Old House to Eco-house: A Guide to Retrofitting Historic Buildings

This two-day course is a condensed, intensive version of the course content covered in our below standalone one-day courses (which will return in 2027). It will focus on:

• the scientific and practical aspects of insulating solid walls, floors, and roofs in older buildings.
• how renewable energy technologies can be incorporated into older properties.
• upgrading and repairing historic window assemblies while preserving character and ensuring energy efficiency

Nationally-recognised experts in retrofit and conservation will bring real life case studies to illustrate a practical approach to decision making.  

Wednesday 18 November 2026*

Thursday 19 November 2026*

*Please note, this course schedule may be subject to change. 

Speaker biographies

Nicholas Heath of NDM Heath Ltd

Nicholas is Founding Director of NDM Heath Ltd., an independent sustainable building consultancy specialising in in the sustainable, low-energy refurbishment of older buildings. It provides services across the UK for both new-build and existing stock, and are acknowledged experts in deep retrofit solutions for traditional & historic buildings.

NDM Heath has provided energy and sustainability expertise for numerous small and large traditional and historic building redevelopments across England, Wales & Scotland, from individual dwellings to large, high-profile buildings including the British Museum, Blenheim Palace, Floors Castle and several Oxbridge colleges. Other clients include UNESCO, Historic England, Historic Environment Scotland, SPAB, IHBC, RIAS, RIBA and the UK Centre for Moisture in Buildings (UKCMB), as well as numerous architect firms, local authorities and private clients.

Nicholas is a Certified Passivhaus Consultant and Retrofit Coordinator. He has authored numerous best-practice technical retrofit guides, research papers, planning guidance and design and installation guidance for local authorities; advised on national research into traditional building retrofit; assessed Government-funded retrofit project applications; sits on Government-level and technical working groups for sustainable refurbishment; and teaches regularly, from academic postgraduate degrees to professional, accredited training courses for designers, installers, site inspectors and planning teams. 

Nicholas is also Technical Director of the Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance (STBA), supporter of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC), Fellow of the former Centre of Refurbishment Excellence (CoRE), member of the Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB), Steering Group member of the Green Register, member of the Westminster Retrofit Taskforce and visiting lecturer on MA degree courses for the University of York and University College London (UCL).

Bob Prewett, BSc and MArch, ARB and RIBA, of Prewett Bizley Architects

Bob leads the London office of Prewett Bizley Architects where he has been working on low energy retrofit for the last 20-years. He has been an active voice in the UK debate about how to decarbonise our building stock and in 2010 coined the term ‘Retrofit Coordinator’, a role which was developed by the Retrofit Academy for whom he acted as a tutor, and which now underpins the BSi PAS 2035. 

More recently he has helped create a number of guides for  Bristolians Guide to Solid Wall Insulation and the London Councils’ London Retrofit Action Plan. In 2024 he has collaborated on a document aimed at enabling residents of a West London Conservation Area to upgrade their homes. This year he created and delivered an RIBA training module on Retrofitting Historic Homes, and is also completing a book for homeowners called ‘Your Home Retrofit’ due to be published early 2026. 

Chris Worboys, Sustainability Consultant at Etude

Chris is a Sustainability Consultant and Passivhaus Certifier with experience in both public and private sector roles. He has worked with Local Authorities to help to develop some of the UK's first net zero policies for new homes, and decarbonisation strategies for the existing building stock. His technical skills include Passivhaus energy modelling, low energy design, low carbon heating, optimisation of renewable energy systems, and energy policy.

Dan McNaughton, BEng(Hons) MSc CEng FCIBSE MSoPHE, Senior Building Services Engineer at Historic England

Dan has worked in the heritage sector for many years and he has extensive experience in the design of heating systems. He has a passion for engineering and historic buildings and enjoys working with all disciplines to achieve bespoke engineering solutions which are sympathetic to the historic character of older buildings.  Dan has researched the viability of heat pumps in older buildings and investigated opportunities to incorporate low and zero carbon heating technologies into churches which have oil fired heating.

Rod Davies of Energy Carbon Ltd 

Rod is CEO and Founder of technology company Energy Carbon, sepcialising in reducing embodied carbon, energy consumption and on-site waste whilst improving occupant and building health. Energy Carbons products span from low energy heating through to ventilation, control systems and hot water.

The business currently has five new research projects underway, working alongside preeminent universities.  The products have been used in many types of historic buildings such as churches, coast guard cottages and, even what is thought to be, England’s first cottage hospital dating back as far as 1446.

Rod speaks at various events and takes part on panel discussions including trade shows, conferences and educational groups whilst continuing to develop innovations and collaborations within the sector.

Marianne Suhr, MRICS, SPAB Lethaby Scholar, of The Old House Consultancy

Marianne is a Chartered Building Surveyor, writer and broadcaster specialising in the repair and retrofit of historic buildings. She has repaired and adapted four houses of her own, and used the experience gained to set up The Old House Consultancy. Her practice focuses on domestic projects, sensitively repairing and adapting houses in the Oxfordshire area and focusing on timber frames, lime mortars and plasters, and energy efficiency.

 Marianne lectures extensively on building repair and runs courses for builders, homeowners and professionals.  She is a senior lecturer at the Cultural Heritage Institute where she teaches practical building conservation on their MSc course. She is the co-founder of the Building Conservation Summer School which is now in its 19th year.  She was co-author of the ‘Old House Handbook’ and ‘Old House Eco Handbook’. She is joint convenor of the Historic Windows Forum, and in the process of establishing The Old Window Consultancy, which provides practical advice on balancing conservation with retrofit.