Many UK consumers are also struggling to afford their heating bills: the percentage of households in England spending more than 10% of their income after housing costs on domestic energy rose to 36.4% in 2023.  The new Government committed in its manifesto to upgrading five million homes over five years with the £6.6bn Warm Homes Plan. This is expected to include grants and low-interest loans to support families to invest in insulation, low-carbon heating and home improvements.  Alongside this, the Government has committed to boosting minimum energy efficiency standards for private rented homes and social housing.  

Jo gave evidence across themes of the current Warm Homes Plan detail, existing retrofit support schemes and why they have undelivered, and how the Government can help consumers make informed decisions. She emphasised the need for longer timescales to build industry confidence, policies which encourage homeowners to invest their own money (such as a Warm Homes Stamp Duty) and the importance of equipping local authorities with the skills and resources to carry out retrofit programmes.  Many of these points were echoed by Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh in a later evidence session.

Watch Jo’s session (from 14:57:09 to 15:56:28) here : Parliamentlive.tv – Energy Security and Net Zero Committee

The post UKGBC gives evidence on retrofit appeared first on UKGBC.

Any retrofit schemes should be locally focused, providing long-term solutions which support local areas. We need to see policies to equip local authorities with the skills and resources to carry out retrofit programmes. The Government should give local authorities and councils the devolved powers, responsibility, and resources they need to play a major role in the delivery of a nationwide home upgrade programme. The success of national retrofit schemes requires longer timescales to those currently on offer. This means setting out a 10 year strategic programme, with an initial 5 years of funding committed. This will build industry and financier confidence to invest, previous short windows and stop-start schemes have meant there was little trust or time for supply chain development.

The full details of the Warm Homes Plan expected in spring 2025 must draw on industry experience and be coordinated at both national and local levels.

Explore our Policy work

Since 2007, we have been bringing together some of the most influential leaders in politics, business, local authorities, civil service and NGOs to accelerate action for a green built environment.

Learn more

The post UKGBC responds to changes in retrofit schemes appeared first on UKGBC.

For those of us lucky enough to be able to afford our heating bills, despite the recent sharp rises, this thought is perhaps more of an inconvenience, or a self-inflicted  endurance challenge, or motivated by not wanting to add GHG emissions to the atmosphere by turning up the thermostat and getting the gas boiler going again. 

However, for many people, this thought fills them with dread – how long before I have to start choosing between whether to eat or heat my home? How long before the kids start complaining that they can’t sleep because it’s too cold? How long before I have to start washing the black mould off my windows and walls? 

In 2024, this is a shocking state of affairs, and what’s more, it really does not have to be this way. We, as an industry have the technology and the know-how to upgrade the majority of these homes and turn them into warm, comfortable, affordable places to live. Places where no one needs to feel cold at best, and worst die of preventable respiratory diseases, as we saw in the tragic case of Awaab Ishaak 4 years ago – a little boy who died from breathing in black mould every day of his short life. 

What’s more, retrofitting our homes and neighbourhoods can also offer multiple ‘co-benefits’ such as: reducing costs to the NHS of poorly insulated, damp homes; improving health and wellbeing; reducing the load on local energy systems, and creating local green jobs and supply chains. 

That’s why we’re enormously excited and proud to launch UKGBC’s new ‘Regenerative Places’ Programme, which has home retrofit at its heart.  

What do we mean by ‘Regenerative’ places?

The terminology is drawn from Bill Reed and others’ thinking around how we need to shift from ‘sustainability’ to a more regenerative, integrated approach, encouraging the need to look beyond reducing negative impacts, improving efficiency, and being ‘less bad’, to having a positive impact on society and our environment.   

We use the term “Regenerative” as our North star, guiding our work to set the level of ambition, and the necessary shift in mindset. We emphasise that while current projects may not immediately demonstrate regenerative traits, we are inspired by the Three-Horizons Framework, which we are using  as a way of mapping how a shift could take place from the established patterns of the first horizon (business-as usual) to the beginning of new patterns and emerging future in the third horizon. Disruptive innovations and industry actions of the second horizon will be crucial to make the shift from the current system to the emerging future a successful one. The diagram below illustrates this in a bit more detail. 

