CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY ORGANISATIONS have joined forces to create a new National Retrofit Hub to help propel retrofit rollout in the UK’s existing homes.

The initiative, launched at the Building Centre in central London on 1 March, is a response from industry to the growing need to make our building stock greener and more energy efficient.

The National Retrofit Hub is backed by over 40 organisations including Innovate UK, TrustMark, Sustainable Development Foundation, UK Green Building Council and the Federation of Master Builders.

National Retrofit Hub

Lynne Sullivan, Chair of the National Retrofit Hub, said: “The UK has the oldest and leakiest housing stock in Europe. The current energy crisis has shown that most of our existing homes are very expensive to heat because they are poorly insulated. There is now an urgent need to reduce energy consumption and the most effective way to do this is to make our existing homes more energy efficient by ensuring they are retrofitted, to a standard suitable for low carbon heating systems.

“The creation of the National Retrofit Hub is a means to bring clarity to those who work in the retrofit sector by signposting and sharing best practice to speed up the roll out of greener homes.  Creating the Hub will cement links with the finance community and the skills providers to enable locally based delivery programmes to be scaled up and deliver significant economic and social benefits.”

Fiendishly Complex

The National Retrofit Hub will aim to stimulate market demand, unlock finance and deliver whole systems retrofit.

Richard Robinson, CEO Atkins UK and Deputy Chair of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), said: “This is an important moment in the UK’s journey to Net Zero. NRH is an industry response to a very real need.

“Delivery of retrofit at scale is a fiendishly complex task, and we need to close the knowledge gap and provide sector support to get this off the ground. Now is the time for the industry to step up and define the technical solutions, give government the collateral it needs, help consumers understand their options and identify a combined public and private sector roadmap to fund and regulate our way to healthier, warmer, greener homes. I look forward to the NRH making this a reality.”

Keen to coordinate all elements of the National Retrofit Strategy, Russell Smith, MD of Parity Projects and the National Retrofit Hub’s Interim Director, said: “The key parts of the National Retrofit Hub are the interlocking components from the ‘National Retrofit Strategy’, critical elements that we need in order to make retrofit happen at scale, accurately and quickly. Any policy, initiative or new scheme over the past few years has probably tried to do one or two of the components, but not all of them. We want the NRH’s Working Groups to map existing activities and identify gaps, so that we can use resources wisely and make sure we’re moving forwards quickly and accurately.”

The Construction Products Association (CPA) is supporting the National Retrofit Hub. CPA Chief Executive, Peter Caplehorn, added : “A substantial amount has been written, published, debated and repeated about retrofit, with too little actual progress of robust quality on the ground. While increased fuel poverty and poor living conditions continue and the UK’s housing stock is still one of the least efficient in Europe it is hoped the Hub can bring a new focus and drive to reversing this situation.”

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