Author: Jackie Bolt

There are two principal approaches to retrofit, ‘one-off’ whole-building or ‘over time’ step by step.

Whole building sees the structure as a system of different elements/interfaces with users that interact with each other. The retrofit is not a replacement of individual processes that are independent of each other, and also separate from the users’ lifestyle and practices.

Step by step undertakes isolated measures. These may be driven by regulation or policy, grant-aid availability, life span replacement or a system failure. This is a piecemeal approach that does not consider the interaction between the systems.

In the ‘whole building’ approach, the risk of not achieving the ultimate performance outputs is relatively low and is easier to evaluate at design stage, during the works and afterwards. In a situation where retrofit projects are carried out over time, there are risks where different techniques and interventions are not undertaken ‘as a whole’. The isolated measures ‘lock-in’ constraints and compromise future interventions that are likely to be undertaken by different people (designers and installers) none of whom may have responsibility for overall outcome or operational problems. Thermal imaging and air permeability tests after the works are completed may show that the whole building has not reached the desired energy performance.

This outlines why a main contractor like Coombs is an essential part of your net zero strategy.

Coombs had an excellent day at the Kent Construction Expo on 7th October, with a busy stand from start to finish! A big thank you to everyone who came along to say hello to Jackie at the ‘Meet The Buyer’ event. We are building our ‘customer-centric’ supply chain for one-stop retrofit. This is an ongoing process, but we are always open to conversations with like-minded firms who are reliable and innovative.

Is a building passport something that sounds good? Getting retrofit right involves sophisticated and expensive strategies, in some cases requiring multiple improvements and interventions. The result is energy use and carbon emissions from buildings that are very substantially reduced, but even after the inherently complex and risky retrofit process, there are across the UK examples of buildings damaged rather than improved, with serious damp and mould, or minimal improvement in energy performance.

‘Building Passports’ are a relatively new idea already gaining support in some European countries. Do we at Coombs think building passports are a good idea for the UK? Yes!