UKGBC envisions the Programme setting out our own “Horizon 3” – a shared vision of an emerging future that has positive, regenerative impacts on people, planet, and place. 

So, what might this mean in practice, and how does it relate to home retrofit?  

Our new Programme will work in partnership with the MCS Foundation (MCSF) to support and draw learnings from their new Local Area Retrofit Accelerator (LARA) pilot. Through this pilot, four places (in England initially) are being supported to develop ‘Local Retrofit Strategies’ for their area. These strategies will take a systems-led approach and be place based, collaborative and locally led. We had the first of the LARA pilot workshops with our first ‘place’ this week, where over 40 local stakeholders  gathered to discuss the development of their Local Retrofit Strategy. It was fantastic to hear the level of enthusiasm across the different local authorities and other stakeholders for getting retrofit going at scale.

UKGBC will work alongside the LARA pilots (which are also supported by Ashden, the National Retrofit Hub and others), and with our Regenerative Places Programme Partners, to explore and demonstrate how home retrofit can act as a catalyst to ensure wider regenerative benefits to communities, such as: 

• Decarbonising heat and energy  
• Improving biodiversity and green space  
• Offering health and social value benefits  
• Embedding climate resilience
• Strengthening community relationships and networks 

While retrofit is a huge part of the problem and the solution, we also need to consider how new buildings and developments can move beyond ‘doing less harm’ and towards a more regenerative approach. We were very excited to speak at an ‘Architects Declare’ event last week and start to share our thinking around how regenerative principles should be applied to both new development and retrofit. 

 

We will also be building a compendium of experiences, projects and processes that demonstrate regenerative traits. The aim is to help guide others in their thinking about how to move towards regenerative approaches.   

 

With this in mind, we need your help! Please tell us about projects and processes that you’re aware of that should be in our compendium! You can add them to our Miro Board here. 

As we know, no one has all the answers here – we’re all learning all the time. At the heart of a regenerative approach is collaboration and we can’t wait to work with you, our members, and the wider industry and local communities as we develop our thinking and practice on regenerative places. 

Finally, if you’re a local authority officer and would like support in  developing retrofit services for householders in your area, with our partners the MCS Foundation we’ve created a ‘Getting Started Toolkit’ to help you build the business case for a Retrofit ‘One Stop Shop’. Keep it bookmarked as we’ll be adding more resources on a regular basis. 

Regenerative Places

Our programme utilises a place-based retrofit strategy to enhance local network capacity, strengthen resilience against future climate-related challenges, and deliver broad regenerative benefits to communities.

Learn more

The post Regenerative Places: Empowering communities to improve homes and neighbourhoods for the benefit of people and planet.  appeared first on UKGBC.

Retrofitting homes – improving the energy efficiency of the
fabric and adding low carbon heating systems – is complex.
It involves a myriad of stakeholders, from surveyors, to
installers, to finance providers.

The ‘one stop shop’ or ‘Retrofit Facilitation Provider’ (RFP)
approach is a way of trying to overcome this complexity
and deliver ‘hassle-free’ home upgrades. Under this
model, multiple services are bundled together to offer
homeowners an end-to-end journey; from raising
awareness of the need for an upgrade, undertaking
assessments and designs, arranging contractors, helping
to organise finance, through to post-retrofit assessment
and sign-off.

This report summarises research into existing
Retrofit Facilitation Providers and associated issues.
We investigated how to assess the capacity of a supply
chain and how to grow them to meet the increased
demand generated by a RFP. We also investigated how
those RFPs can engage householders to build demand for
retrofit and finance opportunities available. The research
was carried out for the MCS Foundation by a consortium
of Living Places, Regen, SE2 and the UK Green Building
Council (UKGBC). The research is based on literature
reviews and interviews with existing RFPs and retrofit
experts. It was carried out over four months in late 2023
and focused largely on England-based organisations. It
is not exhaustive and provides a snapshot of the current
market as of December 2023

Home Retrofit

With time running out to keep global temperatures to 1.5 degrees, upgrading the nation’s homes is one of the biggest opportunities the UK has to reduce carbon emissions whilst tackling the cost-of-living crisis, energy security and levelling up.

