Ripe for Retrofitting

Kevin Telfer

Ripe for Retrofitting
March 5th, 2009

I have recently completed a series of four articles for Green Building Magazine following the eco-refurbishment of Nicholas Worsley’s detached 1960 home (pictured) in the village of Ripe in East Sussex and writing about it as it happens, step-by-step: a bit like Grand Designs but without the TV cameras. The final article appears in the spring edition of Green Building Magazine.

Nicholas Worsley's eco-refurbishment project

Eco-refurbishment or retrofitting has to be important if any kind of dent is going to be made on carbon emissions from UK buildings. There is a general focus in the media on new buildings, I guess because they’re largely more exciting and photogenic, but the reality is that the majority of the homes built now will still be standing in 2050. In fact, according to the Sustainable Development Commission, of the 21 million houses in Britain now, more than 18 million of them will be inhabited in 2050. That’s a pretty stunning statistic in my view. It means that new build can only have a very litmited impact on the total carbon emissions, hence the need to take retrofitting seriously.