Retrofit performance verification for housing using in-home IoT monitoring
Proving that home energy retrofits actually work, with in-home sensing.
The Challenge
Billions are being invested in net-zero home improvements — insulation, heat pumps, glazing, ventilation — yet the actual in-home performance of retrofits frequently falls short of modelled predictions (the well-known “performance gap”). Installers, homeowners and funders have little objective evidence of whether a given improvement delivered the promised energy and comfort benefits, which undermines confidence and slows retrofit uptake.
The Solution
NquiringMinds worked with NetZero Solutions to monitor parameters within a home — using in-home environmental IoT sensors — to determine the effectiveness of net-zero improvements. NQM brought its agritech- and industrial-proven sensing and data-analytics stack to the domestic retrofit setting: capturing environmental conditions before and after improvement and analysing the data to evidence real performance.
Outcomes
The short six-month project delivered the retrofit performance-analysis approach for NetZero Solutions, giving retrofit providers a data-backed way to verify improvement effectiveness. Led for NQM by Nick Allott and Hannah Dalton.
TODO: record specific findings and deliverables from the in-home monitoring analysis (not captured in the Projects Summary).
Features
In-home environmental monitoring (IoT sensors) of parameters relevant to retrofit performance.
Before/after analysis to determine the real effectiveness of net-zero improvements.
Evidence base for retrofit providers to demonstrate outcomes to customers and funders.
Applies NQM's proven remote-sensing and analytics stack (agritech/industrial) to the domestic retrofit performance gap.
Benefits
Objective verification of retrofit effectiveness for providers and households (design intent; formal outcomes not captured).
Supports trust and uptake in the retrofit market by closing the performance-gap evidence hole (projected).
