Welcome back to the Accelerate to Zero podcast, where Sara Edmonds and Rob Morrison were joined by Emma Fletcher live from the BE-ST Fest Summit at Paisley Town Hall.

Emma is the Low Carbon Housing Director at Octopus Energy. Her career has centred on leading high impact, high innovation projects in real estate, with a particular focus on housing, energy performance and green energy production. Her practical experience includes starting her career in rural surveying and estate management moving into award-winning housing and regeneration developments.

Welcome back to the Accelerate to Zero podcast, where Sara Edmonds and Rob Morrison were joined by Joanna Yarrow live from the BE-ST Fest Summit at Paisley Town Hall.

Joanna Yarrow was one of the keynotes of the conference and is an internationally acclaimed expert in sustainable living and a highly respected voice in sustainable business. In this episode she shares insight into her personal journey, work, systems thinking, and the power of place in delivering better social outcomes.

In this episode of the podcast, Sara alongside Ellora Coupe and Cara Holmes are discussing how to the drive uptake of retrofit across the UK.

Together they explore how we can move beyond the technical jargon and connect with people on a more emotional level. Retrofitting isn't just about cutting energy bills, but improving the comfort and future-proofing of our homes.

This week Sara welcomes Helene Gosden, Associate Director at Arup, Donal Brown, Director of UK Programs at Ashden Climate Solutions, and Josiah Lockhart, Chief Executive Officer, Changeworks.

From the future of retrofit finance to the importance of aligning stakeholders, this conversation provides a rich insight into how retrofit can transform our homes, improve lives, and tackle climate challenges.

In this episode of Accelerate Zero, co-host Rachel Owens, alongside industry experts Gemma, Rob, and Cara, dives deep into the financial challenges and innovative solutions surrounding the retrofit of our homes and communities.

With retrofit finance often cited as a major barrier to scaling sustainable practices, this episode explores the existing financial products and the need for better coordination.

Tune in to learn how we can make our homes warmer, healthier, and more energy-efficient while also tackling the broader systemic challenges.

In this episode of the Accelerate to Zero podcast, we dive into the topic of retrofit skills with Douglas Morrison, Deputy CEO of Built Environment - Smarter Transformation (BEST), and Pippa Palmer, Founder of Polln and Co-chair of the National Retrofit Hub's Working Group 3.

Together, they explore the challenges and opportunities in preparing the workforce for the massive task of retrofitting the UK’s built environment to meet net-zero targets.

Our collaboration with the National Retrofit Hub continues and this week Rachel Owens is joined by Kaye Keenen, BE-ST and Megan Adlen, Travis Perkins.

In this episode, we chat about supply chain products and solutions.

The Accelerate to Zero podcast is back with a new series hosted in collaboration with the National Retrofit Hub.

In the first episode, Caitriona Jordan (BE-ST) & Rachael Owens (NRH) discuss what it looks like when you put citizens at the heart of data decision-making in retrofit with Lizzy Westmacott, ECD Architects and Louis Daillencourt, Novoville.

In the final episode of this season of the Accelerate to Zero podcast on equality, diversity and inclusion, Heads of Stakeholder Engagement, Kirsty Duncan and Danielle Miller, speak to BE-ST's new board chair Nicola Barclay, about her career, challenges she's faced, and her perspective on diversity, leadership and the changing landscape of the built environment.

In Scotland, 10.5% of workers within the construction sector are disabled. Today we are joined by Martin Griffin, Principal Geotechnical Engineer at GHD and award winning ED&I champion and advocate who leads a national neurodiversity network.

Martin is neurodivergent, autistic, dyslexic, dyspraxic and visually impaired.

Martin's recommended reading: