03/09/2026
Changing people’s lives for the better is a key motivation behind a need to accelerate and scale up retrofit housing projects across the UK, delegates heard at an international conference held in Edinburgh.
Attendees at the fourth Built Environment - Smarter Transformation BEST-Fest International Retrofit Conference held at the Royal College of Physicians yesterday \(Wednesday\) heard from a range of expert speakers about the challenges and opportunities of retrofit in the housing sector, with several making the link between housing and health a top priority.
Stephen Gethins MSP, Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Energy, told the conference how we heat our homes and businesses, bringing down bills and tackling climate change was a key issue for citizens and businesses across Scotland with economic as well as social, health and environmental benefits.
Stephen Good, CEO of BE-ST, talked about “driving delivery”, working with innovators and disruptors who appreciate the urgency of the housing emergency and the importance of connecting and collaborating to co-ordinate national capability.
Jenny Danson, Founder and CEO of Healthy Homes Hub, said focusing on people, and tackling issues such as damp and mould and housing conditions which had a proven detrimental effect on people’s physical and mental health, was a key priority. She said: “It’s about changing how people live their lives, where people don’t have to choose between heating and eating, keeping children out of hospital. Everything should start with the person in the home.”
Panel sessions, Q&As with speakers hosted by Caitriona Jordan, BE-ST Associate Director of Retrofit & Energy Efficiency, workshops, exhibition stands and networking showed the diverse range of elements to consider on how best to accelerate delivery, and common themes about the positive opportunities for people, communities, businesses, organisations, and the planet, from making it happen.
Richard Nelson, Co-Founder of Don’t Waste Buildings, said the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Ireland, the USA and Canada, all had good examples of schemes which encouraged a retrofit-first approach over demolition.
Caroline Ashe Brady, Commercial & Sustainability Director for the KORE Group, shared insight on how the business delivers to scale, managing 500 live sites, working with 250 different companies, delivering for 17 customer profile types, with 22 building typologies of pre-worked repeatable technical solutions.
Sally Godber, Director, Energy Consultant & Passivhaus Certifier - WARM & Coaction, said: “We want this industry to be full of problem solvers.”
BEST-Fest will continue to take its show on the road with further conferences taking place in Inverness (October 6), Glasgow (November 4) and Dumfries (March 17, 2027).
For further information visit: https://be-stfest.org/
