Retrofit assessment: Getting it right from the start
Abstract
The UK has some of the oldest buildings in Europe. They are also some of the worst performing in terms of energy performance. In tandem with these issues the UK has committed to making a substantial reduction in CO2 emissions. UK homes are currently responsible for almost 20 per cent of CO2 emissions. This leaves little option other than to make considerable progress with the retrofitting of homes to improve their energy performance. This is a technical process, however, and can introduce risks to building and their occupants. Examples exist of homes being retrofitted with disastrous consequences. Some of these issues can be due to the lack of thorough examination of a home before it undergoes a retrofit. This paper proposes a method that provides a detailed pre-retrofit assessment of a home, to fall in line with PAS 2035, a standard that provides guidance around publicly funded retrofit in the UK.
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Author's Biography
Richard Fitton holds a PhD in building physics and is also a chartered building surveyor. He leads a task group for the development of international standards around energy performance. Richard is the Chairman of the upcoming British Standard for Retrofit Assessment. He is also active in the International Energy Agency, studying the use of smart meter data to provide energy efficiency data for dwellings. He holds a place on the SAP Scientific Integrity Group at the Building Research Establishment (BRE) which oversees the domestic energy model used in the UK. Richard is also the technical lead for the new Energy House 2 project, a building physics test lab.
Will Swan is the Director of Energy House Laboratories (EHL) at the University of Salford, where he has led the energy and buildings research for more than ten years. The labs include the award-winning Salford Energy House, a whole Victorian house in a climate-controlled chamber, the Smart Meters Smart Homes Lab and the £16m Energy House 2.0 research facility. He has published a wide number of papers on retrofit and building performance and has advised on a national and regional policy level, including a recent appointment to the national Energy Efficiency Taskforce, chaired by Lord Callanan and Dame Alison Rose.
Citation
Fitton, Richard and Swan, Will (2023, December 1). Retrofit assessment: Getting it right from the start. In the Journal of Building Survey, Appraisal & Valuation, Volume 12, Issue 3. https://doi.org/10.69554/ZWVI1586.
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