An interactive scenario that tests your ability to defend a Fabric First strategy against client pressure, cost challenges, and on-site surprises.
This advanced interactive scenario places you in the role of a Retrofit Coordinator for a social housing decarbonisation project. You are tasked with balancing a client's specific demands (an "ASHP-first" approach) against the mandatory best practices of PAS 2035. The course tests your ability to interpret energy modelling data, identify compliance risks, and use the Improvement Options Evaluation (IOE) to justify a "Fabric First" strategy to stakeholders.
PAS 2035, Fabric First, Improvement Options Evaluation (IOE), Medium Term Improvement Plan (MTIP), Heat Demand, Decarbonisation, EPC Ratings, SHDF Funding, Stakeholder Management, Risk Mitigation.
This section challenges you to analyse detailed energy modelling data to validate a client's brief. You will learn to identify when a proposed strategy (e.g., installing heat pumps before insulation) fails to meet funding requirements (such as EPC Band C). The outcome is the ability to use data to prove that a 'Fabric First' approach is necessary for compliance, rather than just preference.
Here, you face pressure regarding the cost difference between a robust fabric package and a cheaper, compliant alternative (like standalone Solar PV). You will learn to use specific metrics - primarily 'Space Heat Demand' and 'Total Cost of Ownership' - to argue that fabric measures provide better long-term asset value and tenant comfort than cheaper measures that simply 'game' the SAP score.
The final stage introduces a critical on-site discovery (e.g., asbestos) that threatens the budget. You must decide whether to pivot to a cheaper, less effective plan or hold your nerve. This lesson teaches the professional responsibility of the Coordinator to ensure mandatory safety works are funded without compromising the technical integrity of the retrofit design.
