At the 2025 Accelerate to Zero Awards, the Technology Impact Award was presented to Changeworks and Loreburn Housing Association for their retrofit planning tool.  

Developed in collaboration with Loreburn Housing Association, the retrofit planning tool uses archetype categorisation and an interactive Power BI map to simplify and accelerate retrofit strategies. The tool visually maps housing stock by archetype and key constraints, enabling efficient planning, targeted interventions, and scalable retrofit delivery. Designed to be simple and adaptable, it supports strategic decision-making, achieving Loreburn’s net zero goals, and reducing fuel poverty. 

The judges commended the tool’s potential for sector-wide adoption and its powerful contribution to decarbonising the built environment and supporting the just transition. 

Driving innovation in retrofit planning 

Changeworks is a leading organisation dedicated to decarbonising Scotland’s homes and a just transition to net zero. Changeworks delivers services in energy advice, retrofit management, and decarbonisation solutions, alongside independent consultancy. Through partnerships across the UK, the organisation helps accelerate the transformation of Scotland’s homes toward sustainability. 

The project with Loreburn Housing Association builds on this by creating a retrofit planning solution that simplifies data to enable housing associations and local authorities to plan upgrades more efficiently and affordably. 

Loreburn Housing Association is committed to reaching net zero and improving quality of living for their tenants. It partnered with Changeworks to assess and accelerate retrofit opportunities across their housing stock. Through this process they carried out pilot projects and stock assessments and found that a lack of a unified retrofit strategy posed a barrier to scaling their progress. 

What was the project? 

At the core of this initiative is the development of a practical set of housing archetypes. Archetypes are groupings of properties with shared characteristics, designed to simplify and standardise retrofit approaches. These archetypes were created through detailed data analysis using Excel and GIS tools and were then integrated into an interactive Power BI dashboard, which offered an accessible and powerful visual tool for strategic planning. 

The tool allows users to: 

• View the geographical distribution of different archetypes. 
• Apply filters to assess properties based on different criteria. 
• Plan retrofit works in a more targeted and efficient way. 
• Visually check and validate property data for accuracy and relevance. 

Most importantly, the dashboard strikes a balance between technical depth and usability so that it can be easily handed over to Loreburn’s team and enable them to continue driving their retrofit strategy with confidence and clarity. 

Innovation and impact 

The innovation and impact of Changeworks’ retrofit planning tool reaches across several key areas. 

The archetype-led approach transforms how retrofit strategies are designed and implemented. By simplifying the categorisation of housing stock, this method enables quicker, more accurate planning and clearer pathways for action where interventions can be more precisely targeted, increasing the likelihood of success and meaningful energy savings across housing portfolios. 

A standardised retrofit approach also means that costs can be more easily predicted and controlled. This approach could be adopted across any housing association, local authority, or regional initiative. And, since the tool has been designed for accessibility, it can be used without substantial investment or specialist expertise, making advanced retrofit planning more widely available across the sector. 

By using a Power BI dashboard, the tool is adaptable, providing instant visual insights that support everything from procurement decisions to long-term sustainability planning. Its user-friendly design allows stakeholders to interact with and build upon the data over time, layering in new information and adapting the tool to meet evolving standards and strategic goals. This flexibility ensures the solution remains relevant and useful as the policy and regulatory landscape shifts. 

A tool for a just transition 

What sets this tool apart is its alignment with a just transition - ensuring that the shift to net zero is inclusive, fair, and benefits those most in need. By integrating levels of fuel poverty risk and property conditions into the archetype model, the tool ensures that retrofit investments target not just carbon reduction, but also tenant wellbeing and long-term affordability. 

This approach supports public, private, and third sector stakeholders who need to juggle financial pressures, policy requirements, and community needs.  

By turning complex datasets into simple, actionable insights, Changeworks and Loreburn have created a model that could be adopted by and benefit the wider sector - useful for housing providers, local authorities, and sustainability professionals. More importantly, it is a practical step forward in making retrofit at scale possible and achievable. 

The judges at the Accelerate to Zero Awards recognised this potential, awarding Changeworks the 2025 Technology Impact Award. Find out more here.