WHOLE-HOUSE RETROFIT
Start with the fabric.
Understand the whole building.
Fabric improvements often provide the foundation for reducing heat loss and energy demand.
But Whole-House Retrofit means understanding what those changes do to ventilation, moisture, heating, airtightness and the way people use the building.
IRS combines deep building-envelope experience with specialist Principal Contractor delivery to turn retrofit strategies into controlled construction programmes across occupied homes.
Whole-house doesn't mean doing everything. It means understanding how everything works together.
Adding insulation changes heat loss. Replacing windows can change ventilation and airtightness. Improving a roof affects junctions with the walls. Reducing uncontrolled air movement changes the way moisture behaves inside the home.
One improvement can influence another.
Improve one thing without creating a problem somewhere else.
Start with the building you have, not the building you wish you had.
Existing homes come with history: different construction types, previous improvements, repairs, damp, ventilation issues, thermal bridges and alterations made over time.
The retrofit strategy needs to respond to the actual building, its condition, construction and performance, rather than simply applying a standard package of measures.
IRS brings practical building-envelope and construction expertise into that process, helping project teams understand what the proposed solution will mean when it reaches site.
Different homes need different combinations.
The important thing isn’t how many measures are installed. It’s whether they work together once they’re installed.
External Wall Insulation
Roof and loft insulation
Floor insulation where appropriate
Windows and doors
Ventilation
Roofing and associated envelope works
Repairs and enabling works
A warmer building still needs to breathe.
Improving the thermal performance and airtightness of an existing home changes the relationship between heat, air and moisture.
Insulation, ventilation, moisture and thermal bridging therefore need to be considered together. IRS works with the appropriate designers and specialists to translate the retrofit strategy into practical construction details and make sure those details are understood on site.
Better thermal performance shouldn’t come at the expense of a healthy home.
One building. Multiple measures. One coordinated delivery plan.
Whole-House Retrofit can bring different systems, trades and specialists into the same home. The order of the work matters.
As specialist Principal Contractor, IRS coordinates buildability, interfaces, materials, sequencing, inspections, programme and resident access around the agreed retrofit strategy.
Across larger programmes, that sequence has to work home by home, block by block and across the wider programme.
Performance has to be designed, delivered and evidenced.
Whole-House Retrofit depends on how fabric, ventilation, heating and other measures work together. Delivery should align with the relevant retrofit standards, approved designs and evidence requirements.
Where applicable, IRS delivers within PAS 2035 processes and uses accredited installers, system approvals and quality assurance to support long-term performance.
Quality checks and evidence are built into delivery so critical details can be inspected while they remain visible and relevant installation, product and photographic records are captured as work progresses.
Understand the requirement. Deliver the detail. Evidence the work.
Magdalene, Bingham and The Christians case study →
Scotland Building Standards & Compliance →
For us it's a programme. For someone else, it's their home.
Whole-House Retrofit can require access inside people’s homes. Windows or doors may be replaced. Ventilation systems may be installed. Residents may need to move belongings or change their routine while work takes place.
Resident Liaison communicates what will happen, when access is required and what residents should expect. Individual circumstances matter, particularly where people need additional support.
The work might be standardised. People’s lives aren’t.
Whole-House Retrofit in practice.
Dumbryden, Edinburgh
A fabric upgrade to 140 council and privately owned homes for the City of Edinburgh Council: external wall insulation, roofs, windows, ventilation, fire doors, loft and underfloor insulation, with energy performance assessed before and after the work.
Magdalene Drive, Edinburgh
External wall insulation, roof replacement, new windows and doors, fire protection and an upgraded ventilation system for the City of Edinburgh Council, delivered as one coordinated programme.
Warmworks
Appointed to the Warmworks external wall insulation framework in 2017 and reappointed in 2023, delivering individual home improvements across the length of Scotland, including the islands, from survey and building warrant through to handover.
Bring us in before the design is fixed.
Early involvement gives us the opportunity to challenge buildability, review materials and sequencing, identify delivery risks and understand resident impact while there is still time to do something about them.
SCOTLAND
74 Glencraig Street
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire
ML6 9AS
NORTHERN REGION
Unit 12 Ashburton Park
Trafford Park, Manchester
M17 1EH
SOUTHERN REGION
Unit 3, 362B Spring Road
Southampton
SO19 2PB
Insulated Render Systems (Scotland) Ltd, trading as IRS Construction · Registered in Scotland no. SC441561 · © 2026