Delivering large-scale EPC assessments and archetype-led retrofit surveys to replace an ageing, incomplete dataset with a defensible baseline for compliance planning.
Project Overview
- Client: Ark Consultancy (commissioned on behalf of North Warwickshire Borough Council)
- Sector: Social Housing & Housing Associations | Local Authority-Led Programmes
- Location: North Warwickshire
- Services Provided: Domestic EPC Assessments, PAS 2035 Retrofit Assessments, PAS 2035 Retrofit Coordination – Optioneering (Improvement Option Evaluations & Medium-Term Improvement Plans)
- Scale: ~500 properties; 50 archetypes
- Target: A defensible, up-to-date EPC and retrofit evidence base to support compliance planning against Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards for social housing and the reformed Decent Homes Standard
The Challenge
North Warwickshire Borough Council’s EPC register covered the large majority of its 2,575-home stock, but a third of those certificates were more than ten years old, several hundred more used inconsistent or unrecorded SAP versions, and a further group had no EPC at all. With incoming Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards moving social housing towards an EPC Band C equivalent, and a reformed Decent Homes Standard drawing energy performance directly into its core criteria, the council needed to know whether its existing data could actually be trusted to plan investment against – or whether it was masking properties that had drifted out of compliance, or had simply never been captured in the first place.
The Solution
An initial desktop review of the council’s EPC and property data defined 50 representative archetypes across the housing stock, to focus survey effort where it would tell the council the most. Working within that framework, we are delivering two coordinated workstreams.
Large-Scale EPC Assessments & Archetype-Led Retrofit Surveys
We’re running two coordinated survey programmes: the first is a large-scale EPC programme, prioritising properties without a current certificate and those most likely to be underperforming; the second is a PAS 2035-compliant retrofit assessment for one representative property per archetype. Void properties are fast-tracked for assessment to keep the council’s records current as its stock changes.
PAS 2035 Optioneering
For each archetype, we’re producing a full Improvement Option Evaluation and Medium-Term Improvement Plan, modelling a range of costed measures – fabric upgrades, ventilation strategy changes, and renewables such as solar PV and battery storage – against their impact on SAP score, fuel bills and carbon emissions. This gives the council a genuinely costed, archetype-by-archetype view of the pathway to EPC Band C and beyond, rather than a single blanket assumption applied uniformly across very different housing types.
The Outcome (So Far)
All three workstreams are now moving in parallel. Retrofit assessments have covered most of the archetypes identified, giving the council whole-house, evidence-led performance data for the full range of construction types in its stock instead of a projection built on ageing certificates. EPC coverage is steadily catching up with the stock’s true condition, and each archetype is gaining a costed, evidence-led improvement pathway through the accompanying Optioneering work. Together, they’re replacing a baseline a third of which pre-dated the council’s own capital works with a current, defensible evidence base North Warwickshire Borough Council can plan investment against.
Client Testimonial
We have worked with Building Energy Experts on a number of projects and have consistently found them to be professional, knowledgeable, and collaborative. They work closely with our team to ensure that we meet the aims and expectations of our clients, often going above and beyond to deliver high-quality outcomes. Their reliability and commitment make them a valued partner in our work around social housing decarbonisation.
— Luke Beard, Assistant Director of Technical Services, ARK Consultancy
