duration

Duration
1 day

duration

Location
In-house

duration

Availability
Good

Suitable for:       All What does this mean?

There is a general acceptance that most houses in the UK are poorly insulated and not very energy efficient in both the public and private sector. However, there is still a great deal of confusion about the best ways to deal with the many different kinds of property and to avoid unintended consequences such as mould and damp and poor indoor air quality while achieving significant improvements.

This course will equip people to understand the many options available to arrive at a balanced approach to housing retrofit. It will explain to participants how to adopt a holistic and balanced approach, avoiding snake oil solutions and being able to critically appraise different methods. A range of technical solutions will be demystified and explained in terms of cost, implementation and effective outcomes. None of the technical issues are too hard to understand and the participants should be equipped to evaluate the different characteristics of housing stock and be able to exercise clear judgment about what measures should be taken.

The trainer will ask for your own experience of dealing with retrofit issues as well as what objectives you have for improvements to properties for which you are responsible. Participants can provide details of particular case studies and policy documents.

  • Read more

    Delegates will learn:

    • How to assess serious issues of housing disrepair and extent of the problem in both social and private housing. How to carry out surveys
    • Working with tenants, occupants and local communities
    • A critical overview of current policies, regulations and proposals for retrofit
    • An introduction to the range of organisations offering advice on retrofit
    • Unintended consequences of poor retrofit methods and the “retrofit disaster” problem that has occurred over recent years
    • Case studies of a range of retrofit programmes and projects drawing on reports about their success and failures including cladding replacements
    • Understanding terms like decarbonisation, technocratic solutions such as heat pumps and solar panels compared with a fabric first approach
    • Roof and loft insulation measures, draft proofing etc
    • Thermal performance. “U” values and EPDs etc
    • An explanation of Cavity wall insulation (CWI), external wall insulation (EWI) and Internal wall insulation (IWI) and other approaches
    • An explanation of unintended consequences and what causes them
    • Mould and damp, condensation risk analysis and explain how these arise and methods of treatment and mitigation. Breathability and hygroscopic materials
    • The importance of ventilation measures both natural and mechanical
    • Comparison of a range of academic and scientific research
    • How to carry out renovation work, one off and enveloping and dealing with builders and sub-contractors and material suppliers
    • PAS 2030/2035 and certification approaches
    • Discussion of whether it is worth adopting expensive solutions like Energiesprong, Enerphit, with examples from the retrofit for the future programme and other approaches
    • The importance of indoor air quality (IAQ) and how to carry out affordable IAQ testing
    • Health, energy saving benefits of retrofit and best practice and social housing solutions.

    Who should attend?

    Anyone who is concerned about improving their own house, home owners or tenants or social and private landlords from housing management or with technical and repair responsibilities.

  • Our trainer

    Tom Woolley is a registered architect with decades of experience renovating existing buildings and taking up cases of defects and poor conditions in housing. He provides training and short courses for both professionals and lay people. He is also an advisor to a wide range of organisations concerned with retrofit as well as having served as chair of a range of committees and public advisory bodies responsible for construction standards and regulations. Tom believes in using discussion and participation as the best approach to learning.

We can bring this course to you.
If you have five or more staff interested our in-house training offers great value for money.

Complete the form below and we’ll be in touch.