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Process Management - Phase 2

Phase 2 Process Summary: 

  1. Assign a Retrofit Assessor to the client & arrange date for home assessment.

  2. Full house energy assessment inc. questionnaire.

  3. Full written report/ Whole House Plan (with home energy performance + suggested measures). 

  4. Follow-up call or visit to discuss questions and clarify report findings.  

  5. Advise on next steps if wants to go ahead with any suggested measure.

  6. Assist with procurement of installer for the Retrofit Project.

  7. Quality assurance during the Retrofit Project

  8. Final Quality assurance sign-off and handover with the RC

1. Retrofit Assessor & Retrofit Assessment 

The RA shall be responsible for carrying out the Retrofit Assessment of the property, allowing the creation of the Whole House Plan. An RA shall be a person qualified in accordance with the requirements set out in section XXXX.  

It is the responsibility of the Retrofit Assessor to undertake a full house survey of the property using software stated below to enable the production of the Property Retrofit Plan [is this a defined term somewhere or shall we replace it by Whole House Plan?].  

Assessment Software

Only the following software can be used for collecting data from the survey and determining what are the best measures – clarify with technical team:

  • Home Retrofit Planner (HRP): Requires Retrofit Assessor to have completed the HRP course by Carbon Coop, software based on full SAP.
  • Full Standard Assessment Procedure: Requires Retrofit Assessor to have completed a relevant training course.
  • Passive House Planning Package (PHPP): Requires Retrofit Assessor to have completed the PHPP course by Passive House Trust.
  • Whole House Energy Efficiency Report (WHEER): Requires Retrofit Assessor to have completed appropriate training. Produced using DE specific method.

[Does this cover the way all the groups are producing WHP in a way that the Technical Team agrees is satisfactory?] (Whole House Plan?) - this will be influenced by work of Technical Team and what should be in a WHP 

2. Retrofit Coordinator & Whole House Plan 

The role of the RC shall be to protect both the HO interest and the public interest. The RC shall be responsible for overseeing the project from inception to completion, i.e.  assessment, Whole House Plan, installation, and post-completion evaluation. An RC shall be a person qualified in accordance with the requirements set out in section XXXX.  

The RC will be employed by the LEAD Partner commissioned to undertake the responsibilities set out section XXXX.  Where a conflict of interest arises between the RC’s duty to protect the HO interest, the public interest and the employer’s interest it shall be declared to the HO so that arrangements can be made to resolve the conflict. 

The RC is responsible for preparing a report/Whole house plan based on the survey and feedback from the HO. The report should show the RC understands the home’s current condition, clarifies the HOs aims and understands the potential of the property to meet those aims. 

Whole House Plan

The report will include information gathered during the survey visit and will provide the HO with an overview of the steps to take, outline what works can be done, and their likely impact. It will show a range of scenarios for home improvement for discussion with the HO. The report will include (but not be limited to) the following information: 

  • Initial project brief: Outlining the HO initial project brief as discussed with the assessor. It is important to be clear about your priorities, so they inform HO decisions. This is a starting point for the future development of the HO detailed project brief. 

  • Information on the existing condition of home: Including information of indoor environmental quality and any repair work that the HO might need to do. It will describe the context of the property and potential constraints. 

  • Retrofit scenarios: Outlining potential retrofit scenarios to map out a pathway to significant energy and carbon emissions reductions for the property, usually building from ‘easy wins’ to a full retrofit. Give comparisons and benchmark of these scenarios against targets and existing energy use. 

  • Summary of specific measures: Provide a summary of the specific measures involved in each scenario including a commentary highlighting things the HO might need to consider in developing their plans. 

  • Outline of next steps: Provide an outline of what the HO might do next to achieve their aims. Many measures will require further investigation, design, or specialist advice, beyond the scope of the report. This section provides ideas about how to progress this. 

