Simon brings cross-sector leadership experience to the Hub’s goals of creating retrofit infrastructure and developing the UK’s marketplace while representing UKGBC at the heart of our shared mission to upgrade homes across the UK.  

Reflecting on his appointment, Simon said: 

“UKGBC’s members and partners know that retrofitting our homes at scale and speed is absolutely critical to delivering on our net zero future while permanently slashing bills and stimulating the UK’s green economy. The National Retrofit Hub will fill a longstanding missing piece of the puzzle of solving our national housing retrofit crisis. 

“From the heart of this crucial national endeavour, I’m looking forward to championing what UKGBC members want and need from the Hub and helping to unlock the full-speed action on retrofit that is so urgently needed across the UK.”

Lynne Sullivan, Chair of the National Retrofit Hub Board, shared her thoughts on this development:  

Simon’s active engagement across the industry mirrors the collaborative ethos that defines our mission at the Hub.  This appointment comes at an instrumental time as we are rapidly building progress at the Hub; our working group activity is in full swing with our first outputs due in the Autumn, a new website and branding will soon to be unveiled, and we have a growing group of partners and sponsors. We are actively seeking to consolidate expertise across all retrofit sectors within our board, to ensure we cover all areas that require focus.  

Drawing from Simon’s experience within groups like the Scottish Government’s Green Heat Finance Task Force, the West Midlands Combined Authority’s Future Homes Taskforce and the UK government’s Energy Efficiency Task Force will help us to ensure that we consider the conditions needed to scale retrofit from the many different local contexts that exist throughout the length and breadth of the UK. This appointment will also help us make stronger connections with the work of the UKGBC, where Simon plays a leading role. We look forward to sharing where we have got to so far with Simon and gaining his advice and guidance on the routes forward.” 

More information about the National Retrofit Hub is available here.  

Home Retrofit

With time running out to keep global temperatures to 1.5 degrees, upgrading the nation’s homes is one of the biggest opportunities the UK has to reduce carbon emissions whilst tackling the cost-of-living crisis, energy security and levelling up.

View more

The post Simon McWhirter joins National Retrofit Hub as Board member  appeared first on UKGBC.

• Hotels: High energy usage, high level of duplication of specific examples (chain hotels), high number of touch points to potentially influence public awareness.
• Schools: High potential for social value, education and community engagement, energy costs and poorly maintained facilities are a significant challenge for many schools.
• Higher Education facilities: High synergy with offices, opportunity for education and more in-depth research collaboration
• Public buildings: Libraries, Leisure Centres, Local Authority offices, etc.
• Retail: Supermarkets etc

Objectives

• To deepen awareness and understanding amongst investors, owners, managers, designers, and consultants of the carbon
  and cost-effectiveness of different retrofit measures to inform planned upgrades to existing non-domestic assets, and,
• Explore how to overcome common challenges to maximise compliance with future regulations and to meet the likely
  ambition behind emerging net zero carbon performance targets.

Outline

1. Develop a suite of evidence that explores and provides the cost, operational energy efficiency potential, and
   embodied carbon impact, as well as any co-benefits associated with common retrofit measures for different
   types of properties, to offer a path of sequential design, operational, and management solutions to set buildings
   on a path to close the gap to net zero carbon.
2. Focus on one or more non-domestic building typologies based on age, specification standard, HVAC system, and
   lease type, etc. to explore the variety of different challenges faced by stakeholders looking to decarbonise
   their/their clients’ assets.
3. Collate real-world examples of retrofit measures (light, deep, optimisation focused), to illustrate and compare
   the true impact of different retrofit solutions that facilitate the transition towards net zero, showcasing effective
   outcomes alongside lessons learnt

Project Partnership is open to UKGBC members only. Learn more about what it means to be a member and the opportunities it provides you here.

Learn more about UKGBC’s Advancing Net Zero Programme here.

Advancing Net Zero Partners

Our climate change mitigation work is made possible thanks to the generous support of our Advancing Net Zero Programme Partners

The post Closing the Gap towards Net Zero Carbon: Non-Domestic Retrofit Project Partners appeared first on UKGBC.

Responding to the comments, UKGBC Deputy Chief Executive Simon McWhirter said: 

Rolling back plans to improve the energy efficiency of rented homes is environmentally reckless and economically damaging. The last time the Government went down the path of slashing green measures it added billions to people’s energy bills.  

“Upgrading the energy efficiency of homes is essential if we are to meet our climate targets. Doing so would add value to landlords’ properties and improve the lives of millions of tenants who live in cold, damp, mouldy and unsafe homes. This is the moment to be strengthening energy efficiency measures not watering them down.”  

Home Retrofit

With time running out to keep global temperatures to 1.5 degrees, upgrading the nation’s homes is one of the biggest opportunities the UK has to reduce carbon emissions whilst tackling the cost-of-living crisis, energy security and levelling up.

View more

The post Delaying energy efficiency standards for renters is environmentally reckless and economically damaging  appeared first on UKGBC.

