What is Kamma Retrofit Explorer
We’ve partnered with Kamma to burst the bubble of misinformation and bring landlords real, data-qualified insights into the true cost of making energy efficiency upgrades to their properties.
Kamma’s industry-leading database and interactive tool, the Retrofit Explorer, draws on the UK’s energy performance certificate (EPC) databases, including Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as cutting-edge modelling to offer real, actionable insights, alongside an estimate of the costs.
The Kamma Retrofit Explorer has been optimised for cost, and demonstrates that energy efficiency improvement plans can come in at as much as 67% less than the quotes provided by other tools on the market. It also highlights the value gains, from annual energy bill savings to the increase in property value.
How to use it
The platform is intuitive, requiring just a property postcode and a general knowledge of the characteristics of the property, as well as improvements undertaken to date.
Insert the property’s postcode into the system and select the address from the drop-down menu. This brings up general information, sourced through the property’s most recent EPC. If no EPC is available, Kamma’s predictive modelling technology allows the Explorer to form a highly accurate estimate, based on property characteristics.
The next step is to adjust the listed characteristics as necessary, confirming their accuracy. This could mean changing the main heating system, highlighting the absence of double glazing, or confirming the presence of external wall insulation on solid brick walls.
Following this, it’s time to highlight any upgrades undertaken. Have smart thermostats been installed, for example, or has an insulation jacket been fitted to the hot water cylinder? These upgrades are easily filtered by category.
With these set, the platform invites users to set their goals. These are either a new, target EPC band (for example, reaching band B from band D) or a budget limitation, which is easily set on a sliding scale.
Once the goal is set, the Kamma Retrofit Explorer runs through 200,000 possible retrofit variations to find the best solution for the property. The package generated outlines the cost, offering a detailed insight into the savings in the cost of energy bills, the impact in tonnes of C02 per year, and the potential increase in the value of an asset.
At the bottom of the page, dropdown menus allow users to explore the alternative means to reach the goal, the package of measures recommended and additional measures.
Understanding the measures
Internal wall insulation, low energy lighting, smart thermostats and draughtproofing are just a few of the less costly measures the Retrofit Explorer may recommend. Clicking the ‘i’ icon beside the measure offers further contextual information. Users can experiment with the projected impact of different measures by deleting them from the list. Doing so automatically adjusts the package to reflect the impact if these measures are removed. Additional measures can be added from the drop-down menu below; again, the package automatically updates to reflect the additional cost – and potential savings – of taking these further steps.
The Retrofit Explorer makes it easy to save the package, as well as offering a database of local, TrustMark-endorsed installers, both locally and nationally, who can be contacted for a quote on the works.
The popular perception, that energy improvement measures are costly, low-priority or challenging to undertake, itself needs to be challenged. In fact, improving a property’s energy efficiency is easier, cheaper and more rewarding than ever. As UK industry takes steps to decarbonise, landlords who recognise the need for real estate to follow suit stand to benefit. Learn more about Octopus Real Estate’s Green Lending here, or try the Retrofit Explorer and find out just how rewarding energy efficiency upgrades can be.
