Centre for Sustainable Energy Click to Retrofit
Funded Project: Description
This project aims to innovate energy advice by offering affordable, high-quality retrofit surveys through an online platform. Targeting the majority ‘self-funding’ segment—households deterred by current survey costs and therefore ending their retrofit journey before it’s started—this service will enable users to receive accurate retrofit surveys via smartphone or tablet.
Surveyors will guide clients remotely via a walkthrough of their property, capturing images and measurements of key features like insulation, heating, ventilation. This process ensures comprehensive data collection, enabling tailored recommendations without needing in-person visits.
This approach removes significant cost and access barriers, making retrofit advice more affordable and scalable—especially those in harder-to-reach areas. Surveys will be priced below current market rates, with further cost reductions anticipated through operational efficiencies.
Collaboration between Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) and Changeworks, two leading energy/retrofit charities in England and Scotland respectively, will provide a diverse testing ground, helping embed surveys across both nations. The project builds on CSE’s recent experience testing new lower cost surveys, including online. Market research shows these are more appealing due to their simplicity, expert guidance, and impartiality.
By overcoming a key barrier – access to affordable, tailored energy advice – this project aims to drive behaviour change and retrofit uptake, creating a scalable model that could be adopted nationwide.