Fabric First Retrofit
If you are considering retrofit or any form of energy efficiency upgrade to your home you may have come across the term “fabric first” and wondered what this was all about.
In this short feature we’ll explain exactly what this is and why we feel it should always be considered and prioritised.
Fabric First Retrofit Defined
Retrofit: The term retrofit means “to furnish (something, such as a computer, airplane, or building) with new or modified parts or equipment not available or considered necessary at the time of manufacture”. In terms of energy efficiency and buildings this means is the upgrading of homes to increase their energy efficiency and reduce or remove their reliance on fossil fuels for heating.
Fabric: The term fabric (in relation to buildings) itself refers to any structural materials, cladding, insulation, finishes, etc., that enclose the interior of a building. In other words – the parts of the building which separates the internal from the external. This primarily includes the roof, external walls, windows, doors and the lowest floor.
Fabric First: The Fabric First approach to energy efficiency domestic retrofit involves “improving the building’s energy performance primarily through modifications to its physical fabric, rather than solely relying on advanced technologies and renewable energy systems”.
Fabric First Retrofit Explained
So, by definition, fabric first retrofit simply means prioritising an energy efficiency upgrade to the fabric of a building before any other form of energy efficiency measure is installed. In real terms this means looking at ways to keep heat in a building before looking at ways to generate heat more efficiently.
This means making sure the building is insulated properly and appropriately – this could mean improvements to windows and doors or through the addition of / improvements to floor insulation, cavity wall insulation (CWI), external wall insulation (EWI), internal wall insulation (IWI) or loft insulation whilst building in a ventilation strategy depending on what’s right for the specific building.
This means you are making the building itself as energy efficient as possible before moving on to other energy efficiency measures.
Fabric First Retrofit Benefits
Simply by making the building more energy efficient you will be saving energy, money and the planet! You’re preventing energy wastage and CO2 emissions by keeping the heat in the building for the long term. Ideally you will be bringing an older property up to new building standards … at least.
That means that, no matter what state your current heating system is in, you’re going to need less heat to keep your home warm and comfortable and, with the insulation to fabric of the building optimised, you are ready to look at additional measures which will save you even more.
Prioritise Fabric First
At Energy Efficiency Matters we wholeheartedly support a fabric first approach – and so does the vast majority of the wider industry. It seems simple common sense to stop heat loss through the building before looking at ways to reduce energy consumption further.
What’s the point in installing a brand new, highly efficient heating system if you’re going to lose half the heat it generates? Certainly, you’ll still save money but you’re going to continue to be wasting energy and resources.
This is why the industry as a whole has reacted in such a negative way to the recent Government announcement that they intended to make heat pumps cheaper and easier to install through changes to the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme meaning that homeowners would no longer have to install cavity wall or loft insulation in order to access money from the scheme, which offers grants of £7,500 off the cost of heat pump installation.
On the face of it it does make heat pumps more financially attractive but we would always suggest that you consider insulation measures first – in the words of OFGEM and from their official guidance:
“It is important that property owners understand that heat pumps perform best in a well-insulated property”.Â
Fabric First Retrofit … it makes perfect sense to us!