Experts in retrofit and new build low energy housing using Passive House methodology and natural low embodied carbon materials.
Passive House Consultants
Deep Retrofit
Older, Heritage & Historic homes
Whole House Deep Retrofit Assessments
Thermal Imaging survey
Building regs new build
Heat loss up an unused chimney
Passive House
We can help with Retrofitting your home or advise on Design of new builds using Passive House principals to improve comfort and indoor air quality as well as reduce bills. We have extensive experience assessing homes suitability for retrofit including older and historic homes that require a sympathetic and risk based approach.
We initially chatted with Alex during the design part of our barn conversion. Through his experience and PHPP modelling we were able to make some very effective changes to our design and materials. This was particularly helpful by prioritising where to focus our budget and time for best improvements on efficiency. With the help of the report he produced, we were able to compare a number of options for insulation and airtightness to help make decisions throughout the build. Certain modelling such as overheating had been overlooked in design and was quickly designed out after talking issues through with Alex.
Would highly recommend that anyone renovating or building look at doing something similar as the report has easily paid for itself in both materials and future bills.
Would highly recommend that anyone renovating or building look at doing something similar as the report has easily paid for itself in both materials and future bills.
Response from the owner 08:52 06 Oct 25
Thanks for the review. The build seems to be coming on really well. 
Alex has been extremely helpful with the renovation and extension of our 1950s property. He undertook an initial retrofit survey (including thermal imaging and airtightness test) and provided initial advice. This was followed by PHPP modelling and recommendations on specific retrofit standards and targets. Following this he has supported us in working with our architects and builders on the detailed specification and implementation of various appropriate measures and approaches to meet those targets. I have been particularly impressed by his communication, as well as his pragmatism and flexibility in working successful outcomes with our team as the project progresses.
Our 1970’s built house was freezing in winter, a supposed EPC rating of ‘C’ just not adding up with what we were experiencing. We were already planning an extension and some other improvements. There was some obvious stuff we knew to fix (like insulating between the ground floor joists) but we’d researched enough to know that we needed to think much more broadly than this, and decided to get a retrofit assessment done to try to identify exactly what was going on and understand our options. I was very wary of the formulaic retrofit assessments you can get done so really did my research and it was very clear from our first conversation that Alex was absolutely the expert that we were looking for.
Alex spent 4 or 5 hours with us during the assessment, looking in to our cavity walls, underneath the floor, assessing the pointing on a problematic gable end wall, spotting and talking through numerous things we would never have known to look at or think about. It was a brilliant education. The report and call that followed were comprehensive, insightful and have allowed us to make informed decisions and adjust the specification of the work to our house. Importantly, he’s helped us take a whole house approach - he impressed upon us the importance of ensuring adequate ventilation to ensure air quality and we are now including decentralised mechanical extraction ventilation as a result, alongside the steps we are taking to improve insulation and airtightness. In short, he is an expert you listen to. We have learned loads and are confident the end result is going to be so much better for this - lots of details we’ll never see once the finishes are done but we will experience every day by having a comfortable, healthy home.
Our build started two weeks ago and we also engaged Alex to come and spend a couple of hours with our builder to talk through the details of some of the retrofit measures we are including. Our builder isn’t a retrofit expert, but he is interested to learn and cares about doing a great job, with excellent attention to detail. This was another small investment that was totally worth it.
We are so glad we found Alex. The time and the investment has been 100% worth it and we would recommend him highly to anyone else interested in retrofit for their own home.
Alex spent 4 or 5 hours with us during the assessment, looking in to our cavity walls, underneath the floor, assessing the pointing on a problematic gable end wall, spotting and talking through numerous things we would never have known to look at or think about. It was a brilliant education. The report and call that followed were comprehensive, insightful and have allowed us to make informed decisions and adjust the specification of the work to our house. Importantly, he’s helped us take a whole house approach - he impressed upon us the importance of ensuring adequate ventilation to ensure air quality and we are now including decentralised mechanical extraction ventilation as a result, alongside the steps we are taking to improve insulation and airtightness. In short, he is an expert you listen to. We have learned loads and are confident the end result is going to be so much better for this - lots of details we’ll never see once the finishes are done but we will experience every day by having a comfortable, healthy home.
Our build started two weeks ago and we also engaged Alex to come and spend a couple of hours with our builder to talk through the details of some of the retrofit measures we are including. Our builder isn’t a retrofit expert, but he is interested to learn and cares about doing a great job, with excellent attention to detail. This was another small investment that was totally worth it.
We are so glad we found Alex. The time and the investment has been 100% worth it and we would recommend him highly to anyone else interested in retrofit for their own home.
Response from the owner 13:10 09 Jun 25
Thanks for taking the time for a thorough review. With the build team you have on site I'm sure the result will be great.
We asked Alex to carry out a retrofit assessment after receiving conflicting advice from various tradesmen about how to address the cold and condensation issues in our property. He was extremely knowledgeable and flexible around our needs, taking the time to understand our situation fully. His guidance was incredibly helpful and has likely saved us several thousands of pounds in unnecessary work. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him.
Response from the owner 13:22 09 Jun 25
Thanks for your review. I hope you have a clearer plan of where to spend your budget.
We have been really pleased with Alex's prompt and professional advice regarding refurbishment works to improve thermal insulation in our barn conversion. Would highly recommend.
