The 2025 Spending Review commits £13.2 billion to increasing energy efficiency in existing homes under the Warm Homes Plan, making retrofit a top priority. However, achieving Net Zero in retrofit projects, and new builds alike, depends on effective occupant education. Otherwise, we risk ambitions stalling at the point of handover.
Recent findings from the leading authority in building services testing, intelligence, and research, BSRIA, reveal that despite nearly all (97%) of construction professionals agreeing that occupant behaviour plays a defining role in whether retrofits deliver operational efficiency, the vast majority are failing to measure or validate outcomes post-handover.
The research found that three quarters (76%) of construction professionals admit that they do not prioritise post-occupancy evaluations (POEs), highlighting a significant lack of follow-up assessments to ensure that retrofit measures meet original design intentions.
For both retrofit projects and new build developments, POEs are crucial to identify discrepancies between intended outcomes and real-world use. POEs enable adjustments that improve building performance while simultaneously supporting people in running their homes, or other buildings, efficiently to maximise indoor environmental quality and energy savings.
Industry data has found that buildings are acutely affected by occupant behaviour, with recent studies indicating a difference between predicted building performance and measured output of as much as 300%[1]. This demonstrates how failing to embed occupant engagement and education into the handover process can leave retrofit work at risk of severe performance shortfalls, which can significantly erode energy efficiency and comfort.
Adding to the challenge, BSRIA’s research found that over half (55%) of consumers are unfamiliar with what ‘retrofit’ means and only a third of homeowners (31%) believe that retrofit will reduce energy use. Furthermore, half of people say they are unclear about the impact of retrofit upgrades on carbon targets, underscoring the vital need for occupant education.
Tom Garrigan, Executive Director at BSRIA, commented: “For housebuilders and developers, the handover of a retrofitted home can’t be the end of the story: implementing measures alone is not enough. Performance issues emerge when occupants don’t fully understand low-carbon systems and indoor environmental controls, leading to higher running costs and missed targets.
“While there has been progress in some areas of the market, it’s critical that the wider industry prioritises occupant education to ensure that homes work for people in practice, not just on paper.
“This doesn’t just apply to retrofit projects, either. With the Future Homes Standard approaching, residents in both new builds and refurbished buildings will require greater support to confidently manage longer heating cycles, responsive controls, and new approaches to comfort and efficiency.”
With 62% of the industry agreeing that retrofit projects offer greater benefits than new builds, it’s clear that there is appetite within the sector for refurbishing existing housing stock. However, next-generation homes demand next-generation handover practices.
By combining evidence-based specification, robust building diagnostics, verified product testing and thorough user guidance, the sector can deliver homes that both perform and satisfy, helping to drive mass-market decarbonisation.
Garrigan adds, “Investing in robust post-retrofit evaluations and support will help to close the gap between design ambition and real-world results. This means that occupant education must be integral to the retrofit journey to ensure that the fabric improvements made will contribute to achieving Net Zero not just at point of installation, but for the long-term.”
BSRIA continues to champion this approach through research, training and demonstrator projects that showcase retrofit leadership for the industry.
Find out more: https://www.bsria.com/uk/
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