Over the last year, despite the pandemic, there has been huge demand from householders wanting to make energy efficiency improvements to their homes. We know demand is there, but we don’t have enough builders to do the work!

This course gives you a starting point for getting into retrofit, the future of the building industry.

Large companies have to date taken the lion's share of energy efficiency work in large social housing projects, but the majority of the UK’s homes are owned privately and will need extensive eco-renovation works done as a part of general improvements and extensions in the coming years. Those homes need your expertise!

"The strength of this course is [course tutor] Nick's depth of experience. You learn from the problems he has solved." Tim, Joiner.

Run by experienced retrofit contractors and People Powered Retrofit experts, this two-day practical course will help you...

• build on your existing knowledge and skill.
• meet other small businesses and sole traders in the Harrogate area.
• keep up to date with the latest green building techniques and products.
• find new opportunities in retrofit.

Who for

This course is for joiners, general builders, site managers at small firms who work on any building projects of which Part L applies.

This course is also useful for:

• For people overseeing building works on site: a first step into specialist eco-renovation/retrofit techniques and considerations to meet new customer requirements from an experienced tutor with on site contracting experience
• For business managers: what you need to know if you’re considering entry into this specialist area, with fast growing demand and a limited supply chain. Find out what skills you’ll need in your business with this simple to access, online course.
• For building designers and architects: find out more about building fabric works and construction approaches that will be needed on many homes before thinking about building technology.
• For retrofit consultants: this course gives Retrofit Co-ordinators and Advisors an understanding of how theory translates into the practical reality of a building site.
• For enthusiastic DIY-ers: Learn about eco building considerations and techniques, find out what you’re capable of, and become an informed client to any contractors you might need to help you.
• For community intermediaries: build a supply chain for retrofit in your area; if you have existing supply chain links this course will help them get ready for work; a simple, replicable course to get people interested; useful for enthusiastic DIYers in your networks/membership

(If you have attended Carbon Coop's Eco-Renovation for Builders course in the past, please note that this course covers the same content.)

Dates and Times

This is a two-part course and both parts must be taken together.

• Saturday 22nd January 2022, 10am-4pm
• Saturday 29th January 2022, 10am-4pm

Cost

• Standard ticket - £175 (plus Eventbrite fees)

Course Content

Session 1:

Drivers and approaches

• Global and ‘local’ motivations for eco-retrofit
• Eco retrofit for all house types
• Base-line energy assessments and the whole-house plan
• Challenges of ‘incremental’ retrofit

Air-tightness and ventilation

• Common air-tightness weaknesses
• Air-tightness scores and the common testing method
• Common air-tightness products and methods
• Importance of effective planned ventilation

Fabric heat-loss: Wall and roof insulation

• Insulation options available for (particularly solid) walls
• Advantages and disadvantages of various insulation methods and materials
• Practical and detailing problems in insulating rooms in the roof

Session 2:

Thermal bridging and thermal by-pass

• 'Lambda’ (k), Resistance (R) and U values
• Using U values as a tool for assessing building performance
• ‘Vapour-permeable’ and ‘vapour-control’ methods of insulation
• Building Regulations target U values for retrofit and extensions
• Principles of thermal bridging and thermal bypass

Floors, windows and doors

• Advantages and disadvantages of various floor insulation methods and materials
• Statutory requirements for windows and doors
• Minimising peripheral heat-loss when installing windows and doors

Course Tutors

Nick Parsons

"Nick is a fountain of retrofit knowledge." - course participant 2019

Nick has a wealth of experience in energy-efficient sustainable building and renewable energy having worked in the industry for 25 years. Nick is the lead tutor on the Eco-Refurbishment course at the Centre for Alternative Technology. For 10 years from 2000 - 2010 he ran a community-sector project in Sheffield promoting and demonstrating all aspects of sustainable building, based in an eco-refurbished terraced house, before going freelance in December 2010.

Marion Lloyd-Jones

Marion is the People Powered Retrofit Service Design Lead at Carbon Co-op, with responsibility for developing the service systems and processes. This includes developing and documenting processes at each stage of the client journey, and inducting new retrofit assessors and surveyors into these systems. She is also a retrofit assessor using the Carbon Co-op Home Retrofit Planner tool, which provides an energy baseline and a scenario planning approach to retrofit design.

Marion worked in corporate sustainability consultancy for 5 years after completing a BSc in Environmental Management and Sustainability. She has a Post Graduate Diploma in Sustainability and Adaptation in the Built Environment from the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT).

Additional course tutors TBC

This course is run by People Powered Retrofit, a Greater Manchester-based home retrofit service.