UKGBC’s Impact Report 22-23 documents the transformational impact our network had over a financial year with collaboration at its heart. Its the first of our Impact Reports to track our activities in line with our 2025 strategy and goals, with the aims pushing for climate action further and faster.

This financial year saw the launch of new opportunities for radical collaboration between our members, like the Collaboration Cafés and Local Authority Retrofit Forum, providing spaces and networks for knowledge sharing and problem solving. Circular Economy was central in this year’s Advancing Net Zero programme, with the release of two industry leading reports and a record number of individuals being involved in ANZ work. This financial year also saw us hit the milestone of 700 members, with over 9,000 active member contacts.

As the final year of Julie Hirigoyen’s leadership, it was a year where our industry and society at large grappled with the climate and ecological crises; epitomised by the reaction to the extreme heat of summer 2022. Progress is being made across the built environment, but we must take the impact from this year and accelerate it in both business and government if we are to avert climate and ecological breakdown.

The post Impact Report 22-23 appeared first on UKGBC.

The need for rapid decarbonisation is clear. The impacts of climate change are being felt here and now, with average global temperature records being broken across the summer. We need to accelerate action to mitigate our impacts on our planet. But we’re not moving fast enough. The Whole Life Carbon Roadmap indicates that continuing business as usual would see the sector fall well short of the 2050 net zero target.

Organisations across the built environment value chain need to play their part in reaching net zero, and each and every person in those organisations can support the transformation.

That means you!

‘Net zero’ can appear confusing, complicated, and highly challenging to achieve, but UKGBC are here to help you understand what this means, why it’s important and what actions you can take.

This webinar series will build your core net zero knowledge through exploring key concepts, ideas and solutions needed to reach net zero across our built environment. Each session will delve into a new subject, from measuring carbon, to retrofit and much more.

UKGBC’s Advancing Net Zero team will provide expert guidance across the series, alongside inspirational examples of success and case studies from UKGBC members. Each session will allow for questions, giving you the opportunity to ask our experts and guests anything you want.

Series detail

Each webinar will run from 09:30 – 10:25 GMT (with an extended Q&A from 10:25-10:45)

The subjects covered and dates are as follows:

1. Advancing Net Zero in the Built Environment – An Introduction – Friday 22 September

2. Net Zero in Organisations – Friday 29 September

3. Defining, Designing, and Delivering Net Zero Carbon Buildings – Friday 13 October

4. Whole Life Carbon and the Circular Economy – Friday 27 October

5. Procuring Renewable Energy and Carbon Offsets – Friday 10 November

6. Retrofitting the UK’s Built Environment – Friday 24 November

Why attend?

Every one of us needs to be part of the journey to a net zero, sustainable built environment. As organisations set carbon reduction targets and progress towards more sustainable business objectives, it’s important to understand some of these key concepts to ensure you are not left behind.

From attending this series, you will:

• Understand what net zero carbon means, and how it can be achieved in the built environment sector.
• See how organisations are already rising to the challenge.
• Be inspired to participate in sustainability action in your organisation.
• Know where to find further UKGBC resources and learning

Who should attend?

These sessions are designed for anyone who’s interested in knowing more about net zero in the built environment – they’re open to all. They will cover essential knowledge, not detailed, technical advice.

You could be early in your career, or keen to know more about what net zero means for your team or role, or you may have recognised that you need to know more on this topic to succeed in your organisation. Either way, this series will give you the essential knowledge you need to support the decarbonisation of the built environment.

Discounts:

For non-members attending all six webinars, contact events@UKGBC.org to get the final session for free.

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Louise Hutchins, UKGBC Head of Policy and Public Affairs, said:

“Keir Starmer is right to say we need to tackle the planning system to be a clean energy superpower and bring bills down. In Parliament, the Labour Party previously tabled an important amendment to align the planning system with the UK’s climate mitigation and adaptation goals to end the decisions currently blocking so much clean development – from infrastructure to low carbon, resilient homes and green neighbourhoods.

“Over 100 UKGBC business members wrote to the Prime Minister and Michael Gove last week calling on them to back this approach in the final stages of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill before the window for action in this Parliament slams shut.”

“We welcome Labour’s commitment to upgrade 19 million cold homes by 2030. Reducing energy wasted from our homes and switching to cleaner, renewable electricity is critical to the UK’s energy security and to sustainably lower household bills. Our analysis shows that we need 80,000 homes retrofitted every month in order to meet our climate commitments – we simply can’t do that without action on this scale.

“The scale of our climate emergency means that we are concerned that Labour would not overturn oil and gas licenses that could be authorised in last months of this Parliament, despite the fact that projects like Rosebank would be producing fossil fuels for decades after the UK needs to wind down our demand for gas-powered cooking and heating in our homes. This contradiction with Labour’s strong retrofit and planning policies risks creating uncertainty and undercutting the very industry and investor confidence they are aiming to build.“

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We’re troubled by Labour’s decision to delay much of the critical and overdue green funding. Investment in a high-quality built environment geared-up for net zero, vital nature restoration, and particularly a nationwide upgrade of Britain’s homes must be prioritised. We can’t go more years without the funding these projects urgently need without impacting our already desperate climate, nature, and housing emergencies.     

