‘An analysis of housing stock by the Resolution Foundation has found nearly half (48%) of the poorest fifth of English households have homes liable to get too hot – three times as many as among the richest fifth (17%).’
#SocialHousing
#SocialInequality
#Retrofit
#OverHeating
#Heatwave
TIL my house has a built in summer storage heater.
Bay window is tiled and filled with single skin of brick. 33c at 11pm at night!
At the time of reading room temp was 26c and outside 21c.
I'll eventually have these bricks out and filled with couple hundred millimetres of insulation.
And if all this is true of the #retrofit industry, it must be the case across many other sectors too.
Neoliberalism fosters this notion that the private sector can be trusted to deliver, while the authority of the state to have direct and effective oversight of work is constantly eroded.
We are collectively paying more than ever for very poor delivery.
From 40 years experience we as a nation know privatisation is the emperor’s new clothes. It just enriches shareholders and delivers nothing.
I believe as a nation as have to take #retrofit seriously.
Around 25% of UK current carbon emissions come from domestic properties. We have the worst housing stock in Northern Europe. It kills around 10,000 a year in winter from being so drafty and expensive to heat…and kills a further 10,000 in summer from overheating.
But how we go about retrofitting our nation’s homes at scale and pace matters too.
#Farage thinks he can create DOGE style cuts at UK local authority level to remove those working in relation to #ClimateCrisis and diversity.
As the article suggests, there is not much left to cut.
Curious whether it will it include those working on social housing #retrofit decarbonisation projects?
Many institutions and companies don’t invest in solar pv because they think it will take decades to recover the cost…but really they are missing a trick.
#Norwich University of the Arts have just had a big install (186 panels) that is projected to pay for itself within just 7 years.
A New Mechanical Keyboard for an Old Computer - As computers age, a dedicated few work towards keeping some of the more interestin... - https://hackaday.com/2025/04/10/a-new-mechanical-keyboard-for-an-old-computer/ #mechanicalkeyboard #retrocomputing #commodore64 #3dprinted #commodore #keyboard #retrofit #pcb
Loco Home Retrofit is hiring for 3 roles in or near Glasgow: Marketing and community engagement, Technical leadership (retrofit), Innovation Programme Manager. These are senior roles and this is a good company to work for (I am on the board HR committee and the employee handbook is good). Astonishingly competently run. It has real values that it is really accountable to and is a coop owned by its workers and customers. https://locohome.coop/vacancies/ #Job #ClimateCrisis #Retrofit #Glasgow #LocoHome
I believe we need a civil service, but what Bingham says about BEIS rings very true in my experience of it from a completely different field of #retrofit, for which it also had responsibility.
How do we get the civil service we actually need?
This is an important question because it really matters at times of crisis…and climate breakdown is just as bigger crisis as #Covid, if not more so.
Pico Pal Puts RP2350 Into Game Boy Color Shell - While modern gaming systems deliver ever more realistic experiences, there’s still... - https://hackaday.com/2025/01/03/pico-pal-puts-rp2350-into-game-boy-color-shell/ #microcontrollers #handheldshacks #nintendohacks #gameboycolor #retrofit #rp2350 #gbc
Alexandra Rd Estate, #Camden #retrofit dilemma:
- Brutalist architecture
- Social housing
- Communal heating
- How to maintain?
Residents want to maintain integrity of original design. The homes are Grade II listed, iconic, used in numerous films. Also they don’t suffer from damp/mould and have flat rate billing.
But the council thinks the heating is costly and difficult to maintain.
Holiday Jukebox Gets ESP32, Home Assistant Support - If we’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that the only thing hardware hacker... - https://hackaday.com/2024/12/24/holiday-jukebox-gets-esp32-home-assistant-support/ #microcontrollers #homeautomation #home-assistant #holidayhacks #homehacks #retrofit #esp32
But if they have had bothered to get this far into the article they would have seen a graph that makes it clear to the public, mainstream media how much the #retrofit industry was cut to its knees by #Tory decision to ‘cut the green crap’
Loft and cavity wall insulations fell off a cliff between 2012 and 2013. Without the government putting in funding for these measures the industry withered away. We are having to start over…and #Labour are sadly all just talk. The reality is more of the same.
I did something to amuse myself last night. I decided to post this story about how bad the situation is in the UK in terms of our cold, drafty homes that leave people in debt trying to heat them…to LinkedIn.
Most of my connections on there are people working in the #retrofit industry. People who profess to care about #insulation and improving the energy efficiency of homes.
Tumbleweed.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/heating-uk-home-winter-insulation-cold-191422173.html?
We are building the supply chain and creating the market for the kind of work that I want to be able to buy. It has been quite a lot of work just to get some insulation and a heat pump installed. But with a lot of help from a lot of friends, we can create the market and make it possible for many people to buy that which was not previously possible. Now you can click "Make a plan" and begin a supported retrofit journey. #Retrofit #ClimateCrisis #LocoHomeRetrofit #Coop https://locohome.coop/ 2/2
My retrofit origin story: I bought a home in Glasgow that needs to be retrofitted, and I am an academic so I got the best textbook on how to do that ("Sustainable Renovation", free PDF online) and I found the best recommended local tradesperson to do the first bit of work and I pulled out the textbook and said: "Can you do something like this" and he said "Nah. I will do it like I always do it.". So several years later I am a non-exec director of Loco Home Retrofit. #Retrofit #Glasgow 1/2
Ich wünsche ein innovatives #ComputerSimulationsSpiel das nicht nur Auszubildene am Bau, #Architekten, #Häuslebauer u.a. von der #Qualität, aber auf Dauer auch von der #Sparsamkeit von #energieeffiziente #Passivhaus o. Nachrüstung gem. #EnerPHit #Retrofit und deren Vorteilen nicht nur für den #Klimaschutz, bereits beim #Hausplanen auch #Wohnungs u. #Hochbauer mitnimmt #zukunftsförderlich #weiterzudenken gern dürfen auch alle Freunde von
@fff mit weiter denken & Anregungen einbringen
Diese Woche werden wieder alle Arten von #ComputerSpiele , #Videogames auf der #gamescom der diesjährigen #gamescom2024 vorgestellt.
Wer macht mit beim #PassivhausSimulator einem neuen ' #Aufbauspiel, einer #Wirtschaftssimulation für #nachhaltigesBauen bzw. #nachhaltigesNachrüsten von Bauten jedweder Art, die #sparsam und zugleich mehr #passive immer wieder #ErneuerbareEnergie nutzen statt #fossile Energieträger jedweder Couleur.
#EnerPHit #Retrofit
"The reality of the climate emergency is being exploited by an industry which can promise to insulate your home in an afternoon with completely inert and manmade materials,” Sleeman says. “But being more considered opens up opportunities to do things communally, creating skills within communities.”
Succesful community retrofit schemes show the way forward.
Is there a connection between the news coverage plumbers read, how they vote and whether they are willing to retrain to fit and service heat pumps?
I think so.
Does this matter?
Yes.
Only 0.19% of UK homes have a heat pump. That’s compares to Norway (60% of households), Sweden (43%), Finland (41%) and Estonia (34%).
The technology works. It works in cold climates. Yes, works even better with good insulation.
But it works best without a dismissive right-wing media.
