This week, in partnership with the National Trust (NT), we ran a fully funded workshop as part of the RE:Start Local Project for eligible SME companies in the South East of England.

The workshop involved a morning of presentations and discussions at one of the National Trust Hub site on Wycombe Road, Bucks.  The presentations involved an interesting discussion on the National Trust’s procurement strategy and process for SME’s to get involved, led by Gary Angove – National Trust Procurement Business Partner.  Russell Smith from Parity also led a discussion session on the market barriers for retrofit in older properties, and the strategy work Parity have done for NT to align packages of measures at scale across their entire stock.

The final morning presentation involved a technical overview of the West Wycombe Village Retrofit Project, led by the NT’s Project Manager, Mark Wells.  Mark then led the afternoon session, a site tour of the village and live works.

The three year village upgrade is due to finish by 2015 and provided the delegates with a unique opportunity to view work-in-progress during different stages of completion.  One of the properties visited, ‘Black Boy Cottage’, provided the opportunity to go up onto the scaffolding to view the sympathetic but effective roofing insulation system being fitted.  Other properties already had the new roofing system complete so delegates could also view the completed system – including in some case the raise of rooflines to listed properties – a major coup for the National Trust.

The day provided the opportunity to understand how smaller historic buildings can be upgraded using modern energy efficiency measures, without being detrimental to the historic fabric or setting.  Of key concern to the National Trust is their tenants comfort, therefore while they always align their upgrade work to their Six Conservation Principles they also delicately balance energy efficiency, environmental standards, affordability and social cohesion.

If you are interested in attending any of Parity’s and the National Trust’s forthcoming workshops, please click here.

Testimonial from Anna Whitehead, a Design Consultant who attending this workshop “Richly relevant content of an often complex topic, clearly and engagingly delivered”