building performance The initiative that supports businesses in the West Midlands to design and build more energy efficient homes. Together, we will build a smart and sustainable future. Welcome to Ecrofit Free CPD Courses APPLY NOW

Welcome to Ecrofit

Enabling Improved Building Energy Performance and Retrofit

Ecrofit is an award-winning initiative to provide technical assistance and training for businesses who provide construction, installation and building services linked to energy efficiency.

It is delivered by Birmingham City University together with the Awarding Body for the Built Environment (ABBE) and runs until 30th June 2023.

As part of the Ecrofit programme, we are developing a brand new software solution called iRet to assist property, energy and retrofit professionals. The iRet solution offers an easy to use, highly visual interface to create fast and accurate energy assessments. It applies multi-objective optimisation techniques to compare a range of options for holistic retrofit measures and variations in product specifications.

WHO WE ARE

Ecrofit is an initiative provided by Birmingham City University together the Awarding Body for the Built Environment (ABBE). Ecrofit is financially supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

We offer access to a group of leading experts in built environment, construction, data analytics and artificial intelligence to provide continuous professional development and support innovation in business.

Meet our team

WHAT WE OFFER

Ecrofit is a fully-funded project to support regional business.  All our services are free of charge – businesses just need to apply.  We offer:

  • Continuous professional development for people involved in domestic energy assessments and retrofits
  • Expert advice and consultancy for tailored research collaborations
  • Networking and events
  • Access to iRet, a brand new building simulation software solution

View Services

WHO IS IT FOR

Small and medium sized enterprises in the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership geography can access Ecrofit services free of charge.

Ecrofit supports businesses whose products or services make houses more energy efficient. This might include companies providing designs, assessing energy efficiency, supplying HVAC installations or retrofit services.  Any business in the wider construction and energy supply chains may also benefit.

Find out how our offers could help your business View Services

Is your business aiming to improve the energy performance of homes?

With an estimated 27 million existing homes UK-wide needing interventions to reduce their carbon footprint by 2050, homeowners and industry are looking for innovative and cost-effective approaches to improve these buildings. In addition, the Government aims to see 300,000 new homes built per annum from the mid 2020s, which must be delivered to the Future Homes Standard from 2025 and achieve a 75%-80% reduction of carbon emissions compared to the current standard.

If your business is grappling with questions how best to adapt and compete in this market, the Ecrofit offer could be for you.

All services offered by the Ecrofit project are free of charge to business. This is possible thanks to co-funding from the European Regional Development Fund and Birmingham City University.

To participate, your business must fulfil three criteria: be a small or medium sized enterprise, have received less than €200k in state aid over the last three years and be based in the area served by Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership. For more details, simply complete this enquiry form

Research and Development (R&D)

We offer companies the opportunity to work directly with academics and post graduate students to address a business issue of their choice.  Our academics will work with you to design a research & development project and agree a programme of activities.

Continuous professional development for SMEs

Tapping into the growing market for energy efficient buildings requires not only knowledge of the latest regulatory requirements but also an understanding of technical developments and innovations. The Ecrofit project offers free CPD.

Networking and Events

The Ecrofit project aims to contribute to industry knowledge spanning the home building and retrofit domains. We organise regular one-day events to bring together industry and academia, enable discussions and share project findings.

iRet tool

The Ecrofit project is developing a precision software application for Building Energy Assessments and Retrofit Recommendations called iRet, which is easy to use, visual and accurate. The iRet solution creates building simulations and provide tailored recommendations for retrofit packages

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