View more

Regenerative Places

Our programme utilises a place-based retrofit strategy to enhance local network capacity, strengthen resilience against future climate-related challenges, and deliver broad regenerative benefits to communities.

View more

The post Facilitating Retrofit: a comprehensive sectoral analysis appeared first on UKGBC.

Our new Regenerative Places Programme aims to co-create place-based retrofit strategies that enhance local network capacity, develop resilience against future climate-related challenges, and deliver broad “regenerative” benefits to communities.

In this webinar we will cover:

• The foundational aspects of what we mean by “regenerative,” highlighting the importance of creating places that restore and revitalise nature, nurture and restore networks from the ground up to activate positive change and unleash the potential of local people to improve their own homes and neighbourhoods.
• UKGBC’s understanding of regenerative design, showcasing examples and insights from our programme partners.
• What our Regenerative Places Programme aims to do and how you can get involved.

In this webinar, you’ll learn how regenerative practices can transform the built environment for the better and discover ways to be part of this impactful movement.

UKGBC cancellation and refund policy 

Please see our website for more details on our cancellations and refunds: https://ukgbc.org/ukgbc-cancellation-and-refund-policy/

Programme Partners

Our Regenerative Places work is made possible thanks to our programme partners

The post Regenerative Places Programme Launch appeared first on UKGBC.

The suite of learning resources here aims to demystify key sustainability concepts and create a common language for non-technical experts to confidently get involved in sustainable building topics.

Using jargon-free, easy-to-understand language, UKGBC’s Bitesize Learning provides a jumping-off point for non-sustainability professionals to begin their sustainability learning journey.

Our learning resource have been split into topic areas to make them easier to navigate.

On this page

• Discover the new set of finance guides
• Net Zero Carbon
• Nature, Resource use and the Circular Economy
• Resilience
• Sustainability across the Value Chain
• Retrofit

What’s available?

Alongside infographics, definitions and fact sheets, we also have the following 1 and 2 page guides:

Explainer Guides (1-page) break down key climate and nature topics into digestible chunks outlining:

• How it is defined.
• Its importance in tackling the climate crisis.
• How it relates to the built environment.
• Relevant resources to consolidate knowledge.

Practical Guides (2-pages) detail sustainable building across the value chain outlining:

• Key principles.
• Practical approaches for stakeholders.
• Case studies to bring the approach to life.
• Further resources to continue learning.

New Climate Finance Guides

Net Zero Carbon

Net Zero & Whole Life Carbon

Carbon Pricing, Carbon Offsetting & Renewable Energy

Nature, Resource use and the Circular Economy

Explainer and Practical Guides

Factsheets & Infographics

Something missing? Tell us what else you would like bitesize learning on via this short feedback form.

Using these guides

If you’d like to use these guides within your organisation, please contact Learning@UKGBC.org

Want to learn in a different way?

Sustainability Essentials for the Built Environment Email Course

Build your sustainability knowledge through this informative email-delivered learning opportunity.

Learn more

So What Can I Do? UKGBC Video Guides to Sustainability

This video series will help you understand sustainability in the built environment – and identify what role you can play in its transformation.

Learn more

The post Bitesize Learning appeared first on UKGBC.

Our expert policy and political team will guide you through the election timetable, the battleground issues for our sector and opportunities to get involved.  

The interactive session will give you the chance to ask any questions and share views about the election, the policies and what this means for your organisation.   

We’ll hear from some of UKGBC’s new General Election Taskforce who will be at the heart of the action helping us to draw on the wider membership for quotes for journalists, rapid comment, rebuttal and analysis, opportunities for site visits for candidates and much more.  

This election is a critical juncture for advocating robust, sustainable policies so the progressive voice of the built environment is heard and our priorities are reflected in the next government’s policies.  

Check out UKGBC’s manifesto to Build a Better Britain here. 

