Case Studies

Selected projects delivered by our founder: six site decarbonisation surveys under the LASER Zero Carbon Fund programme for the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (2024–2025), and a PAS 2035 external wall insulation quality review covering 270 properties in North Wales (2026).

Featured · North Wales · 2026

PAS 2035 EWI Review: 270 traditional properties

Location: North Wales, Exposure Zone 4 (very severe) · Scope: 270 traditional solid-wall dwellings · Role: Retrofit quality & compliance review

The challenge

External wall insulation on traditional solid-wall housing in a very severe exposure zone is one of the highest-risk retrofit measures in the UK. Across the 270-property scheme, recurring defects were putting performance, durability and compliance at risk: render discolouration and fungal growth, thermal bridging from discontinuous insulation, cold spots around openings, and water-ingress pathways at sills, base tracks and flashings.

What we did

  • Systematic defect review across the portfolio, categorising failures by root cause: substrate preparation, board cutting and gap-filling, mesh embedment, bead/trim/flashing detailing, and finish application.
  • Benchmarked every defect class against INCA Best Practice guidance and the system designer's installation requirements, quoting the specific compliant detail for each failure.
  • Traced consequences through to resident impact: heat loss, condensation risk and internal mould growth.
  • Produced a good-practice playbook for site teams: unambiguous, manufacturer-backed instructions.

The value for clients

This review demonstrates exactly what a competent Retrofit Coordinator brings to a large-scale EWI programme: detecting systemic quality failures early, tying every defect to a specific compliant detail, and preventing installations from requiring remedial render or insulation replacement, protecting the guarantee, the funding compliance and the residents.

Good-practice playbook highlights

  • 40 mm minimum sill overhangs with drip details
  • Starter track at DPC and 150 mm above ground
  • 300–400 mm base-profile extension below DPC
  • L-shaped boards at openings, no edge under 150 mm
  • Mineral-wool slithers in all board gaps
  • 100 mm minimum mesh laps in the top third of the basecoat
  • Correct two-coat silicone finish application
LASER Zero Carbon Fund · LB Hammersmith & Fulham · 2024–2025

Six site decarbonisation surveys for a London borough

Each survey combined a physical site inspection, metered energy analysis, fabric U-value and heat-loss calculation, and a costed, ranked set of carbon-reduction options , supporting the borough's strategy of reaching net zero by 2030.

School
75% CO₂e reduction

Melcombe Primary School

A multi-building primary school with significant fabric losses and gas-fired heating. The whole-site plan combines internal wall insulation, roof and glazing upgrades, a low-temperature heat pump and solar PV, cutting emissions 75% and eliminating on-site fossil fuel reliance. 538,705 kWh and 97.1 tCO₂e saved per year; 2,516 lifetime tCO₂e.

IWIRoof + glazingHeat pumpSolar PV
School
68% CO₂e reduction

Normand Croft Community School

Fabric-led plan including 1,512 m² of internal wall insulation (11% cut in total building heat loss), glazing replacement cutting glazed-surface heat loss by 28%, LED lighting, heat-pump conversion and a district-heating connection assessment.

IWI 1,512 m²GlazingDistrict heating
Sports / community
47% CO₂e reduction

Bishop's Park Bowls Club

Air-to-water heat pump and solar PV package saving 22,400 kWh and 4.0 tCO₂e per year with a net annual running-cost saving. 80.9 tCO₂e saved over measure lifetimes for a £63,000 investment.

Heat pumpSolar PVNet cost saving
Community building
1.9-year payback

22 Exhibition Close

A tightly-scoped, high-value intervention: air-to-air heat pump with supplementary electric heating, saving 12,000 kWh/yr with a 39% emissions reduction, evidence that decarbonisation does not always require major capital works when the analysis is done properly.

Air-to-air heat pump39% CO₂e cut
Theatre / heritage
33% CO₂e pathway

Lyric Theatre

A landmark theatre with a 416 kW design heat load, complex occupancy and heritage constraints. The survey assessed heat-pump conversion, solar PV, lighting upgrades and district-heating options, a pathway that respects the building's operational and architectural constraints.

HeritageHeat pumpDistrict heating
Sports pavilion
Fossil fuels eliminated

South Park Cricket Pavilion

Heat pump and solar PV plan that fully removes on-site fossil fuel use, with the site modelled to become a net exporter of clean electricity in summer months.

Heat pumpSolar PVNet exporter

Melcombe Primary School: the measures in detail

MeasureEnergy saved (kWh/yr)CO₂e saved (t/yr)Project costLifetime tCO₂e
Internal wall insulation112,91720.6£582,800721.5
Flat roof to pitched (rafters)23,0014.2£52,119126.0
Pitched roof (loft)35,0776.4£22,778172.9
Glazing upgrade111,42020.3£381,600569.5
Heat pump (low temp.)224,67339.0£610,785780.7
Solar PV31,6166.5£56,511145.8
Total538,70597.1£1,706,5932,516.4

Figures are taken from the published survey reports; savings shown are modelled annual and lifetime values from the recommended-measures analysis in each report. Full reports available on request, subject to client permissions.

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