Effects of PAS 2035 on the Management of Domestic Retrofit Projects

Peter Oluwaseyi Oladotun

Abstract: The challenges identified with global warming leading to climate change has made the United Kingdom to aim for the net-zero car-bon emissions target by 2050. To achieve this goal, one important sector that required attention is the residential sector which has witnessed challenges such as the existing stock of old buildings, energy performance gap, socio-economic issue, piecemeal approach to homes improvement, funding issue, difficulties in project delivery and timeline. Retrofitting, which is about improvement of build-ings has not been able to effectively solve these issues under PAS 2030, this then led to creation of PAS 2035, which is a standard to ensure the energy efficient buildings, aimed to achieve the net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050. Since the introduction of PAS 2035, there has not been research to assess its ongoing impact on management of retrofit projects and led to the need for this re-search. With the adoption of quantitative method that utilised an inductive approach, this study was carried out with the use of online survey that consisted of 13 closed-ended questions with 6 open-ended questions incorporated. 81 respondents completed the ques-tionnaire, and the data was analysed using SPSS and NVivo to ensure the validity and reliability of the findings. The integrated find-ings revealed that PAS 2035 is currently having its planned effects on areas such as the reduction of carbon emissions, alignment with handling climate change, and the impact on energy efficiency of buildings. In contrast, it was shown that there is a problem with the funding process, a delay in the timeframe for retrofit projects, limited stakeholder participation, and insufficient public awareness. Project management strategies should be developed for a better funding process, project timelines optimisation, and for enhancement of project delivery.

Keywords: PAS 2035, Domestic retrofit, Net-zero carbon, Project management, Energy efficiency