Community-led retrofit

There’s an important role for community-led retrofit activity in our journey to net zero.

Whether it’s explaining the options, identifying opportunities, audits or running events, community retrofit makes places better for the people using them while reducing carbon emissions.

Retrofit is about planning and making improvements to buildings to improve energy efficiency.

It can mean anything from basic repair and maintenance to draught-proofing and insulation, to heat recovery or renewable energy technology.

There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that people are interested in retrofitting their homes, but they lack confidence in making the right choices and finding quality contractors to do the work. Community groups are well-placed to build local confidence in retrofit because they’re likely to be trusted by the people in their area and can provide advice without the pressure of a sales pitch.

Community organisations can support and spread awareness of retrofit in many different ways. This could be providing advice to local people about draught-proofing or insulating their homes, running events to show off local examples of successful home retrofit, or starting a project to install a low-carbon heating system in a community building, church or school. Community groups have the power to initiate entire street-level retrofit projects, like establishing bulk buying schemes and identifying opportunities to invest in a community project. Groups could also work with local installers and supply chains and support training opportunities to promote green jobs in their area.

CSE already does a lot of work in this area and has a growing team of expert retrofit professionals. But outside the formal retrofit sphere of accredited assessors, installers or coordinators, people embedded in their local communities have an important role to play.

Our retrofit tools, resources and case studies help with local conversations and connecting people; flagging key considerations and highlighting funding; setting up local projects and finding the right information.