Festival of Sustainable Business sponsors Retrofit West CIC have been promoting retrofitting in Bristol, Bath and South Gloucestershire for the last year. Rin Hamburgh, founder of festival comms partners RH&Co, caught up MD Simon Andrews and Head of Marketing Laura Barber to find out more about their mission and why they’re so passionate about moving away from fossil fuels and decarbonising our homes.

First of all, for those who don’t really know much about what retrofitting is, can you give us a bit of definition?

Laura: 

Retrofitting is about upgrading an existing property to improve its energy efficiency. That covers a range of different measures, from DIY draft proofing to improving insulation to installing renewable technologies like solar panels and heat pumps.

Tell us a bit about what Retrofit West is and what you do?

Simon: 

Retrofit West is a Community Interest Company (CIC) that was set up about a year ago in conjunction with the Centre for Sustainable Energy and the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority. Our goal is to promote the take-up of domestic retrofit measures in the Bristol, Bath and South Gloucestershire region in order to increase the energy efficiency of properties.

We work in two main areas. First, we’re looking to increase demand from homeowners by providing free advice on all aspects of domestic retrofit, and providing discounted assessment surveys so they can understand how their homes are performing and what the best possible retrofit measures would be for their property.

The other side is trying to get more construction companies into retrofit. This is a big challenge because the current domestic construction market is already very busy, so they’re not really motivated to look for new streams of revenue. And so we’re trying to move people into that world by helping them understand retrofit better, providing accredited training processes and developing peer networks.

Why is retrofitting houses so important?

Laura: 

Essentially because it can lower energy consumption. So it lowers people’s bills, reduces heat loss, makes homes more comfortable and obviously tackles climate change too.

Plus, there is a lot of research about the impact of retrofitting on health too. Like how reducing damp and improving air quality can improve conditions like eczema and asthma, and also mental wellbeing. With retrofitting, homes become warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer and overall more comfortable.

Simon: 

The big challenge that we have, particularly in the UK, is that our housing stock is extremely old and continuing to age. Whether you look at the 2030 or 2050 Net Zero targets, in either of those years, 80% of the properties that people will be living in then, exist today. So we can’t rely on new build construction to solve this problem, we need to address the retrofit challenge.

There will be a natural transition away from gas to electricity, that is already in play, government policies are changing the management of the infrastructure that exists. What we’re trying to do is accelerate it because the quicker it can happen the better.

What’s the biggest challenge you think the retrofitting industry faces today?

Simon: 

Heat pumps are key to whether this challenge will be met. All the other measures need to happen but it’s how we heat our homes currently that is the big challenge and heat pumps are the solution for that. But there is a huge amount of disinformation out there. There are very active lobbyists in this area that are trying to disrupt this take up.

The oil and gas industry stands to lose significantly from the transition to electricity, particularly if it’s generated from green sources, so it’s in their interest to dissuade homeowners from making the switch.

The data is very clear. 85% of people that have had heat pumps installed in their homes are absolutely ecstatic about them. They love them. They work. They lower their bills. About 5% of people struggle with them. The challenge we have is promoting that 85% because the 5% that are unhappy are who the press gets hold of.

Laura: 

And of those 5%, many of them might have been installed incorrectly or just need the settings tweaking. 

A lot of what we do is mythbusting. Heat pumps get a bad rep, people say that they’re inefficient, which is not true – it’s been proven many times that they are much more efficient than gas boilers. But as human beings we look to our social groups and communities on what we should do. So, if your neighbour has a heat pump and it’s poorly installed and they say, “Oh, it’s terrible” then that influences your view.

That’s part of why we’re doing the business support work with construction companies, because we want to make sure that these installations are going ahead correctly. Firstly so that they work as they should and they achieve what we want them to achieve. But also to change that mindset and that narrative.

What should Bristol, Bath and South Gloucestershire homeowners do if they want to find out more about retrofitting their own homes?

Simon: 

I would say visit the Retrofit West website because we can act as an independent first point of call for anybody that is looking to start their retrofitting journey. We’re a CIC, so any surplus we make goes back into benefiting the local area. We’re independent in that respect, we don’t have any shareholders, there’s no dividends that have to be paid out. We are purely here to increase the retrofit market. Ultimately, if we do our jobs properly, we will make ourselves redundant, because the process will be so normalised. 

We would recommend getting a survey. Surveys range from about £100 to £1,000 depending on the size of your home and the level and type of assessment you want, whether it’s basic thermal imaging or a much more involved study that can help you make a long term plan. We currently offer discounts of 70% on home surveys with our home assessment vouchers, which can be found on our website.

The reality is that we can’t all find £30,000 down the back of the sofa, so it’s about identifying and choosing what’s possible within your budget.

And do most people usually end up saving as much money as they spend?

Simon: 

The question of payback is really important. There is a very clear payback period for the majority of domestic retrofit installations. For example, with solar panels you should see payback within 6-7 years but others like draft exclusion could pay back much more quickly because it’s a much lower initial investment.

Even with the longer payback periods, you might not see that payback within the time you live in the property but we’re seeing increasing evidence now that mortgage lenders are starting to factor it into affordability calculations. It can also have a positive impact on your house price. For an average property, a higher performing Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) can increase house value by more than 10%.

Simon will be taking part in a panel discussion on at the Festival of Sustainable Business Exhibition on Thursday 19 September 2024 at We The Curious, Bristol. Book your free tickets here today.