Excellent thermal imaging survey and assessment of the requirements for improving the effectiveness of the house extension and rebuild to achieve a comfortably warm house with ground source heat pump fed from twin boreholes, triple glazing, underfloor heating and MVHR system. To be highly recommended.
We have a part Victorian / part Edwardian house with single glazing and limited insulation, which we are hoping to retrofit with a heat pump and additional insulation. However we were concerned that given the age of the house this needed to be done sensitively and with the right materials to avoid causing damp issues.
We found Alex through a recommendation. We found him to be exceptionally knowledgable about the way buildings work, energy efficiency measures, ventilation, etc - and he is also very practical in his approach and the advice he gives.
He carried out a detailed survey of the property - this included a thermal image survey; taking off socket covers and looking inside the walls to work out if they had cavities and/or existing insulation; looking under the floors; and testing the existing ventilation. He listened to our priorities and what we would like to acheive, and produced a 67 page report (with additional reports for outbuildings). The report set out various options for insulation, including a risk assessment for each one, weighing the beneficial impact against the heritage impact and potential to increase the risk of damp. His report also identifies maintenance issues, and quick wins for energy efficiency.
We have since also instructed Alex to look into a moisture issue in a commercial building we manage, and again found his advice very useful.
All in all it was a pleasure to deal with Alex and we would recommend him to anyone looking to carry out a retrofit project - we believe it is money well spent to make sure we are making the right choices for our period property.
We found Alex through a recommendation. We found him to be exceptionally knowledgable about the way buildings work, energy efficiency measures, ventilation, etc - and he is also very practical in his approach and the advice he gives.
He carried out a detailed survey of the property - this included a thermal image survey; taking off socket covers and looking inside the walls to work out if they had cavities and/or existing insulation; looking under the floors; and testing the existing ventilation. He listened to our priorities and what we would like to acheive, and produced a 67 page report (with additional reports for outbuildings). The report set out various options for insulation, including a risk assessment for each one, weighing the beneficial impact against the heritage impact and potential to increase the risk of damp. His report also identifies maintenance issues, and quick wins for energy efficiency.
We have since also instructed Alex to look into a moisture issue in a commercial building we manage, and again found his advice very useful.
All in all it was a pleasure to deal with Alex and we would recommend him to anyone looking to carry out a retrofit project - we believe it is money well spent to make sure we are making the right choices for our period property.
Very good experience. Alex came to do the survey and thermal imaging. Lots of discussion whilst he was here. The report was good, and pointed out at least two areas which need attention and which I had not considered at all. Thermal imaging particularly useful. Very useful zoom meeting followed. The process has allowed me to set priorities for the works to improve the thermal efficiency of my bungalow (with loft room added). I’m very pleased with Alex’s advice, and impressed by his knowledge.
We have a 35 year old converted barn in Hampshire. We have owned it since new and we love it. Our concerns are (a) the insulation is less good than it should be and as a consequence parts of the house are often too hot in the summer months and (b) it has oil fired heating which in due course will have to be changed to an air sourced heat pump, or equivalent.
We wanted professional advice as to our options as to the extent to which we should try manage our concerns in both the short and longer term. We were referred to Alex Clifford on account of his experience in working on retrofit projects, as well as his own Passive House. In response to our request, he provided us with a responsive quotation and two references. Both referees were exceedingly positive about Alex and his work.
Alex completed his review of our property in a 5-6 hour visit, during which he debated and discussed practical issues with us, took measurements, photographs and thermal images. Within ten days he sent us a 34 page report with another 34 pages of pictures and thermal images to back up his findings.
Given the complexity of our building, we believe that it was money well spent to get Alex's input in this way. It has given us a clear understanding of the short term work that we need to do to improve what we have got already and the various options available to us to raise the sustainability of the building much more significantly. We feel more qualified now to make the decisions as to where we should focus our investment funds in the next few years.
It was a pleasure to work with Alex and we would not hesitate to call on him should our programme require more professional input regarding our retrofit plans.
We wanted professional advice as to our options as to the extent to which we should try manage our concerns in both the short and longer term. We were referred to Alex Clifford on account of his experience in working on retrofit projects, as well as his own Passive House. In response to our request, he provided us with a responsive quotation and two references. Both referees were exceedingly positive about Alex and his work.
Alex completed his review of our property in a 5-6 hour visit, during which he debated and discussed practical issues with us, took measurements, photographs and thermal images. Within ten days he sent us a 34 page report with another 34 pages of pictures and thermal images to back up his findings.
Given the complexity of our building, we believe that it was money well spent to get Alex's input in this way. It has given us a clear understanding of the short term work that we need to do to improve what we have got already and the various options available to us to raise the sustainability of the building much more significantly. We feel more qualified now to make the decisions as to where we should focus our investment funds in the next few years.
It was a pleasure to work with Alex and we would not hesitate to call on him should our programme require more professional input regarding our retrofit plans.
Response from the owner 16:52 20 Dec 24
Thanks very much for your detailed review, I am pleased I could be of help. I do enjoy the challenge of working on complex projects.
With climate change and energy costs of increasing concern, it felt a little overwhelming to know where to start to improve matters. I’m so pleased that I called Alex. He was punctual,, thorough and extremely knowledgeable. He showed me where my house was losing heat and retaining moisture (which could lead to damp problems in the future). He advised a number of solutions of ranging price points including replacing extractor fans, fitting pipe insulation to pipe work in my loft, a new hot water cylinder jacket and thicker loft insulation. Money extremely well spent.
