Case studies, with sources
Real UK retrofits, traceable to the body that published them.
We did not run these projects. We summarise what the publishing body reports, in plain language, and link every figure back to its original publication. If a number feels wrong, click through and check it; that is the point.
A small set of cases we trust enough to lead with. Each one is told as a story; each one names what it can and cannot tell you.
- Nottingham2019Featured
Energiesprong, Nottingham social housing pilot
A whole-house, net-zero retrofit pilot on existing council homes using prefabricated external panels and roof-mounted plant.
Source: EnergiesprongRead the story - England, Scotland and Wales2023Featured
Electrification of Heat demonstration, UK-wide
742 monitored heat pumps installed across the UK housing stock by BEIS/DESNZ; the most comprehensive recent dataset on how heat pumps actually perform in real homes.
Source: DESNZRead the story - Watford2014Featured
Larkfleet Lifestyle House, BRE Innovation Park
A demonstration home at the BRE Innovation Park built to test the cost-effectiveness of taking a typical UK new-build to Passivhaus standard.
Source: BSRIARead the story - England-wide sample2022Featured
Loughborough DEFACTO English housing study
Longitudinal monitoring of temperature, humidity and energy across hundreds of English homes; the empirical basis for the 'one in five bedrooms overheats' figure.
Source: Loughborough DEFACTORead the story - Manchester2022Featured
Co-operative retrofit of a Manchester Victorian terrace
A whole-house deep retrofit of a solid-wall Victorian terrace in Manchester, delivered through Carbon Co-op and published as a worked example.
Source: Carbon Co-opRead the story
Standards, datasets and programmes we cite across the site. Useful, but not story-shaped in the way the featured cases are.
- Greater Manchester2023
People Powered Retrofit, Greater Manchester
A co-operatively delivered programme of deep retrofits across mostly Victorian and Edwardian terraces in Greater Manchester.
Source: Carbon Co-opRead summary - UK-wide2024
Passivhaus Trust EnerPHit project database
An open database of certified Passivhaus and EnerPHit retrofit projects across the UK, each with monitored or modelled performance figures.
Source: Passivhaus TrustRead summary - UK-wide2021
LETI Climate Emergency Retrofit Guide
A widely cited industry guide that defines what 'good' retrofit looks like for UK homes, with worked case studies of every common archetype.
Source: LETIRead summary - UK-wide2022
AECB CarbonLite Retrofit standard
An achievable retrofit standard between baseline UK practice and full EnerPHit, with a library of monitored projects behind it.
Source: AECBRead summary - UK-wide2013
Energy Saving Trust heat pump field trial
The largest UK monitored study of heat pumps installed in real homes, revealing what good and poor installation actually deliver.
Source: ESTRead summary