Retrofit Resources

Welcome to the

Building Retrofit Information Hub for homeowners

An initiative from HGN to bring together people, information and professional expertise to help with the challenge of making homes (and workplaces) comfortable year-round in the face of high heating bills and the need to cut carbon emissions.

We’re going to be expanding this section but are starting small, with links below to what we reckon are very good sources of information. (Last update February 22nd 2021)

IMPORTANT If you are struggling to keep your home warm and deal with the costs, the advice team at Keep Herefordshire Warm can help – Get help here

Embarking on retrofit:

a whole house approach

Done right, this can make big improvements to comfort levels and can reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions by 60-80%. It’s a large financial commitment and can be a disruptive process, but can be done successfully in stages. We strongly recommend that anyone planning a retrofit should start with a Whole House Plan.

Read more: https://cat.org.uk/info-resources/free-information-service/eco renovation/eco-retrofit/

Example of a whole house plan (from Carbon Co-op): https://cc-sitemedia.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/07/MyHomeEnergyPlanner_S mple_Report.pdf

Another useful explainer: https://retrobook.co.uk/what-does-whole-house-retrofit-mean-to-me/

Insulating walls (from Bristol but it applies here): https://sdfoundation.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2018/01/2015_bristolsolidwallinsulationguidance.pdf

More useful links

Websites with a broad range of information on Building Retrofit

https://www.simpleenergyadvice.org.uk/ The Simple Energy Advice website has information on easy energy saving, retrofit measures, and heating – plus a guide for people in rented accommodation. Includes information on funding

https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/ The Energy Saving Trust has reliable, regularly updated information for householders and businesses. Includes information on funding.

https://carbon.coop/carbon-co-op-webinar-programme/ Carbon Co-op have a series of free webinars on all areas of their work – including retrofit, energy systems and much more.

https://www.cse.org.uk The Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE) are an independent national charity that shares their knowledge and experience to help people change the way they think and act on energy. Head to their resources section for lots of information on a range of topics and in various formats.

https://www.theheatinghub.co.uk The Heating Hub provide expert, impartial advice on heating systems to help you save money and carbon through your heating.

https://superhomes.org.uk Superhomes is a network for sharing best practice in domestic energy reduction and home comfort.

Intro to Retrofitting your home webinars at an introductory level:

A beginners guide to retrofit

How do we make our homes Zero Carbon Ready ?

Home Health Check (link to be updated)

An Introduction to Home Energy Systems

An introduction to Heat Pumps

Building Airtightness Webinar with Diane Hubbard

Check how your home/building performs in terms of energy and carbon emissions

Good calculator

Winterproofing - simple fixes

Keep warm for less this winter. See guides from:

You can lose up to 20% of your heat just through draughts. See these guides from:

Magnetic-strip secondary glazing is a cost-effective and unobtrusive measure for reducing fuel costs and improving comfort and warmth. See video installation guide from:

Save money on your gas bills by lowering the flow on your boiler

Turn OFF the pre-heat on your Worcester combi boiler to save 5-10%

Explore a bit further:

Introductory Level of Information to Retrofit

Retrofit in a nutshell from the experts at the Centre for Alternative Technology https://cat.org.uk/ask-expert-eco-refurbishments/

Retrofit case-studies from Cosyhomes Oxfordshire https://cosyhomesoxfordshire.org/blog/case-studies/

Before and after – energy and carbon measurements from the Low Energy Buildings database https://www.lowenergybuildings.org.uk/projectbrowser.php

Getting help

Click here to to get advice on funding and how to start your retrofit project.

find a professional:

Marches based Architects, Energy Assessors, Builders, Equipment installers

‘The inclusion of a company or individual on this website does not represent an endorsement of this business or the quality of its work. We have taken steps to ensure participating businesses are genuine and competent, but as with any transaction it is your responsibility to satisfy yourself that the business is able to provide the services being offered. ‘

(We would recommend asking the businesses for local project details that can be used for reference)

Please note this list is at a very early stage and will be added to – further suggestions for inclusion can be sent to us at HGN.

Architects

AECB group

Arbor Architects

Simmonds Mills

Tom Mason , Circle Architecture

Energy Assessors

Waxwing Energy

BEEP – Energy assessment and funding for Businesses

Claus Best, retrofit co-ordinator, Smart Energy Services

Jacinta Walton, part of Idea-ingham

Builders – with experience in good Insulation methods

Dai Rees- Passive House Builder

More to follow

Equipment Installers (renewable Energy, Air Source Heat Pumps etc)

SolarKinetics: Solar PV

Caplor Solar: PV, ASHP

Pro-fit Energy: Solar PV & thermal, ASHP, GSHP, Biomass

PVServ

Couldn’t find what you wanted? Please let us know what you need via our contact page https://hgnetwork.org/contact-hgn/ with subject line ATTN BUILDING SENSE. Thank you!

topic based resources:

heating (and cooling!)

Heat Pumps

Heat pumps are one of the forms of low carbon heating that are critical to the UK’s transition to net zero. They use electricity – so can be powered by renewables – and are over three times more efficient than gas boilers.

Insulation

Coming soon! 

Airtightness and ventilation

Coming soon! 

Windows and doors

Coming soon! 

temporary/ low budget measures

Coming soon! 

minimising water use

Coming soon! 

topic based resources:

heating (and cooling!)

Insulation

Coming soon! 

Airtightness and ventilation

Coming soon! 

Windows and doors

Coming soon! 

temporary/ low budget measures

Coming soon! 

minimising water use

Coming soon!