Intended Outcomes

At the outset of the project, the RC shall consult the HO and agree and record the intended outcomes of the project. Intended outcomes shall take into account the initial condition of the building(s) and be expressed in terms of one or more of the following: 

  • reductions in energy use; 

  • reductions in energy costs and/or alleviation of fuel poverty; 

  • reductions in emissions associated with energy use; 

  • improvement in internal comfort; 

  • improvement of indoor air quality (IAQ); 

  • elimination of condensation, damp and mould; 

  • reducing the risk of overheating; 

  • improvement in energy rating (e.g. SAP); 

  • meeting a performance standard (e.g. NZEB or Passive House EnerPHit); 

  • improving the usefulness or sustainability of the building; 

  • protecting the building against decay or deterioration; 

  • improving resistance to water penetration and resilience against flood risk; 

  • protection or enhancement of architectural heritage; 

  • integration of energy efficiency measures with other improvements, e.g. extension, loft conversion or general refurbishment; and 

  • any other issues that might be considered relevant. 

Guidelines for Whole House Plan – Technical Team to comment 

Under the LEAD scheme there is flexibility in terms of the software and report format that can be used. However, the following considerations do need to be considered:

  • Presentation: The report needs to be written in clear English and a minimal amount of technical jargon, well laid out, easy to follow and adequately explain its purpose. 

  • Property: The report needs to identify the construction and condition of the property, identify the existing building services in the property, identify any constraints that could impact the selection of energy efficiency measures. 

  • Occupancy: The report needs to fully explain the levels of occupancy and the impact this has on energy use. 

  • Improvement options: The evaluation needs to be presented in a way that is easily understood by the HO, recommendations need to be consistent with the occupant and property constraints and the recommendations must be technically correct. 

3. Procuring & Managing installers  

[What are the implications here in terms of liability for the LEAD partner and the sub-contractors/ installers? What might be the various relationships?  Who is able to help us answer this?]  Appendix XXXX shows list of what installers should hold? Who is responsibility is it to check this? Homeowner or LEAD recommending installers? 

4. Quality Assurance 

*This needs to be reviewed. Is RC doing all QA or will this be a separate role? Determine what level or monitoring is needed?*

The Retrofit Coordinator shall ensure that every retrofit project is subject to monitoring and evaluation to: 

  • determine whether the intended outcomes of the retrofit project have been realised,  

  • identify and learn from any project-specific or systematic problems with the retrofit risk assessment, the dwelling assessment, the retrofit design, the installation of Energy Efficiency Measures (EEMs) or the testing, commissioning, or handover of EEMs. 

Monitoring and evaluation shall be carried out by the RC with overview from a Quality Assurance Officer (QAO) (see section 3.2.4.). 

Throughout the installation of property upgrades, it will be the responsibility of the RC to ensure that the QAO is brought in at appropriate points in the build.  

Levels of monitoring and evaluation 

In addition to the three levels of post works monitoring and evaluation listed below, there will be additional checklists to be completed during the works phase by the installer. These will be checked and monitored by the RC. Three levels of post works monitoring and evaluation shall be carried out, as appropriate: 

  • Basic monitoring and evaluation shall be applied to every completed domestic retrofit project. 

  • Intermediate monitoring and evaluation shall be applied to projects for which (in the opinion of the HO, the RC or the QAO) basic monitoring and evaluation indicates that the outcomes are significantly different from those originally agreed and intended, or there are unintended consequences of the retrofit work. 

  • Advanced monitoring and evaluation shall be applied to projects for which (in the opinion of the HO, the RC or the QAO) intermediate monitoring and evaluation indicates that further investigation is required to understand and resolve any discrepancy between predicted performance and outcome performance, or to explain any unintended consequences. 

Intermediate and advanced monitoring involve access to the dwelling(s), possibly on several occasions, and advanced monitoring might require intrusive investigation of the building fabric. In this instance HO’s consent shall be obtained by the QAO; intermediate and advanced monitoring and evaluation shall not proceed without such consent. 

