The National Refurbishment Centre (NRC) is asking people how easy it is to find reliable information about sustainable refurbishment in the UK and what the National Refurbishment Centre priorities should be, with surveys to be submitted by 5 November, 2010.
NRC is a strategic partnership between the BRE Trust, the Energy Saving Trust and industry partners to enable the practical delivery of green retrofit through a national demonstration initiative.
The challenge
Buildings contribute 44% of the UK’s overall annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, with more than a quarter coming from housing. For the country to meet its 80% CO2 reduction target by 2050, it will need to refurbish its existing buildings, many of which will still be in use by then.
The task is huge but so far the response has been fragmented. The National Refurbishment Centre is a nationwide demonstration initiative that seeks to foster a more joined-up approach to developing the practical measures needed to refurbish buildings in volume.
Collecting hard evidence to deliver practical solutions
At the heart of this collaborative project are 450-500 exemplar homes. These are demonstrating sustainable, energy-efficient refurbishment in action and are expected to reduce carbon emissions by between 60% and 80% a year.
The data collected from these exemplars include:
– One-time-tests of thermal imaging, air tightness and other single tests.
– Live data on air quality, humidity, energy use and other areas, which is collected every five minutes.
– Occupancy evaluation of comfort and experience from face-to-face interviews, questionnaires and blog diaries.
This will be one of the most extensive demonstration initiatives in the UK. It will provide different stakeholder working groups with the solid evidence needed to develop a practical delivery of green retrofit in the UK, such as the creation of standard guidelines to the development better training.
To take part in the survey, and the chance to win £1,000 of M&S vouchers, click: HERE
