The Welsh School of Architecture (WSA) is seeking to appoint a highly motivated Research Associate.
The successful applicant will be part of the Centre for a Low Carbon Built Environment, based at the WSA working with colleagues with long term experience of the different stages of retrofitting.
The successful candidate will investigate, through engagement with residents and relevant stakeholders in the sector, what changes are needed to increase the successful uptake of whole energy system retrofitting in owner-occupied housing. This will involve the following activities:
1. Carry out a sprint literature review of programmes, funding and finance schemes targeted at owner occupiers and identify and evaluate programmes where other financial incentives such as insurance or mortgages reductions have been applied.
2. Carry out semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the grant/housing/financial sector to identify key issues and benefits around owner occupier retrofit and how these could be overcome.
3. Develop, carry out, analyse and present outcomes of semi-structured interviews with residents to a sample of the owner occupier residents in Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council who have qualified to have energy saving measures installed in their homes (approx. 20-30 households). The interviews will seek to explore residentsā experiences, knowledge and wisdom as well as valued aspects of their home and the retrofit process to understand where gaps lie and what needs to change to encourage others to invest personal finance.
4. Collate and finalise a report summarising outcomes from semi-structured interviews to provide an overview of the opportunities and challenges around owner occupier whole energy house retrofits and what needs to happen, and by who, to stimulate further uptake more widely.
