Influencing national building policy

The UK needs to retrofit millions of homes to support the Government’s Clean Growth Strategy, as only around 40% of homes have achieved the target of an EPC rating of Band C so far.

The DEEP (Demonstration of Energy Efficiency Potential) project led by the Leeds Sustainability Institute at Leeds Beckett University, was launched to investigate how thermally retrofitting solid walled homes in Yorkshire can reduce fuel bills, minimise carbon emissions and improve their energy efficiency. The right retrofit approach can make houses warmer in winter, cooler in summer, and reduce the chance of damp and condensation occurring.

Taking a ‘whole house’ approach, the project is the largest and first of its kind. It was commissioned by the Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and runs in partnership with Loughborough University and the University of Salford.

Working with landlords in 14 real homes, the research team delivered 41 different fabric retrofits using multiple measures, with before and after modelling and testing done to pinpoint the improvements made. Previous research by the institute led to a change in national building regulations, resulting in hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2 being saved, and it is hoped that the DEEP project will have a similar lasting impact. It has already led to the development of two new European Standards on measuring heat loss, which have been adopted in 34 countries.