UKGBC cancellation and refund policy 

Please see our website for more details on our cancellations and refunds: https://ukgbc.org/ukgbc-cancellation-and-refund-policy/

The post Shaping Britain’s Future: UKGBC General Election Briefing  appeared first on UKGBC.

Local Authority Retrofit Forum LIVE aims to bring together local government officers and civil servants working in retrofit during Retrofit Action Week (May 11-19) as we explore the latest developments in retrofit initiatives, facilitate discussions, and provide a platform for networking and knowledge sharing.   

We will kick off the day with coffee and networking, enabling you to meet fellow Local Authority officers facing similar challenges on retrofit.  

We will then be joined by special guests who will present key topics and answer your questions. Topics include:

Support for local authorities delivering retrofit 

Speakers:  

• Alastair Mumford, Programme Director, MCS Foundation 
• Jo Wheeler, Senior Manager, Local Policy and Retrofit, UKGBC  
• Sara Edmonds, Co-director, National Retrofit Hub 

Explore innovative approaches and best practice in facilitating retrofit projects within local authorities. Hear valuable insights from research carried out by UKGBC and MCS Foundation on Retrofit Facilitation Providers, and key findings from the National Retrofit Hub working groups.

Retrofit finance 

Speakers: 

• Emma Harvey, Chief of Staff, Green Finance Institute 
• Justin Olsunde, Funding & Investment Manager, South West Net Zero Hub 
• Rufus Grantham, Partner, Living Places 

Gain valuable insights into financing models and strategies for successful retrofit projects covering Property-Linked Finance, regional investment funds and place-based funding models. 

General Election Year  

Speaker:  

• David Adams, Senior Net Zero Consultant, UKGBC 

UKGBC will discuss why this year is so crucial for retrofit policy, the campaigning plans we have for the run up to the Election, and how you can get involved.  

We will round off the morning with lunch while continuing conversations with fellow officers, speakers, and experts.

Registration:  

Secure your spot now and be part of this transformative event! Limited seats available. Reserve your spot on our Eventbrite Page.  

Please note this event is for local government officers and civil servants only.

Travel:

This event is located in Birmingham. If you require financial assistance in order to travel to this event, please email sara.prince@mcsfoundation.org.uk and with the subject line “Bursary for LARF” and we may be able to offer compensation.

UKGBC cancellation and refund policy  

Please find more details on our cancellations and refunds here.

The post Local Authority Retrofit Forum LIVE! appeared first on UKGBC.

In this webinar we will introduce you to and demonstrate how to use our new toolkit. Written for local authorities, the toolkit will help you establish Retrofit Facilitation Services, supporting homeowners in energy efficiency upgrades and aiding the UK’s carbon reduction efforts.

Navigating the complex landscape of energy, climate, and housing can be challenging. This resource aims to simplify that journey, providing a clear route to develop robust retrofit services in line with householder needs.

Our focus is on enabling proactive homeowners to retrofit their properties, a vital step towards achieving net-zero and ensuring homes are warm, comfortable and affordable to run.

Be among the first to see our new retrofit microsite and get your ticket now!

The post Local Authority Retrofit Accelerator: ‘Getting Started’ Toolkit Launch appeared first on UKGBC.

The Forum is open to any local authority officer that’s currently undertaking home retrofit projects or supporting activities, or planning to in the near future. The purpose is to enable authorities to come together in a supportive environment, to connect and collaborate, share challenges and solutions, and hear from sector leaders.

The Forum will also help guide and create content and resources that can be shared across the sector, with the UKGBC membership and the wider built environment industry.

The Forum consists of a group of local authority officers from across the UK who meet virtually quarterly and communicate with each other in between and outside of meetings via a designated forum page on our UKGBC portal.

Hear from local authorities in our forum

We spoke with members of our forum at LARF Live to gather their insights on the forum’s significance and its impact on them.

How to get involved

See below the dates of our next quarterly forums.

If you’re interested in joining or would like any further information on the Forum, please contact policy@ukgbc.org.

The post Local Authority Retrofit Forum appeared first on UKGBC.