Home Energy and Retrofit Meeting, 20 June 2022

We will be holding a public meeting on the topic of Home Energy and Retrofit, 7.00 pm – 9.00 pm, Monday 20th June, at Bruntsfield Evangelical Church, 70 Leamington Terrace,=.

The Retrofit Challenge

Home energy and retrofit present major challenges, both for individuals and for society as a whole. This public meeting will focus on how to approach the task of retrofitting typical Edinburgh tenement flats and homes in order to increase their energy efficiency. On the plus side, fixing the problem of wasted heat will reduce bills and improve domestic comfort. It is also going to be crucial in realising the Council’s ambition of making Edinburgh a net zero city by 2030. On the other hand, retrofitting older buildings, especially tenements, requires money, good planning, and reliable, skilled contractors. So it is important that we gain as much information and insight as we can about the options open to us.

Finding the resources to change the fabric of our homes is daunting. This meeting will address topics such as:

• What retrofit measures can individuals take to improve energy efficiency in their homes?
• When does it make better sense to look at retrofitting groups of properties, for example in a whole tenement, rather than just on an individual level?
• How might we deal with the social and financial challenges of retrofit and low-carbon energy distribution at a communal level?

Meeting Schedule

We will start with brief presentations from three experts:

• Jo McClelland — architect with EALA Impacts, a social enterprise for sustainability in managing our built environment
• Calum Duncan — Calum Duncan Architects, locally-based RIAS Sustainable Building Design and RIBA Conservation accredited architect
• Cat Magill — Dark Matter Labs, a non-profit collaborating with communities to shape institutions and infrastructure in responding to the climate crisis

The talks will be followed by a refreshments break, a panel Q&A session and an opportunity for informal discussions in breakout groups. The panel of presenters will discuss how their different areas of interest align and address questions from attendees, both in the plenary session and in informal discussion time.