Convening Communities
Retrofit Scotland is bringing experts, practitioners, and community members together to share knowledge, best practices, and future plans for scaling retrofit efforts across Scotland.
Take part in our programme of events, workshops and coworking days to support a community of retrofit practitioners and accelerate retrofit action.
The International Retrofit Conference
The International Retrofit Conference has established itself as a leading platform for industry leaders, community organisations, policymakers, and innovators to tackle one of the most pressing challenges of our time: retrofitting our existing buildings.
It focuses on what is happening and how we can do more. It asks not whether we need to retrofit, but how we do it at scale, at speed, and in a way that is affordable and accessible.
Rewatch our keynote presentations and panel sessions from throughout the years.
2026
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Richard Nelson unpacks the "Reuse Dividend" and why a 20% VAT disparity still tilts policy toward demolition over retrofit. Drawing on French VAT reductions and German subsidised loans, he shows what a retrofit revolution could look like in the UK, and how to influence the policy and financial levers that unlock it.
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Caroline is Commercial Director of KORE Insulation and Founder of KORE Retrofit, where she has spent almost two decades shaping Ireland's sustainable construction sector. Her keynote, Putting policy into action and lessons learnt, uses Ireland as a working case study of national retrofit policy in delivery. Caroline will share the reality of supply chain and household level delivery, and set out what it takes to move retrofit from ambition to results.
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The closing keynote focuses on people, homes and outcomes. Jenny Danson explores how social housing providers can use data, AI and portfolio-level insight to make better, cost-effective retrofit decisions that improve health, reduce risk and support warmer, healthier homes.
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A thought provoking panel exploring where the "sweet spot" of retrofit lies. Bringing together experts from across the sector, this session will examine the challenges and opportunities of delivering retrofit at scale. Through a series of lightning case studies followed by a panel discussion, our speakers will share practical insights, lessons learned and innovative approaches to delivering quality retrofit that achieves meaningful energy savings while remaining commercially viable.
2024
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Immy is a Co - Founder and Director of CIVIC SQUARE. CIVIC SQUARE is a public square, neighbourhood lab, and creative + participatory platform focused on regenerative civic and social infrastructure within neighbourhoods. Immy is part of a creative and dynamic leadership team who work alongside the local neighbourhood, to offer a bold approach to visioning, building and investing in civic infrastructure for neighbourhoods of the future. Charlie's work at CIVIC SQUARE revolves around the challenge of retrofit: how to decarbonise our neighbourhoods at scale, and how this can be organised through hyperlocal social movements and governance.
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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 due July 2024) he has practised, researched, and taught around issues of sustainable development and closed-looped systems for more than 25 years.
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Matthias Ghyselen co-coordinates the renovation services to citizens at Energent, a Belgian energy cooperative that has been actively serving citizens for over a decade. In addition to his work at Energent, Matthias is involved in the "One Stop Renovation Coop" (OSR-Coop) LIFE Project, which is dedicated to establishing cooperative One Stop Shops across Europe.
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As Head of Sustainability, Laura spearheads Purcell’s sustainability strategy and processes. She is passionate about finding innovative solutions to adapting and conserving our built heritage, against the backdrop of the climate emergency.
Brogan MacDonald is a Head of Sustainability in Ramboll UK Building Structures division. She is a Chartered Civil Engineer and Chartered Environmentalist and champions material re-use, reducing embodied carbon and creating an inclusive and equitable construction industry.
Kirsty is a designer and builder with experience in sustainable architecture, natural building materials and conservation and heritage restoration. She is currently using her skill set to coordinate the unique retrofit of an A-listed privately owned castle on the West Coast of Scotland.
2025
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David is the Director of the Leeds Sustainability Institute at Leeds Beckett University, where he manages and oversees interdisciplinary projects and supervises doctoral students, across the institute's three research themes of Sustainable Behaviour, Sustainable Buildings and Sustainable Urban Environments. David has led major Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) research projects for the UK Government to investigate performance gaps and unintended consequences of new low carbon buildings and retrofits, including his most research project, the Demonstration of Energy Efficiency Potential or DEEP retrofit research project, which was the largest project of its kind looking at how to make retrofits in solid walled homes effective and safe.
