People Powered Retrofit

We are working with Carbon Co-op and URBED, to evaluate their BEIS funded pilot ‘People Powered Retrofit’ – a householder-led approach to domestic energy efficiency retrofit in Greater Manchester.

Building on existing knowledge about the barriers faced by home-owners in commissioning retrofit work, including the lack of appropriate contractors and concerns about the quality of work produced, the project pilots new, more localised ways to market and deliver retrofit services.

The project involves four main components. These include:

- Data analysis and mapping of ‘early adopter’ households, and local contractors offering retrofit services in the Greater Manchester area.
- Service design including a streamlined whole-house retrofit service to simplify the refurbishment
process, as well as the development of finance options to support householders to carry out works.
- Supply chain development through a programme of workplace based training, advice and mentoring to build local supply chain capacity.
- Social marketing and promotion based on tapping into local and trusted networks of organisations, as well as Neighbourhood Champions who have already undertaken retrofit work, to
promote the service and address household concerns.

Key findings from year one of the pilot can be found in the project report available from the Carbon Co-op website.