We are a passionate and friendly not-for profit organisation based in Staffordshire, England. But we are growing fast and now have Retrofit Academy Hubs springing up around the country too.
Over the past couple of years, we have really started to make our mark, training thousands of people and leading the UK energy efficiency sector towards delivering high quality retrofit at scale.
Retrofit is the process of upgrading our existing homes to make them more energy efficient. This usually involves improving the fabric of the house through installing insulation, upgrading the building services and introducing renewable energy and heat sources such as solar panels and heat pumps.
We develop, deliver and license the leading retrofit training in the world.
We work with educational institutions to support them to deliver these courses too. So we train lots of trainers.
We provide direct support to our members to help them develop the skills and know-how needed to deliver high-quality retrofit at scale.
We also work with government authorities and key employers to ensure we have the skilled workforce needed to deliver net zero.
The Retrofit Academy CIC aims to train and support over 200,000 competent retrofitters by 2030, across the UK.
It’s crucial that we have the volume of skilled trades and professionals needed to delivery the decarbonisation of our housing stock. Recent studies have estimated that up to 400,000 new recruits will be be needed to form a Retrofit Army.
But it is also crucial that these people really understand retrofit. They will be tasked with the greatest infrastructure challenge in history – delivering almost two retrofits per minute between now and 2050. But we have to get it right, first time. There won’t be a second chance and we know that bad retrofit can be worse than no retrofit at all.
Well, there’s there are a couple of very large elephants in the room. They’re called climate change and fuel poverty.
Climate Change is caused by burning fossil fuels and releasing carbon dioxide (CO2) into our atmosphere. Most of the countries in the world have agreed that we need to cut CO2 emissions radically and quickly. In the UK, we have pledged to deliver Net Zero by 2050.
Around 27% of all CO2 emissions come from the heating, lighting and electricity used in our homes. What’s more, the UK has the oldest and draughtiest housing stock in the world.
So the government knows that it can’t achieve its targets without addressing this. That’s why gas central heating and other fossil fuel heat sources will soon become a thing of the past. Over the next 20 years, most of our homes will be heated by low carbon technologies such as heat pumps.
Millions of people in the UK live in fuel poverty – essentially this is when people have a choice between heating and eating. We believe that there is no place for fuel poverty in a civilised society.
Fuel poverty continues to grow as energy prices increase and it brings with it massive economic and social costs. Age UK estimate that fuel poverty costs the NHS more than £1.3 billion a year and around 30% of the 30,000 excess winter deaths can be ascribed to fuel poverty. This is a massive social and economic problem that we need to address for economic as well as social and moral reasons.
The Retrofit Academy CIC Chief Executive David Pierpoint explains more about the role of the Academy in the future of retrofit and energy efficiency.
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This award is looking for the best large projects demonstrating energy savings, increased comfort and health outcomes.
This award recognises and rewards retrofit professionals who excel in retrofit coordination.
This award is looking for the individual assessor or company that has done the most to engage customers and drive the retrofit agenda.
This award is looking for the individual installer or company that has done the most to engage customers effectively and drive the retrofit agenda.
This award is looking for the best small projects demonstrating energy savings, increased comfort and health outcomes.
This award is looking for the best social landlord (housing association, local authority or ALMO) retrofit client of the year. This will be an organisation who has demonstrated their commitment to decarbonising their housing stock, improving residents’ health and life chances.
This award is looking for the newest individual to the sector that has made the greatest contribution to low carbon retrofit in the last 12 months (up to and including December 2021).
This award is looking for the individual that has done the most to promote the retrofit agenda to customers.
The judges will be looking for evidence of:
• Successful engagement with the general public leading to better-informed retrofit clients
• Successful marketing leading to increased uptake of retrofit
• Evidence of adopting PAS 2035 key principles and articulating these to potential customers
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To become a retrofit coordinator you need to have a qualification in a built environment subject that is at least Level 3 with a minimum of 12 credits (your credits should be detailed on your certificate). Level 3 qualifications are equivalent to an A Level certification. If you hold a university degree relevant to the built environment this would also meet the entry requirements for this course.
If you don’t hold a relevant Level 3 qualification or above you may be eligible to enroll in a pre-assessment with The Retrofit Academy to ensure you meet the academic standards required for the course. Failing this, you would need to attain the relevant qualifications.
