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#retrofit

2 posts2 participants0 posts today

Because it’s rare to see #retrofit / #sustainability jokes…and I like xkcd:

Alt Text: ‘A covertly-installed Neighbour-Source Heat Pump takes advantage of the fact your neighbour keeps their house cool in the summer and warm in the winter’. Image of two houses, one with a heat pump and then pipes underground leading to the other, extending up the walls in a loop system.

Replied in thread

@FullyAutomatedRPG

As someone who works in #retrofit in the UK on social housing projects, I’ve come to realise that persuading residents to have these upgrades, even when they are free, is a selling job. That job is best done by an early adopter who is a neighbour/friend.

I found this article encouraging, in that it acknowledges there are economies of scale, but you don’t need 100% buy in from the whole block to make significant progress.

Bring on the street parties!

If you live in Greater Glasgow and would like help in working out how to make energy conscious home improvements, or (increasingly) to adapt your home for the climate crisis then Loco Home is a community owned cooperative that can help you do that (advice, finding installers etc.). locohome.coop/ #Retrofit #Glasgow #ClimateCrisis #Scotland (Disclaimer: I volunteer on the board of directors, because I am such a happy customer.)

locohome.coopLoco Home Retrofit CIC Limited – Glasgow's Retrofit Co-operative
Continued thread

‘Equipping new homes with heat pumps, solar panels and high-grade insulation at the time of construction would have cost between £5,000 and £8,500 for most of the period since 2016.

Housebuilders, however, have long claimed building to such standards would be prohibitively expensive.’

Europe manages to do this, even US have higher rate of take up of heat pumps than UK.

It’s a dirty race to the bottom in the UK because of lobbying.

#housebuilding
#Retrofit
#EnergyEfficiency

Continued thread

A #WealthTax to support a comprehensive #insulation and #retrofit programme would be very welcome…but I would say that as I work to insulate social housing.

My concern is that any huge sum raised needs to be spent in such a way that it makes real impact on homes and is delivered well and at pace. That requires a skilled, dedicated workforce and less fragmentation and bureaucracy around the finance and process of it.

But that would require a serious look at the class tensions of the industry.

#Farage thinks he can create DOGE style cuts at UK local authority level to remove those working in relation to #ClimateCrisis and diversity.

As the article suggests, there is not much left to cut.

Curious whether it will it include those working on social housing #retrofit decarbonisation projects?

theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/m

The Guardian · Unison chief tells staff at Reform-controlled councils to join unionBy Joe Coughlan

Many institutions and companies don’t invest in solar pv because they think it will take decades to recover the cost…but really they are missing a trick.

#Norwich University of the Arts have just had a big install (186 panels) that is projected to pay for itself within just 7 years.

#SolarPV
#SolarPunk
#Retrofit

norwichuni.ac.uk/news/the-big-?

Norwich University of the ArtsThe big switch on: Norwich University of the Arts powers up with solar energyNorwich University of the Arts is making a bold and exciting move toward a more sustainable future.

GM geht gegen CarPlay-Drittanbieter-Lösungen vor
General Motors verschärft seine Haltung gegenüber Apple CarPlay und verbietet inzwischen sogar Nachrüstlösungen in seinen Elektroautos. Bereits 2023 kündigte GM an, auf das eigene Ultifi-System zu setzen und Ca
apfeltalk.de/magazin/news/gm-g
#News #Services #Cadillac #CarPlay #Chevrolet #Elektroautos #Fahrzeugintegration #GM #GMC #Retrofit #Softwarekosystem #Ultifi #WhiteAutomotive

Spent most of the day looking at photos which suggest retrofit designers have little idea of the practicalities of installing internal wall insulation into social housing properties…

- Fitted wall to wall wardrobes
- Ornate coving and cornicing
- Wallpaper
- Skirting boards with beading that perfectly match wooden floorboards
- Radiators on external walls

The idea that tenants will let you strip away all of this and put it back together on a shoestring is for the birds.

#Retrofit
#IWI

I’m all for getting private landlords to increase the the EPC rating of their properties to a ‘C’…that’s where we were supposed to be by 2025, but the #Tories never legislated for it.

Despite the puff of their press release, this is just another #Labour consultation with an ambition to achieve it by 2030.

Less talk, more action needed.

#Retrofit
#Housing
#EnergyEfficiency

gov.uk/government/news/warm-ho

GOV.UK · Warm homes and cheaper bills as government accelerates Plan for ChangeBy Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Currently exploring opportunities within the field of domestic #retrofit and #sustainability within #Norfolk and #Suffolk. Would consider remote working as well.

If you are aware of potential project coordinator/administrator roles coming up in these fields please let me know.

Have experience from local council, housing association, private installer and activist perspective.

Particular area of interest and knowledge: retrofit in social housing and low income households.

Please boost!

Loco Home Retrofit is hiring for 3 roles in or near Glasgow: Marketing and community engagement, Technical leadership (retrofit), Innovation Programme Manager. These are senior roles and this is a good company to work for (I am on the board HR committee and the employee handbook is good). Astonishingly competently run. It has real values that it is really accountable to and is a coop owned by its workers and customers. locohome.coop/vacancies/ #Job #ClimateCrisis #Retrofit #Glasgow #LocoHome

Continued thread

But working in #retrofit in social housing, I have one massive bugbear about how those in power judge those whose homes are damp.

Postwar social housing was meanly and poorly built in cities. If you live in a cramped flat, with no outdoor space or very little on low income, how are you expected to dry your clothes outdoors?

Dehumidifiers are great if you can afford one. Going to the laundrette is fine if you have time and one nearby - they are few and far between even in my city.

I spend about a third of my day typically talking about #ventilation. It’s the least sexy part of #retrofit, but it’s vital if you increase insulation.

I got into this industry because I care about carbon emissions, lowering fuel bills…but also I hate what mould and damp does to people’s homes and lungs.

Condensation sounds less scary than black mould…but that’s what this article is really about preventing!

theguardian.com/money/2025/jan

The Guardian · Eight ways to reduce condensation in your homeBy Samuel Gibbs