Basic monitoring and evaluation 

Basic monitoring shall include the use of a measures-specific questionnaire distributed to the HO(s) of the dwelling that have been retrofitted to establish, as far as possible: 

  • whether the agreed intended outcomes of the project have been achieved; 

  • whether there have been any unintended or unexpected consequences as a result of the work; 

  • whether the HO(s) are satisfied with the outcomes; 

  • whether the HO(s) are satisfied with the process of assessment, design, installation, testing, commissioning and handover of retrofit measures; 

  • the identification of any specific points of dissatisfaction; 

  • the identification of any elements of the installation that are not working as expected; and 

  • any other comments the HO(s) might want to make. 

The QAO shall: 

  • collate the information provided by the HO, summarise it, and formulate recommendations for any remedial actions required and any changes to the retrofit process that may be appropriate. 

  • circulate the summary and recommendations to the HO, the RC, the RAs, the RD and the RI. 

  • Monitor and evaluate to a basic level and report on findings within three months after handover of the retrofit project 


Intermediate monitoring and evaluation 

Intermediate monitoring and evaluation shall include: 

  • a review of the report of the basic monitoring and evaluation carried out; 

  • an inspection of the dwelling to check that all the installed EEMs are in place and functioning correctly, and to identify any instances of condensation, damp or mould; 

  • post installation air-tightness testing (if an airtightness standard was specified, improvement measures that might have affected air-tightness were installed or there is any evidence of condensation or mould); 

  • fuel use monitoring for a period long enough to acquire useful information, using data from the occupants’ fuel bills, meter readings or smart meters, and taking account of the occupancy pattern during the monitoring period; 

  • recording of internal temperature and relative humidity throughout the monitoring period; 

  • brief questionnaire-based occupant interviews, covering the points identified in 7.4.1. and the following additional points: the functionality of the installed EEMs; and the ability of the occupants to achieve satisfactory comfort conditions, including temperature and internal air quality; and  

  • identification of any occupancy factors or occupants’ actions that might be contributing to poor outcomes 

NOTE Fuel use monitoring should preferably be carried out during the heating season. 

The QAO shall: 

  • Collate the information obtained during the monitoring process and produce a summary 
  • Formulate recommendations for any remedial actions required and any changes to the retrofit process that might be appropriate 
  • Circulate the summary and recommendations to the HO, the RC, the RAs, the RD and the RI.
  • Intermediate monitoring and evaluation shall be completed and reported within six months after basic monitoring and evaluation have been completed, or as soon as seasonal weather conditions allow.
  • Advanced monitoring and evaluation 

Advanced Monitoring & Evaluation

Advanced monitoring and evaluation shall include all the elements of intermediate monitoring (7.5.1.) and in addition shall also include, as appropriate:

  • a post construction review to confirm the exact nature of the installation and whether work was consistent with the retrofit design;
  • a post occupancy evaluation based on two detailed questionnaire-based interviews with occupant(s), carried out with an interval of one year between them;
  • a thermographic survey of the dwelling(s);
  • monitoring of internal conditions including temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide concentration for a period of at least one year;
  • monitoring of moisture levels within the building fabric and/or at the interfaces between insulation and masonry;
  • sub-metering of energy use by any new building services systems including ventilation, heating and hot water, lighting and any LZC or “renewable energy” technologies (e.g. solar thermal systems, solar photovoltaics) for a period of at least one year; and  
  • investigation of any defects revealed by monitoring (at any level), the post construction review, the post occupancy evaluation, the inspection, the air-tightness test, the thermographic survey, or the monitoring of fuel use and internal conditions. 

The QAO shall: 

  • Collate the information obtained during the monitoring process, analyse and interpret it to establish the root cause(s) of any performance discrepancy 

  • Summarise it including tables and charts as appropriate 

  • Formulate recommendations for any remedial actions required and any changes to the retrofit process that might be appropriate,  

  • Circulate the summary and recommendations to the Client, the Retrofit Coordinator, the Retrofit Assessor, the Retrofit Designer and the Retrofit Installer. 

  • Advanced monitoring and evaluation shall be completed within two years after basic monitoring and evaluation has been completed. 

 

1 Comment
Kate Royston
Kate Royston  commented 11 months ago
#1

All - please review and make any comments/amendments

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