AECB welcomes publication of the LETI
‘Climate Emergency Retrofit Guide’
Book now! FREE online launch Thursday 21st October 10.00 – 11.30
LETI are publishing the ‘Climate Emergency Retrofit Guide’ on Thursday 21st October at a FREE online event between 10.00 – 11.30. By examining the upgrade of the UK housing stock and summarising what can be achieved, the guide sets out what good retrofit looks like, and advises on how to deliver efficient, resilient and healthy homes. This includes defining energy use requirements and highlights the risks of poor retrofit.
The LETI (London Energy Transformation Initiative) network comprises over 1000 built environment professionals working together to put London on the path to a zero-carbon future. They include volunteer developers, engineers, housing associations, architects, planners, academics, sustainability professionals, contractors, and facilities managers. LETI supports the transition of the capital’s built environment to Net Zero carbon, providing guidance that can be applied to the rest to the UK. LETI works with AECB, PHT, RIBA, CIBSE, Architects Climate Change Network (ACAN). Reducing energy demand is key to achieving a net zero-carbon built environment.
Aimed at built environment professionals, local authorities, housing associations and homeowners, the guide sets out what a good retrofit looks like from the perspective of pragmatic, realistic and affordable measures, which, when undertaken as a coordinated retrofit plan, will deliver comfortable, healthy, and efficient homes.
AECB has long adopted a systems-thinking approach, particularly the need to match supply and demand as we work towards a near zero-carbon society: an approach that is essential to reduce carbon emissions resource-efficiently and cost-effectively and more likely to provide health and energy security in a more volatile and uncertain future. LETI also takes this holistic approach and AECB has worked collaboratively with LETI in supporting the development of this new guidance.
AECB has contributed dynamic stock modelling to help inform retrofit scenarios and better evidence the application of the self-certifying AECB Retrofit Standard. The AECB compared and contrasted its retrofit scenario results with the Passivhaus Trust’s own stock modelling tool – and found good agreement between models, particularly with respect to annual and peak space heat demand that the UK’s decarbonised heat supply grid(s) will need to supply. AECB also provided free access for many LETI authors to the AECB CarbonLite™ Retrofit Course (CLR).
John Palmer who served as Workstream Leader for LETI and PHT (now Deputy Director, Energy Performance of Buildings and Climate Change at Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) said: “Retrofit is without doubt the biggest challenge facing the built environment as we work out how to get to net Zero. The aim of this publication is to set out what retrofit can achieve and provide some clear guidance about how it can be done in practice.”
The energy needed to run the UK’s buildings accounts for 27% of our annual carbon emissions with 18% alone coming from our domestic housing stock. The key question is: How far should retrofit go? Like many improvement activities, retrofit is subject to the law of diminishing returns – as you seek the final 20% of reductions, the cost, and effort increases significantly. LETI has established five simple principles to deliver good retrofit that can bring a host of environmental, social, and financial benefits. They are: focus on energy not carbon, prioritise occupants, have a whole building plan, measure the performance and ‘Think Big! – we are facing a climate emergency.’
Andy Simmonds, CEO AECB says: “The AECB has long argued that we can no longer afford only incremental improvements in current practice, climate science and building physics tells us need to do more – this LETI guide will help us all scale up our ambition and inform our actions.”
To book you ticket for this FREE LETI event please click here