Portsmouth Housing Retrofits
Portsmouth & Havant
Study of homes across Portsmouth to support the City Council retrofit roll-out plans
Location: Portsmouth
Client: Portsmouth City Council
Status: Complete
Specialisation: Maintenance Plans, EnerPHit feasibility, PHPP calculations, EPC rating review
ECD led the delivery of a RIBA Stage 1 Retrofit Feasibility Study for Portsmouth City Council with 19 sites chosen tore represent their housing stock archetypes. The project aimed to assist in the long-term financial planning of retrofit roll-out across different typologies, including non-traditional system-built houses. The study also included a 30-year maintenance example plan for each retrofit option, to capture the outline specification and associated costings. The bespoke Maintenance Plans recorded all major building components’ maintenance and renewal timescales based on their estimated current age and expected lifecycle.
Across the 19 archetypes, ECD compared four retrofit scenarios: Baseline, EnerPHit, Step-by-step, and a Passivhaus new build. ‘Baseline’ was a gradual upgrade to suit the components’ maintenance cycle and the minimum statutory requirements; while the ‘EnerPHit’ retrofit route involved deep fabric improvements and an immediate switch to heat pumps. The ‘Step-by-step’ featured gradual improvements and delayed decarbonisation of services, and the Passvhaus was the only new-build option.
With the multidisciplinary study complete, the Council is well equipped to consider how best to lower the tenants’ bills and he estate’s carbon footprint.