The ESSA retrofit guides have been developed by Etude, Prewett Bizley and Levitt Bernstein for the ESSA Conservation Area association, with support from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

The guidance aims to explain what retrofit means and how residents can start their retrofit journey - making their homes more energy efficient, less carbon intensive, comfortable and healthier. The guidance is split into four parts:

• Part 1: A ‘Strategic Appraisal’ provides context on the Net Zero objectives in the ESSA conservation area and is aimed at councils or anyone interested in the concept of retrofitting.

• Parts 2, 3 and 4: focus on three housing typologies – a Victorian house, block of flats/mansion block and a modern house- identified by the ESSA association at the beginning of the project. These archetypes focus on the retrofit solutions and are considered representative of homes in the ESSA conservation area, assisting residents to determine which retrofit archetype best matches their own home.

Throughout the development of these guides, special consideration has been given to the historic characteristics of the archetypes. This is to ensure that retrofit improvements align with the conservation area’s heritage, while enhancing the energy efficiency of homes.

The documents are highly visual, providing information on the existing fabric of homes and outlining suitable retrofit measures, using three-dimensional illustrations to highlight key junctions and edges. They are written as far as possible in non-technical language and aim to demystify what can feel like a daunting and complex subject.

While the guides were originally designed to respond to the housing typologies in ESSA, they are also applicable to much of the London housing stock. Providing useful retrofit guidance for homeowners in ESSA and beyond.

The documents have been made publicly available through ESSA local conservation association website: https://www.essaw8.com/resources