At our recent Open Meeting, three powerful keynote talks challenged us to rethink what retrofit is really for.
Together, these speakers called on us to work with greater intention, accountability and imagination. Here’s a closer look at what they shared.
Emma Pfeiffer from Dark Matter Labs on Retrofit and Climate Resilience
What does a three-degree future look like, and how must retrofit respond?
Emma opened by grounding us in the global picture. Even with current international pledges, we remain on track to overshoot 1.5°C, with a 3°C world still more likely than not. For the UK, that means average summer temperatures rising by around 8°C, alongside more frequent droughts, flooding and cold winters.
Crucially, these changes won’t be felt evenly. Using data from Birmingham, Emma showed how the impacts of extreme heat and poor housing conditions fall hardest on the same neighbourhoods already experiencing deprivation. Climate change doesn’t create new inequities. It deepens the ones we already live with.
This planetary shift also brings global consequences home. Food systems, supply chains and migration patterns will all be affected. And we can’t talk about this without acknowledging the UK’s role in historic and ongoing extraction of resources, labour and carbon space from other parts of the world.
Emma pushed us to expand how we think about retrofit. It’s not just about insulating more homes or hitting net zero targets. It’s about building neighbourhood-level resilience in a world of rapid change. That means:
- Thinking beyond single “interventions” to layered, adaptable building use
- Prioritising responsibly sourced bio-based materials
- Designing for reuse, disassembly and future adaptation
- Preparing for much wider temperature swings and climate volatility
- Embedding ongoing learning and sharing between residents, professionals and institutions
She also offered a sharp warning about the risks of repeating extractive patterns. The shift away from fossil fuels must not trigger a new wave of mining for so-called transition minerals in communities already facing environmental harm and instability.
“How can we reimagine retrofit so it actively supports future readiness for both people and planet, rather than treating symptoms of a deeper problem?”
Takeaways from Emma:
- A 3°C world is increasingly likely. Retrofit must be part of how we adapt at a neighbourhood scale.
- Climate impacts compound existing inequities. They are not distributed fairly or randomly.
- We need to think in systems, not just upgrades. Materials, relationships and local knowledge all matter.
- Retrofit can help build planetary resilience, but only if it moves beyond a technical frame.
Nazia Azad from Centre for Ageing Better on Retrofit and Social Justice
If we start with those most impacted, we get better retrofit for everyone
Nazia’s keynote centred on the lived experiences of older people from racially minoritised backgrounds and the deep housing injustices they face.
She shared stark findings from new research:
- Older people from racially minoritised groups are around five times more likely to live in housing deprivation
- 38% of Black and minority ethnic households report at least one major housing problem
- Damp affects nearly 9% of Black-led households, double the rate for white-led homes
- Many rent privately, the tenure most associated with insecurity and non-decent homes
This reality reflects decades of systemic inequality, from redlining and exclusionary lettings to austerity-driven disinvestment in specific neighbourhoods. Despite living in the same homes for decades, many still lack access to basic repairs, adaptations or support.
Interviews revealed recurring themes:
- Postcode lotteries: Where you live drastically affects the support you can access. Services are patchy, and data on uptake, especially by ethnicity, is often incomplete or missing.
- Tenure and trust: Whether people rent or own shapes both housing quality and stability. But institutional trust is often low, and with good reason.
- Cultural relevance: People want services that are respectful, safe and rooted in their reality. Community-led organisations are often the most trusted bridge.
- Health inequality: Poor health starts earlier for many racially minoritised people, sometimes in their 50s compared to the mid-60s for white counterparts. This means more years spent in unsafe or unsuitable homes.
“These are not stories of disengagement,” Nazia stressed. “They are stories of exclusion, from systems never designed with these communities in mind.”
Nazia laid out clear, practical steps:
- Fix the data gap: Government must collect and publish who accesses home improvement schemes, including outcomes by ethnicity
- Simplify access: Make support easier to find and navigate, especially for older people and those juggling multiple needs
- Target investment: Focus on areas with the greatest decline and the least support. Don’t wait for them to fall further
Takeaways from Nazia:
- Racially minoritised older people face systemic housing injustice with long-term impacts on health and wellbeing.
- Many want to improve their homes, but face barriers rooted in policy, trust, tenure and affordability.
- Community organisations play a key role but need better support themselves.
- Any national retrofit agenda must start with those most affected, not treat them as edge cases.
Alastair Ben Dixon from Collective Works on Retrofit and Ethics
Retrofit is full of everyday ethical decisions. So how do we choose well?
Alastair brought a personal and professional lens to the conversation, drawing from both his architectural work and his role in shaping ethical standards across the built environment sector.
He shared examples from his practice, including a deep retrofit of a terraced home using bio-based materials and the Remakery in Brixton, a community-led project transforming a derelict garage into a thriving local hub. Both projects delivered value beyond carbon savings. But they also revealed limitations, especially around replicability, funding and perceived value.
Retrofit often presents moral questions disguised as technical ones. Alastair gave examples:
- Should you present a deep retrofit plan if your client hasn’t asked for one or might not be able to afford it?
- What do you do when a client offers to pay cash to avoid tax?
- Should you work for free on a community project, and what does that signal to the sector about the value of retrofit?
- He pointed to practical tools like “stop and think” models that help teams ask:
- Is this in line with our values?
- Would I be happy to explain this decision publicly?
- What if everyone acted this way?
At Collective Works, they now assess projects against clear ethical criteria:
- Does this work align with our mission?
- Will it fill a knowledge or service gap?
- Is it financially viable?
- Does it help us grow as a team?
Just as importantly, they make space to raise ethical concerns openly and without judgement.
Alastair introduced the “ethics of care” – a framework that centres relationships, interdependence and responsibility to others. It challenges the idea of retrofit as purely technical or transactional and instead frames it as a practice of care.
“Retrofit becomes about looking after people, places and ecosystems, not just hitting performance metrics.”
Takeaways from Alastair:
- Ethics in retrofit is about real-world decisions, not abstract theory.
- Every choice we make shapes who benefits from retrofit and who is left out.
- The sector needs clearer, shared ethical frameworks to guide practice.
- Care ethics helps reframe retrofit as a relational, responsible act, not just a design challenge.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR NRH?
These three keynotes ask us to hold retrofit to a broader and more human standard. They ask: What future are we preparing for? Who is being left out? And what kind of values are shaping our day-to-day decisions?
Retrofit can do more than cut emissions or save bills. Done well, it can restore trust, build resilience and deepen our collective responsibility to each other and the planet. But only if we’re willing to listen, reflect and act with greater care, justice and intention.
We want to keep building our understanding of these themes and what they mean for our work and for everyone across the NRH network. In the new year, we will run a series of workshops to explore these ideas in more depth, look honestly at where the gaps are, and think about the role the NRH can play in supporting better practice.
