26/05/2026
A worthwhile day at the Elmhurst Scotland Conference last week with plenty of discussion around the future of retrofit, building standards and energy efficiency upgrades across Scotland.
The sessions around ECO schemes, funding changes and the proposed Warm Homes Plan were particularly interesting. Even if, due to the new cabinet being formed, no one from the Scottish Government was actually “allowed” to speak on the day.
One stat that stood out from the Scottish Power presentation was that, under ECO, the average household was contributing around £50 per year through a typical £1,500 energy bill. Future schemes are set to move away from this model and instead be funded more directly through central taxation.
A big part of improving older buildings is understanding how they actually perform in the real world, rather than simply relying on assumptions or age based construction details. It was interesting to hear about technologies that can assess the actual u-values of existing walls, floors and roofs to help determine the most appropriate upgrade measures.
There’s clearly a continued move towards higher standards and better documented upgrade works across both domestic and commercial projects over the coming years. Although how straightforward that will ultimately be for the end user to navigate is probably another discussion altogether.