“To deliver Labour’s ambition for fuel poverty relief, a permanent slash to both energy bills and carbon emissions, and a massive boon in jobs, its large-scale investment plans for upgrading Britain’s homes must be protected. 

“Successive reports by national and international climate experts from the Climate Change Committee to the UN have consistently made clear that there is no future economy except a green future economy. Every delay makes our industry’s transition more expensive, more urgent, and more difficult to achieve in time to avert immense climate disaster. The green transition is the defining economic opportunity of our time – we cannot afford to kick it down the road.

Simon McWhirter, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of External Affairs, UKGBC

UKGBC Press Contact 

Omer Hamid 

+44 (0) 7772 047292 

Notes to Editors 

• UKGBC is available to comment on its common vision and pathway for achieving a net zero built environment in the Whole Life Carbon Roadmap. 
• UKGBC is also available to comment on how a national retrofit strategy could support the Government’s levelling up agenda, boost the economy, and reduce energy bills for households and businesses up and down the country 

• UKGBC can also comment on its recently published scorecard analysis of Government action against the Whole Life Carbon Roadmap 
  

The post We cannot afford to delay green investment  appeared first on UKGBC.

The coalition, convened by the UK Green Building Council, brings together organisations from across the built environment, technology, academia, banking and energy sectors for a campaign to secure the investment and game-changing policies we need to retrofit the nation’s homes. 

The initiative is bringing together the best and latest information to calculate the size of investment needed from government and the private sector and to build consensus around national policies that can have the biggest impact. 

We’re hosting this webinar to offer an early chance for leaders across the built environment sector to hear more about the new campaign and get involved ahead of a public launch with a report in September. To have real impact, this campaign will need all the ideas, energy and influence our diverse industry can bring. 

Why attend

Join this webinar to hear about the coalition’s aims and plans to influence government and build consensus around the big investment and policies needed – and most importantly, how you can sign up and get involved.  

Who should attend 

UKGBC members and non-members with an interest in hearing about the coalition and its potential impact on Britain’s energy security, tackling the cost of living crisis, and securing homes fit for the future.   

This project is made possible due to the generous support of our Advancing Net Zero programme partners, our domestic retrofit project partners with additional analysis from ARUP, Leeds Beckett University and C-Path. We will be asking those joining the event to consider adding their organisation’s voice to this growing call for investment.   

Domestic Retrofit Project Partners

We’d like to thank the following 6 organisation for their support which makes this project possible.

Advancing Net Zero Partners

Our climate change mitigation work is made possible thanks to the generous support of our Advancing Net Zero Programme Partners

The post Upgrading Britain’s Homes – introducing a new industry coalition for a step-change in retrofit investment appeared first on UKGBC.

This page presents data, evidence, and solutions that are provided by our partners and members and should therefore not be attributed to UKGBC. While we showcase these solutions for inspiration, to build consensus, and create momentum for climate action, UKGBC does not offer commercial endorsement of individual solutions. If you would like to quote something from this page, or more information, please contact our Communications team at media@ukgbc.org.

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With over 70% of the UK’s non-residential building stock constructed before the year 2000, there is an urgent need to increase the pace at which we are retrofitting the UK’s commercial real estate in order for us to meet the UK’s energy efficiency and net zero targets. 

To bring to life the opportunities and lesson learned from a recent project, UKGBC is hosting a site tour of Arup’s 10 George Street in Edinburgh – a case study featured in our Delivering Net Zero: Key Considerations for Commercial Retrofit report last year and achieved SKA Gold certification for the fit out. 

UKGBC member and office fit-out specialist, Overbury, led the project with a strong focus on reducing embodied carbon from concept stages through to delivery. The project team employed a circular approach to minimise waste, chose products with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) where possible, and integrated carbon factors into value engineering decisions. 

The tour will include presentations from the design and delivery teams outlining the range of sustainability interventions introduced and key lessons learned, followed by post-tour refreshments and networking. 

Why attend

• Deepen understanding of how to retrofit non-residential buildings
• Raise awareness of key challenges and opportunities of commercial retrofit
• Explore solutions, challenges and lessons learned first-hand
• Network with fellow UKGBC members

Who should attend? 

Scotland based design and delivery teams focused on the retrofit and/or fit-out of commercial buildings.

Speakers 

• Lyle Chrystie, Director, Reiach & Hall Architects
• Graeme Gidney, Director, Arup
• Elliot Wishlade, Director, Arup
• Mike Clarke, Director of Membership, UKGBC
• David Steen, Senior Policy Advisor, UKGBC Scotland

Advancing Net Zero Partners

Our climate change mitigation work is made possible thanks to the generous support of our Advancing Net Zero Programme Partners

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