In response to the climate emergency, Cheshire East Council commissioned Purcell to lead the retrofit of a series of Grade II listed railway cottages in Crewe.

IndiNature began eight years ago as a start-up aiming to insulate buildings with natural hemp insulation. Having already won awards and attracted praise, the Jedburgh-based company is now at a critical and exciting point in its business journey. IndiNature has been bolstering its credentials, increasing its staff and client base, with its eyes on making a significant dent in the UK construction materials market.

Geovation Scotland is the only support organisation specifically created for startups innovating in Land, Property and Location technology in Scotland.

In the face of mounting climate pressures and a rapidly evolving built environment, Geovation Scotland is supporting innovation from early stage to scaling, through building a vibrant community, facilitating connections and our annual accelerator programme.

Our collective goal is to find effective and scalable ways to improve comfort, efficiency, and carbon performance in these existing buildings. 

Interested in the retrofit journey from the perspective of people who have decided to do it themselves? Discover lessons, insights, and surprises these UK homeowners encountered while retrofitting their houses, from series two of our Accelerate to Zero Podcast.

Airtightness is the foundation of a fabric-first approach and in creating high quality, low energy demand buildings.  

But airtightness is not just about energy savings: good airtightness contributes to improved comfort, building durability, and better indoor air quality, provided it's paired with appropriate ventilation. 

Yet despite its importance, airtightness products can be a rare sight on site. 

Sean Smith, Professor of Future Construction and Director of the Centre for Future Infrastructure within the School of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, was awarded the BE-ST Beacon Award in 2024.

A retrofit one-stop shop, sometimes called a retrofit agency, is an approach to engaging communities around retrofit delivery. In Scotland, there is not yet a fully established one-stop shop, but there are several which are starting to emerge.

Today BE-ST officially relaunched its Innovation Campus by welcoming stakeholders to see the newly equipped Mass Timber Centre of Excellence and Scotland’s newly retrofitted National Retrofit Centre. 

In this article, Rob Morrison, Impact Manager BE-ST shares the vision behind the Retrofit Scotland project, which will be crucial to delivering a community-led retrofit approach across the country.