Completed Clean Energy Economics & Business

Investment Grade Proposals for Portfolio Retrofit

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

A new software tool aims to give building owners the hard financial data they need to justify spending millions on energy-saving renovations. The problem is straightforward: landlords and portfolio managers cannot get reliable, quantified proof that retrofit measures—like new insulation, heat pumps, or smart windows—will actually save enough energy and money to be worth the upfront cost. Without that certainty, banks are reluctant to lend, and owners are reluctant to spend. This tool tackles that gap by combining building-by-building data with financial modelling to produce an "investment grade" proposal—the same level of rigour a bank would demand for any major capital project. If the tool works at scale, it could unlock private finance for retrofitting entire housing estates, office parks, and public buildings. That would accelerate the UK’s shift away from gas heating and leaky buildings without relying solely on government grants. The project is now testing the software with real portfolio owners and their supply chains to see if it holds up outside the lab.

View original technical description
City Science will develop and test a first of it's kind tool for providing "Investment Grade Proposals for Portfolio Retrofit". The core idea behind this tool is to help break down some of the key barriers to scalable retrofit and accelerate the decarbonisation of the UK building stock. Key barriers, as recorded by the Green Finance Institute include: * The lack of certainty in the benefits of retrofit measures * A lack of incentives to incur the high upfront costs Our proposed tool addresses these barriers by: * Utilising a highly evidenced, data driven approach to provide the required certainty around the benefits of retrofit measures. * Unlocking access to finance by providing certainty around financial, environmental, and social return on investment. * Providing solutions which best satisfy the needs of all parties In phase 1 of this competition we developed and tested the technical and commercial feasibility of our proposal as well as it user acceptability. Within phase 2 we will test our solution in a real-world environment through collaboration with large portfolio owners and managers, as well as the supply chain.

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Related Research

Grants with similar aims, by meaning.

A Data Driven Platform Approach for Retrofit Specification and Performance Monitoring
Enabling a portfolio approach to net zero retrofitting of mortgaged, shared ownership and private rented properties
Simple, Off-site, Wrap-around Approach to Large Scale Retrofit
Decarbonising your home
Portfolio Plus: model, measure and monitor housing retrofit roadmaps

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Collaborative R&D

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