Whole house retrofit
Understanding the emissions from high quality retrofit
abc undertook a live investigation of retrofit across 10 housing typologies for City of Edinburgh Council. Balance used these projects to gather live insights into the carbon footprint of whole house retrofit, calculating the carbon emissions from retrofit works, and predicting the next 60 years of operational and maintenance emissions stemming from these renovations.
Our data shows that retrofit is typically better than new-build, and the unique design choices in each whole house intervention play a decisive role in this figure.
Scaling up retrofit to reach net zero in Scotland
Balance’s assessment gives evidenced carbon emissions for retrofit, supporting a council’s strategic decision-making for their estate improvements.
In numbers
271
kgCO2e per m2 from retrofit works
91
tCO2e per block
63%
Lower than the new build equivalent
- Angus Council’s net zero local development plan
- Paisley Grammar School’s strategic net zero assessment
- Estate management for Renfrewshire Council
- Balance retrofit analysis for a Renfrewshire High School
- Comprehensive carbon assessment for Dalquharran Estate Holiday Lodges
- Whole life carbon assessment for the Hampden regeneration project
- Whole life carbon assessment for the Cook Street development
