Planning your retrofit interventions resources round up, 2024
Introduction
Since all properties are unique, there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. Assessing, and planning for this complexity can help avoid delays with your retrofit project. This begins with reviewing your housing stock, and then leads onto a plan to improve its energy efficiency and performance.
We’ve compiled all the resources, including advice packs, toolkits, articles, Masterclass recordings and podcasts that will help you plan your retrofit interventions.
Contents
Masterclasses on demand recordings
Planning your retrofit interventions
RISE Principal Consultant Emma Woods explores why planning your retrofit interventions carefully; and with a strong awareness of your housing stock, and a flexible approach can lead to the best outcomes.
Building up your project costings
Careful budgeting around your retrofit interventions will ensure that you forecast accuately, understand how best you can procure different elements of your project, and will enable you to plan your cost/benefit ratios. In this Masterclass, we share different approaches and methodologies for building up accurate project costings.
RISE also has a comprehensive YouTube playlist for retrofit technologies, all available to explore here.
Toolkits and advice packs
Battery storage and solar photovoltaics
This quick guide document aims to address some of the common misconceptions in domestic retrofit regarding battery storage and solar photovoltaics (PV). This document has been designed to help local authority (LA) officers and registered providers advise residents regarding battery storage and solar PV measures.
Fitting solar PV systems
Solar panel systems can be fitted to current homes to provide electricity to the home during sunlight hours. This energy can really help the resident reduce the amount of electricity that they need to buy from their energy supplier, reducing their energy bills and helping the resident’s financial situation.
Insulation
This quick guide document aims to address some of the common misconceptions in domestic retrofit regarding the various types of insulation. This document has been designed to help Local Authority (LA) officers and registered providers advise residents regarding insulation, including tips and best practices.
Air source heat pump quick guide
This quick guide aims to introduce air source heat pumps and address some common misconceptions about their use in domestic retrofit. The document has been designed to help housing providers and local authorities advise residents about air source heat pumps and best practices.
Articles
Developing your retrofit interventions
Developing a plan for the retrofit interventions you will deploy in the project is one of the most complex and most technical tasks in the preparation phase. It starts with reviewing your housing stock, its type and condition, and leads to a plan for what you want to do with the stock to improve its energy efficiency and its performance. The goal is to create a specific project targeting a named set of buildings, with a practical series of retrofit measures that will deliver outcomes that meet your strategic objectives, including the needs of any external funders.
Solar panel systems
Installing solar panels offers a great opportunity to help your residents reduce their energy consumption and following, lower their bills. By taking a thoughtful approach you can make a huge difference to residents’ lives. However, the greatest impact can be achieved by fitting solar panels in tandem with residents changing their behaviour. Recognising this from the outset is crucial for any solar installation project.
Whole building assessments and benchmarking
Each dwelling will have its own combination of occupancy patterns, construction and site-specific issues (such as shading and access). Each will therefore need its own assessment. This will make sure that the right measures can be applied to each home without causing unintended consequences such as condensation, mould, overheating or drastically different energy consumption than predicted.
Podcasts
Heat pump user experiences
During this episode we talk all things heat pumps with Claire Brown, Senior Consultant at Turner & Townsend and Andy Wilson, Carbon Literacy Consultant from Great Places Housing Group. As well us discussing sector experience we also discuss Claire and Andy’s own user experience, as both are heat pump owners.
Heat Pumps: tackling the problem of over and under specification
This episode of the RISE podcast focuses on monitoring and evaluation techniques for heat pumps, with Dr Richard Jack, Technical Director at Build Test Solutions. Together with our podcast host Sarah Daly, we explore the issue of over or under specification of heat pumps, why around 70% of heat pumps fitted in homes today may not be delivering as effectively as they could because of this issue, and how it can be avoided.
Heating technologies
Choosing the right heating technology for homes can drastically reduce carbon emissions and decrease energy bills for tenants. In this episode of the podcast, host Sarah Daly discusses some of the different heating technologies available on the market with Jan Rosenow, director of European programmes at The Regulatory Assistance Project, and Claire Brown, senior consultant at Turner & Townsend and PhD researcher at the University of Manchester.
Clean heat solutions
In this episode of the podcast, host Sarah Daly is joined by Turner & Townsend's Alison Skillen to discuss low carbon heating. Listen as the two unpack the wide variety of solutions available and the differing benefits, as well as drawbacks that providers should be aware of before deciding which technology to adopt.