With 27 million domestic buildings in the UK, the majority of which require significant energy efficiency improvements, it has been calculated by the UK Green Building Council that 1.8 homes per minute will need to be retrofitted to deliver the UK government’s commitment to net zero by 2050. It’s why Futurebuild 2023 is urging companies and professionals to ‘take a stand’ for retrofit in order to create a better built environment and deliver on our net zero ambitions.
Futurebuild’s expanded Retrofit section, sponsored by Elmhurst Energy and in partnership with The Retrofit Academy CIC and Osmosis, is set to be bigger and better in 2023 and will be showcasing the best solutions, technologies and services, that together, can unite and strengthen the delivery of whole house retrofit at scale. The Retrofit Zone will focus on retrofit in practice, innovation that is scalable, and cement a standard of safe, high-quality retrofit.
Social landlords and local authorities throughout the country are among those in the supply chain who are keen to identify organisations, products, technologies and systems that can help them to scale up and decarbonise their housing stock, without compromise on quality or service.
From the manufacturer to the installer, the supply chain is gearing up to meet retrofit demand, with climate conscious clients renovating their homes and waves of funding from the UK government needing to be fulfilled for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Local Authority Delivery programmes.
David Pierpoint, founder and CEO at the Retrofit Academy will be curating the section’s exhibitors, seminars and training taster-sessions. He said: “The current energy crisis has the energy efficiency of our homes under the spotlight. With residential fuel bills soaring, fuel poverty is once again on the rise and felt widely across our communities. Retrofitting is part of the solution to energy efficient, sustainable, healthier homes and improves both our carbon footprint and the quality of people’s lives. If we are to meet our net zero targets, we must share knowledge, collaborate and innovate, and by doing this we will go some way to creating a world where every home is warm, healthy and low carbon.’’
Talking retrofit
At the heart of the Retrofit Zone will be the CPD-accredited Seminar programme, which has been designed to offer valuable insights at all levels from assessment, coordination, deployment, and evaluation. The line-up will feature industry leaders, pioneers and innovators who are driving forward with retrofit. Speakers include Jarrod Green, retrofit technical solutions manager – EQUANS; Edith Colomba, senior sustainability consultant – Useful Simple Trust; Antonia Craze, senior energy officer – Portsmouth City Council, and many more.
As part of this and on Day Three of Futurebuild (March 9th), David Pierpoint will be chairing a wrap up seminar entitled, ‘Are we ready to deliver retrofit at scale?’. It will explore insights from the first three days of the event and what has occurred in the past 12 months in the world of retrofit.
A skilled-up retrofit workforce
To meet this enormous retrofit challenge, the Retrofit Academy has secured funding from the government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to deliver over 1200 retrofit courses in England to help the UK achieve its net zero goals by building a highly skilled retrofit workforce. Recent studies have estimated that up to 400,000 new recruits will be needed to form a retrofit army so that they can deliver retrofit projects at scale.
The courses are ideal for experienced built environment professionals such as architects, surveyors and construction site managers, social housing providers, those working in the energy efficiency sector (such as Domestic Energy Assessors), and SMEs (e.g. contractors installing insulation, glazing, doors and heating systems) looking to deliver high quality and sustainable retrofit projects.
The Retrofit Academy Awards
The winners of the Retrofit Academy Awards will be announced at Futurebuild on Tuesday 7th March. As well as increasing credibility, the awards set out to recognise the rising stars in the industry and showcase the hard work and dedication going into outstanding retrofitting projects across the UK being made across all levels, including retrofit coordinators, installers, social housing, local authority delivery programmes, and individual projects.
Martin Hurn, Futurebuild’s event director said: “The solutions exist within the supply chain that can underpin whole house retrofit at scale and create a better built environment. It’s now about giving those innovative brands the platform to really showcase their products, solutions and innovations. Futurebuild 2023 will be that platform.”
Futurebuild 2023 will take place from March 7th to March 9th London’s ExCeL. For more details, visit www.futurebuild.co.uk
Don’t miss out on this year’s event. Visitor registration is now open.
Article supplied by Futurebuild