Retrofit

A fabric first approach involves carefully considering the design and construction of the building envelope to lower a home’s energy consumption. Fabric first is the principle of designing a building using high performing materials to minimise the energy needed to heat and cool a home. 

Prioritising the performance of the building fabric is one of the simplest, most effective, and affordable ways to create an environmentally optimised home. A fabric first approach is generally considered to be more sustainable than relying on energy-saving technology or renewable energy generation, which can be expensive to implement. 

Our thermal imaging surveys use the latest infra-red technology to accurately detect moisture, leaks, and energy loss without compromising the building fabric, making it ideal to identify and address building fabric issues. 

What is a Passive House/Passivhaus?

Passive House/Passivhaus is an international energy performance standard aimed at recusing energy use from buildings while delivering high standards of comfort and health. Since its development in Germany in the early 1990s, more than 65,000 buildings have been certified to this standard worldwide. Like the fabric first approach, Passive House concentrates on the fabric of the building and centres on insulation, high performance windows, airtightness, mechanical ventilation, and reduced thermal bridging.

A building design must meet several criteria to achieve Passivhaus certification, which can be obtained through The Passive House Institute. Ensuring the fabric of a homes is well designed is a critical first step towards achieving certification. A thermal imaging survey can accurately detect moisture, leaks, and energy loss without compromising the building fabric, thus identifying issues that create poorly performing homes.

What is thermal bridging?

A thermal bridge is created when heat or cold transfers across an external surface of a building, causing cold to enter or heat to escape from the building. Thermal bridging can be the cause of considerable thermal inefficiency, which is why it is crucial to minimise thermal bridges during retrofitting. Thermal bridges are common in older buildings, which may be poorly constructed or poorly insulated, allowing energy to escape through anomalies like gaps, cracks, and thermal bridges. Thermal imaging surveys can help identify such anomalies swiftly and easily.