What do we mean by ‘retrofit’?

Retrofit refers to any work done to replace or enhance any aspect of an original construction. In the context of climate change and our homes, retrofit is a term that can be applied to the ‘whole house’, and any measures that will reduce the carbon emissions of a building while maintaining good levels of comfort, and reducing energy bills. That means being warm in winter, while avoiding condensation, and not overheating in summer.

Whole House approach

The ‘whole house’ approach is very important because with the older housing stock we have in a town like Nailsworth, one has to be careful not to solve one problem, only to create another (e.g. stop all drafts only to find the lack of ventilation causes a build-up of condensation). There is now a Government endorsed TrustMark for the whole house approach; here is a consumer guide. That is why it is important that those doing insulation work understand these risks and can address the issues. Insulation can refer to loft, floor or wall insulation, and also to double or triple glazed windows.

There are question that must be answered before embarking on a retrofit project:

• What will be the benefits in terms of comfort?

• How much work needs to be done?

• What will it cost?

• Are grants available to help with costs?

• Can this be phased over several years or is it better to get it done all at once?

• How much will it save in heating (or cooling) costs per year?

• What is the payback period?

• How much will the carbon emissions reduce as a result of the work?

These can be difficult questions to answer. Would the greater performance of triple-glazed windows justify the expense of choosing them instead of double glazed? It all depends, and it can come down to the area of glazing required and other factors (not least, the household budget). You need to be very clear about your requirements. If you request loft installation then also specify if you want to continue to use the loft for storage, as this may require additional materials and work as shown below (this is an illustration of the kinds of detailed questions that need to be addressed).

[Illustration of Loftzone system. Credit Aneaka Kellay, Carbon Co-op, 13th January 2016]

As the Centre for Alternative Technology advise:

“If you can’t do a retrofit in one go, do still plan it with the whole house in mind. Consider carefully how insulation, draught-proofing, ventilation and heating will interact with each other and with the building fabric. Take time first to understand the possible risks and how to avoid these or monitor them. This will help you choose materials, plan how one stage will lead to the next, and set priorities.”

So what help is there to pay for retrofit?

The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) has been in operation for a while, and can help pay towards some projects, through quarterly payments over 7 years.

The more recent Green Homes Grant offers upfront payments for a variety of retrofit measures. It is more generous for those who are hard up. Martin Lewis (money saving expert) has provided an easy to follow overview of the scheme at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/green-homes-grant/

Unfortunately, there has been some teething problems as he has reported: “A decent number are struggling to find approved local installers. One person in the south-east of England emailed my TV show to say their nearest installer shown on the Government system was 250 miles away in Blackpool”. We hope the Government will take note and resolve these issues.

It is interesting that when asked why they wish to undertake a retrofit, people give one or more of the following 3 reasons: running costs (including worries about rising fossil fuel costs in the future), comfort and the environment (i.e. climate change). Increasingly, people are opting for retrofit to improve comfort and address climate change, even though the financial payback can take some years.

What skills are available to help?

The AECB (Association for Environment Conscious Building) is a long-standing network of individuals and companies with a common aim of promoting sustainable building, and there are AECB members you can find in the Stroud area, worth considering if you are looking for professional advice. For those who are struggling with energy bills, we recommend approach SWEA (Severn-Wye Energy Agency) who can provide free advice and support in many cases.

The PAS 2030 Installer Scheme aims to improve the quality and consistency of those providing retrofit services.

The relatively new retrofit standard PAS 2035 is becoming increasingly important (and in many ways aligns with AECB’s existing practices), and ideally any work done in the future will be overseen by a ‘retrofit coordinator’ under this standard or by someone with equivalent experience and skills, to help navigate the options and address any risks.

For example, in a newly designed house built to very high insulation standards, ‘mechanical heat recovery’ could come as an integral part of the design, to enable good air movement, while avoiding moisture build up. But on an old house, it may be prohibitively expensive or impractical to retrofit such a system, so instead it may be that pragmatic choices must be made (such as installing cheaper room specific systems, such as in bathrooms and kitchens, to deal with condensation issues). Sometimes the best can be the enemy of the good.

We are also very interested in community-driven retrofit, such as Carbon Co-op based in Manchester. We could wait for the Government to fully scale up retrofit, but there is a case for a more ‘bottom up’ approach. This is an area where we are seeing moves to replicate the kind of service Carbon Co-op provides, in the Stroud District. More on this in due course.

Renewable heat

When it comes time to replace a home’s gas boiler (that the majority of Brits have in their homes, although some still have oil fired boilers), the most obvious and proven choice is a ‘heat pump’. Heat pumps can get ther heat from the air, ground or water. Where there are opportunities to share the costs of ground works, Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs) can offer a great solution, such as for social housing. For most owner-occupiers, an air-source heat pump (ASHP) is often the preferred option. Each situation is different, and an objective assessment of pros and cons in needed.

Heat pumps use a similar process as a fridge to move heat from one place to another, except in reverse. They take ambient energy from outside the house (from air, ground or water) and concentrate it at a higher temperature inside the house (a process that can work even in very cold winters). An ASHP typically uses 1 unit of electrical energy to deliver 3 units of heat energy to the home, for space and water heating. A GSHP can do even better. This is not magic, because the extra energy comes from the Sun (which warms the air and ground). For those homes with solar PV fitted, that can help reduce the reliance on the grid for powering the heat pump over the year, and make running costs competitive with gas.

There are a lot of myths associated with heat pumps and particularly ASHPs, such as ‘they will not work for older homes’, which are simply untrue. It is true that the better insulated a home is the smaller will be the heating source required (and so the smaller/ cheaper the heat pump), but it is unrealistic to expect all older buildings to be insulated to the highest standard possible before considering a heat pump. The mantra in the industry of ‘fabric first’ should not mean ‘fabric only’, because if we want to decarbonise heating we really do need to get rid of gas boilers.

There is a balance to be struck in terms of costs and levels of disruption. One needs a sufficiency of insulation for sure, but there are many examples of heat pumps, including ASHPs, performing well on older homes, even where additional wall and floor insulation was impractical. It is crucial that in sizing a heat pump, the advisor or installer is MCS Registered and can conduct a proper MCS calculation of the heat loss for the building, which will then determine the size of the heat pump required.

A cautionary note on EPCs

Be warned that an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) will never recommend a heat pump (as noted here), which is a nonsense. As an example, Jan Rosenow (Director of European Programmes at the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP)) showed that despite work done on installation on his home, and reduced energy bills and carbon emissions, the EPC scored him down compared to his neighbour because he had a heat pump!

This is an issue NailsworthCAN has raised with the Government through our MP. We are looking forward to an answer from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Final thoughts

So, ‘retrofit’ can encompass a very wide spectrum of work, from simply topping up your loft insulation, to changing your windows, to replacing a gas boiler with a heat pump, or a major project to fit exterior wall insulation. It can be a steep learning curve, but we are lucky in the Stroud Valleys to have many with experiences to share, as householders and as providers, and we will be endeavouring to help highlight these experiences on our Instagram feed.

The key advice we offer here is take some time to learn more, seek advice, consider your needs, and then to weigh up options. When you have made a decision to proceed, make sure you use people with experience and good references before committing to a project. Ideally, get a couple of quotes (while remembering the cheapest may not be the best; the best is often the most well thought through and professional).

If you have questions, thoughts or ideas, please let us know.