Green retrofit cooperative aims to link up householders with local suppliers
Green SME news – by Thomas McMullan
1st July 2014
A new green retrofit cooperative is aiming to answer the UK-wide call for energy saving refurbishment by forging better links between householders and local suppliers.
RetrofitWorks is described as “a multi-stakeholder cooperative” launched by award-winning London-based green retrofitting firm Parity Projects. At its core will be “a local, reliable, network of retrofit practitioners covering all areas of advice, design and installations and a process of engagement with clients that they have designed alongside community groups and local authorities,” said Russell Smith, director of RetrofitWorks.
“Innovative model”
“Innovative model”
The cooperative follows three years of development by Smith, who originally intended to set up an umbrella organisation with working title the Green Deal Conduit to enable small and micro businesses to club together as a means to contend against larger companies for retrofit contracts resulting from the Green Deal, the Government’s flagship energy efficiency scheme. However, the failure of the Green Deal to take off following its launch last January, led to a rethink of the Green Deal Conduit model.
“Our consultation process in devising this new cooperative led us to develop an innovative model that both small firms and community leaders have been seeking for far too long,” said Smith.
“Our consultation process in devising this new cooperative led us to develop an innovative model that both small firms and community leaders have been seeking for far too long,” said Smith.
The UK retrofit market has been valued at £500 billion over the next 30-40 years, but it has been slow to take off. Last week, a coalition of organisations, including the Federation of Master Builders, the UK Green Building Council and Greenpeace, called on the Government to put aside £3 billion to £4 billion of capital investment from its £45 billion annual infrastructure spend on retrofitting one million homes a year by 2020.
Online platform
Online platform
A key feature of the RetrofitWorks model is a “bespoke online management and procurement platform” that will allow property owners to specify their retrofit requirements and receive a minimum of three comparable quotes from local businesses offering the required services. In turn, advocate members will help to increase the profile of the project within their community by promoting the benefits of the cooperative, leading to more potential customers for businesses offering retrofit services.
“The RetrofitWorks cooperative is a highly innovative model, delivering much needed reductions in CO2 emissions and energy bills in people’s homes whilst at the same time stimulating the local economy,” said Ed Mayo, secretary general of Co-operatives UK. “The industry has been crying out for this new collaborative way of working.”
Green Deal
“The RetrofitWorks cooperative is a highly innovative model, delivering much needed reductions in CO2 emissions and energy bills in people’s homes whilst at the same time stimulating the local economy,” said Ed Mayo, secretary general of Co-operatives UK. “The industry has been crying out for this new collaborative way of working.”
Green Deal
The Green Deal itself has seen recent changes made in order to encourage more people to take up the scheme following a disastrous first year. The Government had predicted that 10,000 Green Deal plans would be signed by the end of 2013. By the end of February 2014 only 1,754 had been signed. The Green Deal now offers households in England and Wales up to £7600 cashback for energy efficiency upgrades.
The launch of RetrofitWorks coincides with the announcement that six North London boroughs are to receive £6.5 of Green Deal Communities funding from DECC. The money will provide grants to homeowners for retrofit projects, and RetrofitWorks said it aims to work with these boroughs “to deliver locally sourced retrofit services”.
The launch of RetrofitWorks coincides with the announcement that six North London boroughs are to receive £6.5 of Green Deal Communities funding from DECC. The money will provide grants to homeowners for retrofit projects, and RetrofitWorks said it aims to work with these boroughs “to deliver locally sourced retrofit services”.
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