energy efficiency refurbishment project being undertaken by Waltham Forest. ‘Green Home’ case study available here.

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