The International Retrofit Conference | 6 Nov

Scaling Solutions: A Viable Path to a Sustainable Future

In 2025, we aimed to cut through the noise to tackle the real barriers of large scale retrofit. The end goal must be a sector that can deliver retrofit at scale, speed and low cost.

From genuine conversations to sobering realities, at today’s International Retrofit Conference we discussed case studies of what works, what fails and why, and the real facts on standards, costs and performance. We heard learnings from a wealth of insight and experience, including the retrofit of our own project, Scotland’s National Retrofit Centre.

Rewatch our keynotes and panels:

Professor David Glew, Director of the Leeds Sustainability Institute

KEYNOTE
David Glew highlights why the UK continues to struggle with large-scale retrofit, showing how policy instability, delivery failures, and recurring mistakes undermine progress, and argues for evidence-based, monitored, and scalable approaches that integrate retrofit into mainstream construction.
Key themes include:
1. The retrofit delivery gap
2. Policy volatility
3. Risks of poor-quality retrofit
4. Evidence not reaching practice
5. Need for scalable monitoring & evaluation
6. Skills integration

Watch
Rachael Owens, Co director, National Retrofit Hub

KEYNOTE
Rachel Owens outlines how the National Retrofit Hub is tackling the barriers preventing retrofit at scale, emphasising quality, community engagement, skills, evidence-based policy, and place-based delivery. She also showcases inspiring examples of grassroots initiatives already driving change across the UK.
Key themes include:
1. Quality and trust are core challenges.
2. Policy gaps and instability
3. Skills and competence shortages.
4. Community-led and place-based approaches.
5. Better use of evidence and monitoring.
6. Supporting local delivery ecosystems.

Watch
Behind the Build

PANEL
The panel explores the design, delivery, and technical innovation behind Scotland’s National Retrofit Centre, showing how collaborative working, off-site manufacturing, and low-carbon systems enabled a complex non-domestic retrofit to be delivered at pace—and setting out what this means for scaling retrofit across the wider sector.
Key themes inlcude:
1. Deep collaboration from the outset
2. Evidence-led design and monitoring
3. Innovative off-site and natural-material solutions
4. Low-carbon, scalable energy systems
5. Managing retrofit complexity
6. Lessons for scaling

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Amandeep Singh Kalra, CEO and Cofounder, GreenFlip

KEYNOTE
Amandeep, co-founder of Green Flip, shares a personal journey and innovative approach to scaling retrofit solutions, aiming to transform homes into decentralised power stations that improve health, cut bills, and combat climate change.
Key Themes:
1. Personal impact of poor housing on health
2. Challenges in current retrofit approaches
3. Scaling retrofit with better design and technology
4. Making retrofit easy and accessible
5. Letting financial incentives drive action
6. Collaboration and innovation hurdles

Watch