Spotlight on Glasgow retrofit ahead of COP26

A conference opens next week to tackle the challenges of retrofit scale-up, set in the context of the Scottish Government’s new Heat in Buildings Strategy, writes Graham Lock, founder of Low Carbon Homes.

It’s a participative online event and free to attend. In particular Graham suggests SAL members may be interested in the resident engagement sessions on day three, although the rest of the programme is also of high relevance. Please register before 4pm on Monday 18 October via this link.

More information:
Next week, Glasgow’s regional retrofit conference opens – just two weeks after the release of the Heat in Buildings Strategy and days ahead of COP26.  The Low Carbon Homes online event, hosted by Glasgow City Council, explores the challenges and opportunities of retrofitting 428,000 homes across the city region by 2030.

Low Carbon Homes Glasgow, (Tuesday 19th – Thursday 21st October), is staged over three mornings, with Day One kicking off with an opening address from Glasgow City Council Leader, Cllr Susan Aitken, then a showcase of current retrofit projects. Day Two sessions include a summary of the recently released Heat in Buildings Strategy from the Scottish Government and a review of Glasgow city region retrofit feasibility report calling for 428,000 homes to be retrofitted by 2030. Day Three features sessions exploring best approaches for resident engagement, and a special facilitated break-out session led by TPAS.

Featured projects include those of local housing associations: Maryhill, ng homes, Queens Cross and Wheatley Group and the debut review film of the Glasgow EnerPHit Tenement project at 107 Niddrie Road which will be featured at COP26 as one of 17 projects from around the world selected for Build Better Now at the COP26 Built Environment Virtual Pavilion, in which Low Carbon Homes is a partner.[SL1] 

“As Glasgow prepares to host COP26 very shortly, the timing of this week’s Retrofit Conference could not be better.  At the conference, we will examine how retrofitting the city’s homes can deliver commercial, economic, environmental and health benefits.  Retrofitting homes can not only reduce energy bills and carbon emissions – helping to tackle fuel poverty and the climate emergency – but also offers the chance to further improve housing and create many new jobs in Glasgow.  I look forward to the outcomes of the conference.” – Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council

Speakers:

Cllr Susan Aitken, Leader, Glasgow City Council

Darren Reis, Panasonic

Craig Reid, Investment Manager, Maryhill

Dave Falla, Associate Director, M-Four on behalf of ng homes

Rona Anderson, Director of Property, Enterprise & Regeneration, Queens Cross Housing Association

Colin Reid, Wheatley Group

Sean Conway, Business Development Manager, Eurocell

Chris Carus, Director, Loco Home Retrofit

Prof. Ken Gibb, Director – UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence, University of Glasgow

David Hawkey, Scottish Government

Iain Carr, Business Development Manager, Kensa Contracting

Scott McDonald, Scotland Specification Team, Stelrad

Paul Kilby, Regional Partnership Manager, Glasgow City Council

Dr Iain Cairns, Strathclyde University

Dr. Lisa Newson, Health Psychologist /Reader, Liverpool John Moores University

Samantha Tullock, Strategic Assets Business Lead, Believe Housing

Leza Lafferty, TPAS Scotland

Steve McGowan, Group Manager, Housing Strategy, Glasgow City Council

Low Carbon Homes Glasgow on 19-21 October, hosted by Glasgow City Council, is a free-to-attend online event bringing professionals from inter-related sectors together to collaborate and consider the scale of the challenge, the solutions available and the barriers to overcome.

After Glasgow, Low Carbon Homes will be staging further events across the UK.  Next is Suffolk on 23-25 November in November, hosted by Suffolk Climate Change Partnership and then Lancashire in December.