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A 'community and whole house approach' emerged as key themes in the first of a series of 12 Retrofit Roadshows that took place in Liverpool on 03 September. Over 120 delegates from local authorities, registered providers, asset managers and the supply chain took part in the low carbon retrofit conference opened by Councillor Tim Moore, Cabinet Member for Transport and Climate Change at Liverpool City Council.

In order to meet Government targets, 14 million homes need to be eco refurbished across the UK by 2050. In the North West alone this equates to retrofitting around 4,000 homes per week in order to meet this target! The low carbon economy in the region is estimated to be worth £11.8bn - and 1,250 jobs could be created. All of which means retrofit is an important market.

Paul Hegarty, Local Delivery Manager from the Energy Saving Trust outlined the retrofit challenge for the North West. From EST's experiences a one size does not fit all and a ‘whole house' strategy should be adopted. Paul urged key players in the region to learn from the experiences of ERDF; develop strategic plans and partnerships; work with the local supply chain; be prepared to move quickly and at scale and take advantage of the Green Deal and ECO to fund a whole house approach.

Already a number of initiatives have emerged in the North West to deliver low carbon refurbishments in the region including AGMA' Green Deal Programme and Project Viridis. Local authorities and Registered Providers are already working together, forming formal partnerships and undergoing joint investment to deliver retrofits across the region with the help of the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and energy suppliers. These pioneering initiatives and their plans for the future were highlighted during the Roadshow. Over a period of 3 years and with a budget of £87m, Project Viridis is aiming to install at least 3 measures in 100,000 homes. AGMA are aiming to retrofit 60,000 houses over 3 years, spending over £100m on housing stock improvements and creating 1000+ jobs. Their Green Deal Framework has gone to tender and the final three will be announced in January 2014.

The rest of the morning then focused on understanding the demand side; Dr Will Swan from Salford University, Charlie Baker from Urbed and Colin Lafferty from the Helena Partnership ran a workshop exploring what will influence householders to start to invest in retrofit. Elements such as access to proven expertise; trust and accountability; a conduit to expertise; support throughout the process; choosing the right solutions and touch points; a tailored package of measures; and neighbourhood coordination were all deemed essential in order to drive consumer change on a grand scale.

The afternoon then examined how customer-barriers can be overcome in order to drive large scale retrofit across the region. Rickaby Thompson Associates, British Gas Business Services and the Liverpool Housing Trust looked at de-risking retrofit, making funding frameworks work and delivering at scale.

Robust appraisal, energy modelling, planning, strategic alliances, good design and specification, delivery synergy, and consultation were all cited as crucial for retrofitting at scale. The employment of a retrofit coordinator that is trained and certified by CoRE with an overarching coordination role covering all areas of the retrofit was recommended by Rickaby Thompson Associates as the best way to de-risk retrofit.

Steph Ramsden from British Gas outlined the options for funding large scale retrofit namely ECO, Green Deal, housing association capital works programmes, local authority match, European grant funding, private home owner contributions, DECC funding, FITS, RHI and RHPP. Using their Stockport Homes project, she illustrated how improvements worth over £20m were delivered to over 1600 homes using Community Energy Savings Programme (CESP) and Stockport Homes match funding. As well as reducing bills by 40%, they boosted the local economy, trained the supply chain, engaged local communities, left a community legacy and developed a comprehensive renewable energy toolkit that others can follow.

The conference concluded with a keynote address from Steve Lauri, from E.ON and the Liverpool City Region LEP, exploring to what extent retrofits can lift the North West out of recession and stimulate economic growth. He outlined the funding available and industry drivers for retrofits namely energy costs savings, job creation, fuel poverty reduction, increased property values, GDP and investment plus areas that may need addressing such as funding support and training for SMEs in order to build a robust supply chain. Steve also summarised the key themes that emerged from the day namely: the need for a local focus to support local residents and businesses; the importance of property data and skills; the risks of retrofitting; how the ECO door is open NOW; and how social housing can offer leadership in communities.

A panel discussion with Energy Project Plus, the FMB and British Gas Business Services ensued. The general consensus was that people are at the heart of this - we need to generate demand, information needs to be easy to access and credible, and we must adopt a whole house approach as one size does not fit all. We have to be sensitive to householder needs and affordability. Consequently retrofit lends itself to a community approach. It is about giving people pride in their communities - "social regeneration" - taking disengaged, vulnerable and sometimes frightened people on a journey. Therefore stewardship by local partners is key and regions should look at collective deals within communities and benefit from collective bargaining/purchasing power. The real challenge is to bring it all right down to the local level. This takes an investment of time and shouldn't be rushed by ECO and other funding demands.

The day ended with the following sentiment from Christoph - "we are on the side of the righteous!"

11 more Retrofit Roadshows will be taking place from now until December 2013. Make sure you don't miss out and book your ticket now by visiting www.retrofit-roadshow.co.uk/book or call 01743 290001.