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Rachael is an architect and has experience designing and delivering commercial and residential retrofit projects. Her previous role was at Buckley Gray Yeoman, a practice that champions retrofit and adaptive reuse, where she led the response to sustainable and regenerative design, supporting projects to develop and implement strategies to reduce embodied carbon, material use, operational energy and to enhance biodiversity and user wellbeing. Rachael sits on the New London Architecture Retrofit and Conservation expert panel and is a WELL accredited professional. She was named 2021 RIBA Journal Rising Star for her work in practice to communicate sustainable design and within the Architects Climate Action Network to campaign for the regulation of embodied carbon emissions.
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Amandeep is an architect and urban designer turned entrepreneur. He is Founder and CEO of GreenFlip, a venture-backed digital platform accelerating retrofit in the public and private rental sectors by aligning investor capital with climate and social outcomes. Backed by Carbon13 and Geovation Scotland, GreenFlip is pioneering new models for scaling housing decarbonisation.
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Behind the Build: Scotland’s National Retrofit Centre follows the journey of transforming a 2000s industrial facility into a national hub for retrofit training, innovation and demonstration.
Designed by John Gilbert Architects and delivered by main contractor, Clark Contracts, the project used a fabric-first approach, incorporating low-carbon materials, hybrid heat pumps, and solar PV-thermal systems to meet EnerPHit and net zero standards. The centre now serves as a “living lab,” supporting skills development and showcasing scalable retrofit solutions for Scotland’s transition to a zero-emissions built environment.
2023
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Smith Mordak, Chief Executive, UKGBC leads the first keynote speech of the day. Smith is leading the organisation through a critical period for the UK to get back on track to net zero. Combining their deep science-based understanding of the climate emergency with a principled approach to transforming our built environment, Smith is a committed and passionate advocate for building a future economy where people, society, and ecology can flourish.
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Representing Energiesprong and joined at the summit by her colleague Uwe Bigalke from the Energiesprong global alliance, Ele has more than 2 decades experience in the sustainable construction sector, across a broad range of projects from schools, stadiums and hospitals to her own self-build ‘eco’ home.
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Matthias Ghyselen co-coordinates the renovation services to citizens at Energent, a Belgian energy cooperative that has been actively serving citizens for over a decade. In addition to his work at Energent, Matthias is involved in the "One Stop Renovation Coop" (OSR-Coop) LIFE Project, which is dedicated to establishing cooperative One Stop Shops across Europe.
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Sean is Professor of Future Construction and Director of the Centre for Future Infrastructure, based at the University of Edinburgh. He has held previous posts leading in sustainable construction, construction innovation and building performance and has managed major projects involving low carbon construction technologies.
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Our progress
Retrofit Scotland Together Day - Feb 2025 – Summary
The Retrofit Scotland Together Day brought experts, practitioners, and community members together to share knowledge, best practices, and future plans for scaling retrofit efforts across Scotland.
Glasgow Retrofit Summit - Retrofit mapping
The Retrofit Scotland: Action Planning Workshop at BE-ST Fest 2024 brought together key stakeholders from education, community organisations, and businesses for a dynamic and engaging session on the future of retrofit in Scotland.
Retrofit Scotland: Action Planning Workshop – Nov 2024
The Retrofit Scotland: Action Planning Workshop at BE-ST Fest 2024 brought together key stakeholders from education, community organisations, and businesses for a dynamic and engaging session on the future of retrofit in Scotland.
Retrofit Scotland relaunches to scale neighbourhood retrofit delivery
Today, Retrofit Scotland was relaunched at the International Retrofit Conference. Delivered by Built Environment – Smarter Transformation (BE-ST), the programme aims to tackle two urgent challenges: reducing carbon emissions and improving the quality of housing across Scotland to make neighbourhoods warmer, healthier, and more energy-efficient.