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Procuring, managing and improving low carbon retrofit projects: what are the business opportunities?
To explore the business opportunities emerging from the low carbon building and retrofit market, the Institute for Sustainability has worked with leading industry experts to produce a series of ‘Building Opportunities for Business’ Retrofit Guides. These are aimed at businesses working in the built environment to tell you everything you need to know about the whole low carbon retrofit process. The Guides are available exclusively to members of FLASH.
Guide 4 outlines the early stages in the retrofit process, by exploring the different funding sources and models for domestic retrofit programmes. Sources of funding include the Government’s Green Deal and Renewable Heat Incentive schemes. Being sustainable is essential when sourcing goods and services to undertake repairs, maintenance and improvement works to existing housing to meet the Government’s targets for carbon reduction. The Guide looks at understanding sustainable procurement and how to tender successfully to make the most of these opportunities and help you win more business.
Guide 5 highlights the opportunities for the individual or organisation involved in overseeing the retrofit process. It considers the project coordination role, including the planning process and managing risk. Getting these early stages right will help inform the management of the delivery stage and beyond. For the homeowner or landlord, it is important to understand how effective the work has been.
Guide 6 is about how you could improve the performance of building fabric of existing homes, such as walls, floors, roofs, windows and doors. The key message is the need to adopt an integrated approach to the treatment of all fabric elements to achieve improved thermal performance and optimum, comfort conditions internally. Other topics covered in the guides include materials waste, water maintenance; living in a low carbon home; identifying opportunities and services; promotion programmes including the Green Deal and Feed-in Tariffs; plus skills, training and accreditation. To access the Retrofit Guides click here
Guided to the business opportunities available in low carbon building and retrofit: what does it all mean for me?
To explore the business opportunities emerging from the low carbon building and retrofit market, the Institute for Sustainability has worked with leading industry experts to produce a series of ‘Building Opportunities for Business’ Retrofit Guides. These are aimed at businesses working in the built environment to tell you everything you need to know about the whole low carbon retrofit process. These are available exclusively for members of FLASH.
Guide 1 provides an introduction to the Government’s low carbon targets in the UK and the vital role that built environment businesses must play in delivering these ambitious targets. This new opportunity is being shaped by the Government’s emerging incentive schemes, such as Feed in Tariffs, Green Deal and the Renewable Heat Incentive. However, even without these incentives, the business benefits of low carbon domestic retrofit include protection against rising fuel prices (and fuel poverty), improv
ed comfort in homes, mitigating CO2 emissions and improved market value.
Guide 2 covers the opportunities in providing energy surveys and assessments that will inform the process of selecting appropriate retrofit measures. It considers the potential tension between long term goals and short term priorities, which remain a barrier to major retrofit. The assessment process described in this guide must take both into account. The guide details the different techniques that can be employed including thermography and damp surveys, as well as energy assessment tools used to gather data about the building and its occupancy.
Guide 3 is about how you might plan low carbon retrofit projects. The guide has been structured around the development of a retrofit plan for an individual dwelling or for a dwelling type within a larger stock of housing and the business opportunities this presents. It details why, when and how a retrofit plan should be used, what it should include for different clients, who owns it and the associated business opportunities.
Topics covered in the guides include funding and procurement; managing low carbon retrofit projects; improving the building fabric; improving the building services; materials waste, water maintenance; living in a low carbon home; identifying opportunities and services; promotion programmes including the Green Deal and Feed-in Tariffs; plus skills, training and accreditation.
As a member of FLASH, you can get online access to the retrofit guides through the Building Opportunitities for Business portal.
If your company is not registered on FLASH, find out how you can sign up.
*part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund