ROUND TABLE REVIEW 47 BUILDING
INSIGHTS LIVE
Solutions for Low Energy Domestic Retrofi t at Scale
A
round table we staged in February, as the Government launched its £15bn Warm Homes Plan, brought architects, sustainability consultants, retrofi t experts, industry bodies and suppliers together to confront the challenges – and propose solutions – for achieving home retrofi t at an unprecedented scale. With £5bn of retrofi t funding up for grabs, the event was a crucial opportunity to share practical insights and address obstacles, as occupier affordability and fuel poverty becomes a greater UK challenge by the day.
The discussion was sponsored by NIBE Energy Systems and IDSystems, who both posed practical retrofi t-at-scale questions as well as solutions to the group. Questions included how low carbon heating solutions fi tted into the context of holistic retrofi ts alongside fabric improvements, and the changes in window and glass design spec that would be needed. The group also reviewed recommendations made by our 2024 round table (our fi rst looking in-depth at the retrofi t challenge). The delegates discussed whether the new Warm Homes Plan would fi ll a yawning gap left by the sudden cancellation of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) scheme in late 2025, and highlighted the potential shortcomings of the Plan, which the Government would do well to take account of. Delegates agreed there was a need to maintain a focus on fabric improvements alongside renewables, but some believed it was important to not “make the perfect the enemy of the good,” in pursuing retrofi t at scale, given the urgent need to achieve huge numbers of completed schemes quickly.
A series of recommendations were made by the panel, for both industry and government, from intervening to close the ‘spark gap’ between electricity and gas prices, to introducing ‘building passports’ which would help a building’s resale value to be increased based on the transparency of its retrofi t measures. And there was an overarching focus on the need to increase the credibility and quality of retrofi ts, in the wake of controversies around ECO projects, and thereby build trust among end users. This was an open and candid discussion about the fundamental
Round table chair, James Parker
WARM SUPPORT FOR RETROFIT AT SCALE
Our expert group, including event sponsors NIBE, looked in-depth at the existing and needed ‘sticks’ and ‘carrots’ for pursuing low energy retrofi ts across the housing sector
shifts required in not only the construction industry but the wider property sector in order to deliver the regulatory ‘sticks’ as well as the incentive ‘carrots’ that are going to be needed to achieve good quality retrofi ts at an unprecedented scale. The round table concluded with recommendations for both Government and the industry, featured at the end of this report.
The debate: challenges
Anna Scothern of the National Home Improvement Council (NHIC), was unable to attend, but shared a comprehensive set of viewpoints around retrofi t challenges to contribute to the session. She said the principal constraint on achieving domestic retrofi t at scale “is not installer willingness or technological capability – it is structural instability in the policy and delivery environment.”
ADF APRIL/MAY 2026
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116
