Operating a building at high performance has moved from a nice-to-have to a financial and reputational necessity. Energy costs, grid reliability, green lending criteria and corporate net-zero commitments all push owners to understand exactly where energy goes and how far emissions can fall. Yet many retrofit programmes stall because the baseline is uncertain, the savings are overstated or the measures are not sequenced with the plant that must be replaced.

This advanced programme builds the technical depth to avoid those failures. Participants start by establishing a trustworthy baseline from utility data, sub-metering and audit findings, then use simulation to test envelope, ventilation, cooling and lighting options in a calibrated model. They go on to evaluate electrification with heat pumps, thermal storage, demand flexibility and renewable generation, and to compare operational carbon with the embodied carbon of materials and equipment. Later sessions cover investment appraisal, performance-based contracting, commissioning and the verification of results after works are complete.

The learning approach is applied. Participants analyse realistic building datasets, interpret simulation outputs and debate retrofit packages in teams. By the end each person has a worked decarbonisation roadmap, a measurement and verification outline and a list of next steps for a building or portfolio they manage.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Establish and normalise an energy baseline from metered data and audit findings.
• Build and calibrate a dynamic simulation model of a building.
• Evaluate passive design, envelope upgrades and efficient HVAC and lighting options.
• Assess electrification, heat pump and on-site renewable solutions for a given building.
• Estimate operational and embodied carbon and compare retrofit scenarios.
• Prepare investment cases and performance-contracting terms for retrofit projects.
• Apply IPMVP principles to verify savings after implementation.

The course is aimed at technical and decision-making professionals responsible for how buildings use energy, including:

• Building services, mechanical and electrical engineers
• Architects and BIM managers working on low-energy design
• Energy managers and certified energy auditors
• Facilities and asset managers for hospitals, hotels, offices and campuses
• Sustainability and ESG officers in property companies
• Property developers and real estate investment teams
• Government officials who set building energy codes
• Consultants advising on green building certification

Participants leave with:

• A calibrated approach to baselining and modelling building energy use.
• A ranked retrofit measure list with estimated savings, cost and payback logic.
• A decarbonisation roadmap template covering operational and embodied carbon.
• A measurement and verification plan outline following IPMVP options.
• A financing and contracting checklist for retrofit projects.
• A prioritised action plan for a building or portfolio from their own work.

The course assumes technical familiarity and moves quickly into practice. Expect:

• Instructor demonstrations of simulation set-up and calibration on sample buildings
• Data labs using real-style metered profiles in spreadsheets
• Retrofit option workshops where teams rank measures against cost and carbon
• Case discussions drawn from hospitals, hotels and office towers in warm climates
• Individual roadmap drafting with facilitator feedback

On completing the sessions and the practical roadmap exercise, participants receive a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.