Karl Dickinson

Whether you’re retrofitting or not, here are some helpful pointers for regional energy standards, ratings, and labelling systems. Stars, numbers, and alphabetical symbols indicate the optimum energy efficiency of your building and appliances. Understanding what they mean can help occupants and building managers reduce unnecessary emissions from private and...

Surprisingly, geography has a big part to play in the renovations we make to our built environment. Elements around the world pose different problems. While one city experiences flooding, another is dealing with desertification. Red-hot or ice-cold – wherever there are humans craving comfort, there’s a place for retrofitting....

There is a plethora of retrofitting policies out there, especially in Europe, that are guiding the move to a cleaner, greener energy scene. Here is a selection of rules and guidelines that are improving efficiency in our aging building stock and related energy use. From the European Commission European Green Deal A...

Research into retrofitting and the energy efficiency of buildings is a growing field. Here’s a sample of some of the most interesting papers around. An Investment Allocation Approach for Building Energy Retrofits This paper introduces a decision-making methodology for allocating retrofit investment to minimise full life cycle costs. There is a...

So, you want to retrofit but are not sure how you’re going to finance it? Depending on where you are in the world, you might be fortunate to get some help. Some countries seem very committed to decarbonising existing building stock, putting their money where their mouth is with...

Retrofitting, decarbonisation, renewables, and the energy transition. There’s a behemoth of information out there, and it seems to be growing by the day. That’s why we’ve put together some of the choice cuts to take the sting out of finding the most reliable, factual, and up-to-date information you could...

With climate change being so high on the agenda, it’s not surprising that there is a range of retrofitting projects testing out various measures, innovations, technologies, and tools for engagement to see how we can make buildings climate-friendly and future-proof. In Europe, at least, plenty is going on. Here’s...

Widescale social housing retrofit projects led by local authorities are not uncommon. Yet many energy refits still tend to focus on changes at the microscale – in single buildings. Does it have to be that way? Is decarbonisation an easier challenge to conquer collectively? Éva Goudouneix believes so. A...

Using fossil fuels emits a lot of carbon dioxide. This enters the atmosphere and traps heat, warming the climate. Unless we curb our energy use, temperatures will rise beyond the 1.5 degree-maximum we’ve set ourselves. Retrofitting is a key tool in decarbonising human activity and therefore preserving the environment....

Showering, cleaning, drinking, flushing, and washing clothes all use water. A lot of water! As the climate changes and populations increase, supply is struggling to keep up with demand. Making our city’s buildings more sustainable conserves vital drops. But what exactly can we do to make our water use...

Why aren’t we retrofitting more? There’s an unarguable case in favour, after all. Something must be holding us back. The problem is that property owners are just not that engaged in the movement. It has to change. So, what methods have been proven to work for engaging residents in...

At CityChangers, we value the learning we can gain from bottlenecks, problems, and conundrums. Knowing the challenges and discovering the blockages provides a ground on which we can search for solutions. We’ve noticed a bunch of barriers around psychology in retrofitting that seem to block progress. Anyone considering setting...

If you’re looking for inspiration, look no further! Meet Gianella Chinchilla, a 24-year-old climate activist and clean energy consultant from Los Angeles, USA. We can learn a lot from this founder of a popular environmental justice digital media platform and are proud to have her as an Urban Future...

Vienna is a pragmatic city, bursting with exuberance, diversity, and political action. In terms of decarbonising, it’s a place where people are making definite, positive urban change at the street and policy levels. We caught up with Peter Kraus, City Council Member for the Vienna Green Party (Die Grünen,...

As a City Council Member for the Green Party, Peter Kraus makes waves in the Austrian capital Vienna with his persistent campaigning for climate-friendly, people-focussed policy. At just 34, he is already a non-executive city councillor and a member of the Viennese state government. As an Urban Future 2020...

The decarbonising effects of retrofitting older buildings will do a lot to slow or even prevent the global heating process. But where do we start? How do we know what measures individual properties require, what really works, or when each step should be taken? Never fear, CityChangers is here!...

Cities emit seemingly endless cascades of greenhouse gasses. Carbon dioxide is the number one offender. Rectifying this is pivotal to halting global warming and preventing irreversible climate damage. But decarbonising cities at a mass scale is an unprecedented task with an unforgiving deadline. So, how can it be achieved?...

Telling the average person on the street to upgrade their draughty, crumbling home to save energy and, ergo, the planet might be too abstract to inspire action, met with responses like: “What difference can I really make? Why should I when countries and corporations continue to pollute so heavily?”...