Our work in retrofit and green skills
Working with partners to improve energy-efficiency in community buildings, upskilling mentors and young people in green skills in the process
We are developing a national offer that combines community retrofit with green skills training to support community spaces and young people.
What is retrofit? In our context, retrofit refers to improving the energy-efficiency of buildings through measures such as insulation, cladding, draughtproofing, LED lighting and other improvement works.
What are green skills? In our context, green skills are those that promote sustainability. Typically for VIY this means green skills in construction, particularly retrofit, but also skills that promote biodiversity or greener outdoor spaces.
Why retrofit and green skills for VIY?
More retrofit is needed globally, with buildings accounting for over a third of global energy-related emissions. 37% of global energy-related emissions come from buildings. 34% of British homes are cold and damp. And 56% of community buildings don’t meet the standard EPC ‘C’ rating – they are energy-inefficient. Community buildings are often overlooked when it comes to Net Zero conversations and planning. This is where VIY comes in.
At the same time, there is an urgent need to grow a skilled, green construction workforce. We operate at the intersection of these issues – renovating community spaces while training young people in sustainable and energy efficient construction. The UK needs 200,000 more workers to enter the green workforce to help us meet just some of these demands.
This work will become a cornerstone of our three-year strategy to 2028, positioning us as the go-to nationwide enabler of community retrofit projects alongside on-the-job retrofit training for young people.
Working in partnership on retrofit works
Working with York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority through the Carbon Negative Challenge Fund to deliver 8 Community Retrofit Demonstrator projects across 2026 and 2027. See our first project at Betton Farm.
Working with Ørsted through 3 of their Community Fund programmes, linked to their renewable energy developments – see our first programme of work through Hornsea 3 in Great Yarmouth
Developing our work, focused on retrofit and green skills, in Bristol through Bristol City Leap
Insulating a sports hall to enable year-round usage here at Blackwell Adventure, Bromsgrove
Installing LED lighting to replace 60s era fittings for a food bank here in Nottingham
For us, it’s not just an aesthetic upgrade, but a strategic leap forward that will take us to new heights and benefit the organization in several ways. Beyond the savings, insulation guarantees a more comfortable environment for our users. Whether it’s a high-intensity sports game or a community gathering, an insulated hall ensures that the indoor climate is always welcoming, encouraging more people to use and hire our facility year-round.
John Squire, CEO, Blackwell Adventure, Bromsgrove
Delivering Green Skills Accreditations
We work with a whole different range of learners on our environmental and green skills qualifications. Those achieving our Level 1 NOCN units are generally working at a higher level than our typical NEET cohort of learners (often on Level 1 courses in construction) – with these units providing additional value as something they don’t currently cover at college. Our City & Guilds Environmental Awareness unit is open to all learners.
Units we offer:
NOCN Green Skills Level 1 Award – Introducing Energy Efficiency Units – Environmental Awareness and Sustainability in Construction
NOCN Level 1 Award in Energy Efficiency and Sustainability – Improving Energy Efficiency
City & Guilds Entry Level Environmental Awareness
“The retrofit qualifications are a brilliant addition to our students CVs when looking for employment in
Kelly Hammond, Work Placement Co-ordinator, Vision West Nottinghamshire College
construction, where they’ve all been able to take away additional knowledge in sustainability and environmental factors in the sector, experience they don’t gain in college.“
Environmental Awareness
We’re supporting the engagement of young people in the natural environment, including the delivery of compulsory environmental education in secondary schools through the Entry Level 3 City & Guilds Environmental Awareness accreditation we deliver on our projects. Here’s some examples:
Developing outdoor green education spaces, like here at The Flower Pod, Nottingham
Neurodivergent learners flourishing in the VIY environment for Alternative Education – see a quote below from City College Norwich
“We had an amazing time taking part in VIY and every single one of our students got loads out of the experience. They were able to challenge themselves and learn new skills that have helped to grow their confidence and employability, on top of this all students gained an accreditation which will look great on their CVs. All the VIY staff we worked with were exceptional, your mentors were especially amazing with our young people and were able to expertly adapt their approach to the additional needs of our students.”
Alex Harvey Sporle, Employment Job Coach, Phoenix Purple Inclusive Learning team at City College Norwich, whose students achieved their the Entry Level City & Guilds Environmental Awareness accreditation at Marlpit Community Centre, Norwich
Creating & improving access to green and blue spaces in nature
Around 25% of our projects involve working in a green or ‘blue’ space – helping to create spaces for local people and communities to connect with nature, reaping the health & wellbeing benefits this brings. We do things like:
Build wellbeing gardens for use by many different community groups, like here at a hospital in Surrey
Create spaces/storage to enable water sports to treat self-prescribing patients in the community
Support volunteering opportunities for young people and adults in the community, to boost physical/mental health & wellbeing – see this story of Jack here who hadn’t attended school for 6 months
Our own path to sustainability
This all aligns to our mission and strategy here at VIY to be good for our planet, alongside our positive social impact on youth, community and volunteering. This is an ongoing journey and we’re currently conducting our own carbon audit to see where we can improve our footprint.
At an organisational level, we already consider impacts such as energy and water use, transport, travel and recycling.
We re-use/recycle materials within and between projects, minimising waste materials and disposing of waste responsibly, avoiding unnecessary energy and water usage on each project.
We work with partners including Dulux – using water-based paints only and using Cuprinol wood stain for outdoor projects (which is certified environmentally friendly, particularly for bee pollination – more info here), recycling our used paint cans via their Dulux Decorator Centre Can Recycling service and to making greater use of recycled paint via their Community Re-Paint scheme.
We work with teams local to our project sites to reduce excess travel by car, wherever possible.
