IVIS 2027 - Why aren’t we retrofitting the worst insulated homes in Europe?

Abstract: With the UK government determined to construct 1.5million news homes in the next four years despite the construction industry questioning whether or not it has the capacity to deliver on this ambition, let alone the carbon budget, perhaps there is another way to deliver on some of this promise? With over 650,000 vacant homes in the UK, is it not time to consider ways to retrofit these properties into the low carbon homes the UK needs to meet the demands of the 2015 Paris Agreement?

Duncan Baker-Brown will consider the opportunities presented by the much anticipated Circular Economy Strategy for England (due in 2026), which when pitched together with the recently published UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard could facilitate the publication of a much anticipated legislation known as ‘Part Z’ of the Building Regulations that will limit the embodied carbon footprint of construction projects. If this happens then we could be in a world where retrofit makes economic as well as environmental sense. However, is the UK construction sector ready for this?

Duncan will consider the pros and cons of specifying conventional insulation (petrochemicals & mineral wools) verses emerging bio-based alternatives (timber fibre, cellulose and mycelium) and the next generation of super insulation Vacuum Insulation Panels. Issues considered in the talk will be:

• Is the risk of Black Mould hampering the retrofit industry?
• Limited Manufacturing Capacity
• Skilled Labour Shortage
• Logistics & Distribution
• Material Availability
• Market readiness

Lack of investment

Author Biography:

Duncan is a practicing architect, academic and environmental activist. Author of ‘The Re-Use Atlas: a designer’s guide towards a circular economy’ published by RIBA, (second edition Sept ’24), he has practised, researched, and taught around issues of sustainable development and closed-looped systems for more than 25 years. He founded BakerBrown in 2020, a research-led architectural practice and consultancy created to address the huge demands presented by the climate and ecological emergency as well as the challenges of designing in a post-COVID and unstable world. Over the years Duncan’s practices (and academic ‘live’ projects) have won numerous accolades including RIBA National Awards and a special award from The Stephen Lawrence Prize for the Brighton Waste House - the prize money has since been used to set up a student prize for circular, closed loop design at the University of Brighton.

Duncan is the University of Brighton’s Principal Investigator for the NW Europe INTERREG FCRBE project. He was responsible for curating the pedagogic outputs for the FCRBE team. Said outputs are the subject of a book ‘The Pedagogies of Re-Use’ published by Routledge June 2024, which he has co-edited with the Prof. Graeme Brooker.

Duncan Chairs the University of Brighton’s Industry Advisory Group for Architecture, Co-Chair’s RIBA’s Climate Action Expert Advisory Group, regularly attending United Nations’ COP’s on behalf of the institution. Duncan is an excellent public speaker. He was the first Architect to be invited to speak at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment and recently spoke at venues as diverse as Chatham House, Mies van de Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion and the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainable Leadership. Until recently Duncan represented the RIBA on the Governance Board of the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard and the Steering Group of UK Architects Declare.

Web: Research Profile & Practice

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RIBA @ COP30: Link