The exciting Calderdale’s Retrofit Challenge project will investigate local retrofit solutions and raise awareness of the benefits of retrofitting your home in Calderdale.
The project is a collaboration between Calderdale Council, Carbon Co-op, and Todmorden Learning Centre and Community Hub, funded by and forms part of Innovate UK’s Net Zero Living Programme and runs from July 2023 to the end of July 2025.
Traditional solid stone terraces, typical in Calderdale, can be particularly challenging to retrofit but the potential benefits are huge: warmer, healthier homes fit for the future with lower bills plus creating thousands of green jobs for local people.
To support the challenge of Retrofit, we are launching the first Citizen’s Jury for Calderdale.
This important group will meet in the Autumn to hear and weigh up expert evidence and deliberate on a way forward so that as many people as possible can benefit from these measures.
Calderdale residents who are interested don’t need any experience or knowledge, just a willingness to give their opinion and influence the policies of the future.
What is a Citizen’s Jury?
A Citizen’s Jury is a group of 15-20 members of the public who represent the diversity of the area. They come together to learn about a subject, ask questions and work together to deliberate a set of questions. As part of the jury you’ll have the chance to hear from expert witnesses on retrofit and create a set of recommendations that will be heard and seen both locally and nationally.
Criteria for jury members:
- You are a homeowner
- Ideally live in a stone-built house and or a terrace
- No previous knowledge of retrofit is needed
Also, you need to be available in the autumn to attend a series of in person jury sessions on Saturdays and up to three online sessions.
To find out more about the Jury or to express an interest in joining please fill in the form below:
The jury will be chosen to make sure that it reflects the diversity of Calderdale and jury members will receive vouchers in exchange for their time and commitment.
If you are interested in climate change, decarbonisation or retrofit but may not be able to commit to the Citizen’s Jury please get in touch using the form above as there will be other opportunities to get involved and give your views.
This exciting project supports the borough’s Climate Action Plan, focusing on creating warm and resilient buildings as part of the strategy to meet the net zero target by 2038.
To reach this target at least 69,000 local properties need to be brought up to EPC rating C or above through measures such as installing insulation, heat pumps and solar panels, which is known as ‘Retrofit’.
Essentially, you’re making changes to your home to increase its energy efficiency, whilst at the same time improving its comfort. Not only can retrofitting help bring down the cost of your energy bills and create a more comfortable place to live, but it also plays a vital part in tackling the climate emergency.