Our fast-track learning option is ideal for quickly training your team, to get them ready to be able to work on retrofit projects within 4-6 months of accreditation. Using a bespoke mix of eLearning, bootcamps and seminars, this retrofit coordinator training can be designed to meet the needs of your business. As well as learning essential skills and knowledge, cohorts will benefit from networking with peers, and will gain a deeper understanding of energy efficiency and whole house retrofit.
This option is for self-organised learners but includes additional support from our expert tutors, and is backed up by an intensive two-day online bootcamp offering a comprehensive overview of the key learning objectives of the course.
Working in groups via Zoom, bootcamps are a great way for students to understand the fundamentals of Retrofit Coordination and Risk Management, and appreciate the importance of the coordinator role.
This option is designed for chartered professionals who are comfortable managing their own learning and wish to study at their own pace.
The course consists of 12 training modules assessed via a mix of multiple choice questions and written assignments; all accessed via our Online Learning Platform.
All teaching and assessment is completed online at the student’s convenience and you have 12 months in which to complete the course. Although no teacher-led lessons are involved, students will have support from an Online Mentor and Tech Support to ensure everything flows smoothly.
The new PAS 2035 standard works alongside the PAS 2030: 2019 standard, and introduces a set of criteria that must be met to ensure the consistent delivery of domestic retrofit in the UK.
It means that the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), Local Authority Delivery Scheme (LADs), and Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) sectors must fully comply with its specifications. Schemes such as the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) will also comply.
PAS 2035 represents a strong commitment to improving the energy efficiency of domestic buildings in the UK. It was designed in response to the UK government’s Each Home Counts Review, which was a comprehensive review of home energy efficiency. One major outcome of the review was the call for an industry-wide Code of Practice, which became PAS 2035.
The retrofit assessor’s role is to gather information about the building that is the subject of retrofit work. Domestic retrofit assessments are very wide-ranging and include factors such as the building’s construction, structure, and architectural features. The assessment will also consider the building’s current condition, including any structural defects, and issues such as leaks, condensation and mould buildup. Current installations such as heating and hot water, lighting, and ventilation will be documented. Any protected status, conservation restraints, or planning permission requirements will be investigated before work can begin.
The retrofit assessor must also take into account information regarding the number of building occupants and special considerations including the presence of vulnerable people, or people with disabilities.
One of the key roles emerging from PAS 2035 is the role of the retrofit coordinator. Retrofit coordinators ensure that all elements of domestic retrofit are properly managed and coordinated, and that a cohesive retrofit plan is designed and implemented. For more information on the role of the retrofit coordinator and how to gain the necessary training and certification, see our page on Retrofit Coordinator Training.
In order to become PAS 2030 certified your business will need to demonstrate that you use a PAS-compliant Quality Management System (QMS) to ensure you have the correct processes in place to deliver consistent customer satisfaction and retrofit implementation.
Your installers will need to have relevant qualifications and competencies; each team will require a qualified retrofit professional, and one member will need to hold an NVQ . PAS 2030 certification requires you have up-to-date health and safety certification, and you will also need to comply with PAS 2035 when assessing and designing retrofit plans.
A technical assessment of one of your energy efficiency installations will need to be carried out, and any compliance issues be addressed before you receive certification. An approved certification body like The Retrofit Academy will need to carry out the PAS 2030 assessment and certification.
PAS 2030: 2019 (which replaced PAS 2030: 2017) concerns the commissioning, installation, and handover of domestic retrofit projects.
PAS 2030: 2019 has been redeveloped to work alongside PAS 2035. Both documents should be seen as working together to create a single cohesive approach to domestic retrofit. Taken together, PAS 2030 and PAS 2035 lay down the steps all domestic retrofit projects should follow to gain compliance, and ensure consumer satisfaction in accordance with the recommendations of the Each Home Counts Review.
PAS 2035 is a specification for what is called ‘whole-house’ or ‘whole building’ retrofit; this is an approach to the installation of energy efficiency measures (EEMs) which takes into account the requirement of the entire building; both from a technical standpoint, and considering factors like occupancy comfort.
PAS 2035 is concerned with assessing domestic dwellings for energy retrofit. This involves identifying areas where improvements can be made and specifying and designing the relevant improvement measures. It is also concerned with the monitoring of domestic retrofit projects.
PAS 2035 is to be used in conjunction with PAS 2030: 2019, which sets out the standards required for installing EEMs.
PAS’ stands for ‘publicly available specification’, and the number ‘2035’ refers to the government’s target date to raise as many homes as possible to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band C. The average EPC for housing in the UK is currently Band D.