We had Matt Roberts from East Sussex College Group delivering an excellent CPD on ‘Net Zero and Retrofit in the UK’. This event was hosted at The Dock Hub, where we invited Clients and Consultants to attend. The event was a great success and Matt received excellent feedback from the presentation.
The UK definition of ‘Net Zero’ in the Climate Change Act 2008 is to “Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 100% of 1990 levels”, which is a significant target to stop the earth’s atmosphere warming up. This is important because we rely on a stable temperature for our day to day lives, including crop growth, water supply and preventing many species from going instinct. The reason the global mean temperature is rising is due to gases emitted by human behaviour, the most prolific being carbon dioxide. This is why Governments, scientists and environmentalist are focusing on ‘decarbonisation’.
In order to ‘decarbonise’ we need to reduce our reliance on burning fossil fuels which releases CO2. How we can do this in the built environment, is to focus on our existing housing stock, over 50% of which was built pre-1970 (BCIS 2022). This means none of these buildings were built with insulation and the majority of which have a poor thermal performance.
By tackling existing housing stock we can install and upgrade insulation, making them more thermally efficient, Improve ventilation to prevent damp and condensation occurring and improve habitability and install sustainable technology which can either generate its own sustainable source of electricity or improve its energy performance to prevent the reliance on using fossil fuels.
There is Legislation in place to push landlords both domestic and commercial into improving the existing building stock. This includes requiring buildings to meet Minimum Energy Efficiency Regulations. For Domestic properties they are required to have an EPC of an ‘E’ but this is due to rise in the future and commercial buildings need a minimum EPC of an ‘E’ from this month. The only way to improve these ratings is to ‘Retrofit’.
Previous government funding schemes have been unregulated or had a poor take up. This has resulted in various approaches being applied to unsuitable housing stock and leading to issues further down the line. There is a new PAS2035 which as been setup to help control the retrofitting process by requiring professional accountability and qualified training.
One of the key principles for PAS2035 is ‘fabric first’, this means any retrofitting works should always tackle the existing fabric of the building first as any savings made from installing heat pumps will be lost through draughty windows and uninsulated roofs and walls. There is a requirement for all social housing to be improved using PAS2035 but these principles can be applied to any building.
East Sussex College recently opened their Training Hub in Eastbourne which is a centre to provide courses designed to upskill and provide resources to support a more sustainable future.
Focus Consulting will soon be enrolling one of our senior surveyors on the Level 5 diploma in Retrofit Co-ordination and Risk Management. This will give the knowledge and skills needs to become a Retrofit Coordinator serving Brighton & Hove and the surrounding areas.
To find out more about the courses available at East Sussex College visit www.esctraininghub.com
To find out more about the courses available at East Sussex College visit www.esctraininghub.com
Recent Comments