52 - Why ‘fabric-first’ may be the wrong approach for retrofitting with Fionn Stevenson

The Scottish Housing News Podcast

“If we have a choice between a tenant having their home flooded or having to put on an extra jumper, which would you recommend?”

For anyone who has encountered architect Fionn Stevenson over her career, her answer to this question will be obvious. It forms part of her claim that a blanket one-size-fits-all fabric-first approach to retrofitting should make way for a considered make do and mend tactic, which considers and effectively measures the embodied carbon costs of building upgrades.

According to Fionn, there is plenty low-hanging fruit such as roof and cavity wall insulation still available for housing providers without having to tackle the “expensive faff” of additional external wall insulation.

A transcript of this episode is available here: https://www.scottishhousingnews.com/articles/why-fabric-first-may-be-the-wrong-approach-for-retrofitting-podcast-transcript

Jimmy Black has written a blog to accompany the episode here: https://www.scottishhousingnews.com/articles/blacks-blog-make-do-and-mend

Further reading:

• Housing Fit For Purpose: Performance, Feedback and Learning - https://www.routledge.com/Housing-Fit-For-Purpose-Performance-Feedback-and-Learning/Stevenson/p/book/9781859468241

• LETI Climate Emergency Retrofit Guide - https://www.leti.uk/retrofit

• Fionn's LinkedIn post - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/fionn-stevenson-a3868720_retrofit-thinksmart-everypropertyisdifferent-activity-7149370404007006208-R9bo/

Kieran Findlay is the editor of Scottish Housing News. Jimmy Black is a former Dundee housing convener and housing justice campaigner.

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