One-Stop Shop Solution for Housing Retrofit at Scale in the United Kingdom

Retrofitting the existing housing stock to a high level of energy efficiency will not be limited to achieving the decarbonisation of 80.3 MtCO2e residential emissions and reducing fuel poverty in 4.16 million households, but also improving the health and well-being of UK residents and their overall quality of life. The current progress of housing retrofitting is poor, at less than 1%. The UK expects to achieve net zero by 2050, and the challenge is immense as there are more than 30 million houses. The challenge is similar in other global contexts. Even if the required technology, supply chain, skilled labour, and finance could have been provided, the retrofitting would not move forward without positive engagement from the clients. Proper strategies are required to retrofit at scale. Focusing on the challenges of stakeholder engagement in housing retrofitting, this study focused on developing a hybrid one-stop shop solution through design science research. A theoretical artefact and an empirical system requirement specification document were developed to propose a one-stop shop solution. This was tested through retrofit industry stakeholders. Findings reveal that the one-stop shop model will be a good answer to retrofitting at scale, providing the resident engagement of 30.1 million households. The model can support residents with or without computer literacy due to its hybrid approach. The proposed theoretical and industrial models can be used as base models for developing one-stop shops for housing retrofitting by adapting them for context-specific requirements.