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Sustainable Renovation Guide

We commissioned this work in association with SEDA (Scottish Ecological Design Association) and HES (Historic Environment Scotland) in 2018, and it was then created by Chris Morgan, an architect and a Director at John Gilbert Architects.

The Sustainable Renovation Guide describes ten ways in which those involved in the retrofit and renovation of Scotland’s homes can improve upon current practice, achieving better energy performance as well as gaining wider sustainability benefits.

The guide includes detailed information and drawings of exactly how parts of a building can be upgraded along with a commentary on practical issues to look out for.

With the Scottish Government directing large amounts of money into the retrofit sector in an effort to combat climate change and fuel poverty, The Pebble Trust seized the opportunity to help ensure that this effort is as effective and sustainable as possible by commissioning this timely and insightful guide.

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Buy the Guide

The price quoted includes UK post and packing. Please contact us for postage outside UK. Payment processing is handled by PayPal – we have no access to card or bank account details.

Buy with Paypal


View our introduction to the
Sustainable Renovation Guide

Who is the Guide aimed at?

Are you involved in the renovation of existing buildings? The Sustainable Renovation Guide is aimed at everybody in the retrofit sector from homeowners interested in upgrading their homes to architects, builders, surveyors as well as those working in government, housing associations and councils.

Who was involved in creating the Guide?

The Sustainable Renovation Guide was commissioned by The Pebble Trust – in association with SEDA (Scottish Ecological Design Association) and HES (Historic Environment Scotland) – and created by Chris Morgan, an architect and a Director at John Gilbert Architects with 30 years’ experience in ecological design and sustainable development.

“When we bought our timber-frame house – a bungalow built in 1980 – we knew that we wanted to make it energy efficient and to look after our investment. We found The Pebble Trust’s Sustainable Renovation Guide a very good primer for our project. The Guide helped us set realistic expectations and to figure out what would be worth the investment compared to the energy we would save over time“
M.K., Newtonmore
Ten ways to improve the energy efficiency of your home

The Guide is about improving energy performance and efficiency – but it differs from conventional guidance by also considering comfort, health, building fabric and people:

  • Seeking a more effective approach to energy efficiency
  • Taking account of the comfort and health of people who live in buildings
  • Avoiding problems which could lead to building fabric decay and deterioration
  • Favouring details based on real, measured performance, rather than modelled predictions
  • Highlighting the need for more co-ordination and inspection, and for better workmanship
  • Integrating considerations of moisture in buildings
  • Proposing a much closer of engagement with people, particularly occupants
  • Acknowledging the different construction principles and materials found in older buildings
  • Placing value on maintenance
  • Suggesting that the ‘significance’ of individual buildings should be integrated into routine retrofit assessment.

The guide discusses these aspects before providing detailed examples of how to apply the ideas in practice.


Historic Environment Scotland Refurbishment case study – thermal upgrade works to a 19th century lodge house.

This Refurbishment Case Study, available to download, describes the repair and upgrade works carried out at Holyrood Park Lodge in Edinburgh, currently a visitor centre for Holyrood Park. The works focussed on improving the thermal performance of the building with appropriate materials that preserved the character and appearance of the listed building and minimised disruption to the remaining original fabric.

Consideration was given to wider issues of sustainability, such as the durability of the measures and their embodied carbon. An important part of the project, in addition to the thermal improvements, was to retain or reinstate some of the traditional finishes and details that had been lost and are often overlooked in conventional refurbishments.

Historic Environment Scotland Refurbishment case study – thermal upgrade works to a 19th century lodge house.

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This Refurbishment Case Study, available to download, describes the repair and upgrade works carried out at Holyrood Park Lodge in Edinburgh, currently a visitor centre for Holyrood Park. The works focussed on improving the thermal performance of the building with appropriate materials that preserved the character and appearance of the listed building and minimised disruption to the remaining original fabric.

Consideration was given to wider issues of sustainability, such as the durability of the measures and their embodied carbon. An important part of the project, in addition to the thermal improvements, was to retain or reinstate some of the traditional finishes and details that had been lost and are often overlooked in conventional refurbishments.

“There is no doubt that this is an incredibility important publication and my highlight of the year. This Design Guide is aimed at everybody in the retrofit sector from Policy Makers and Housing organisations, to Architects, Builders, Surveyors and those simply interested in upgrading their own homes“

Dan Gates

Supporting Policy

Based on the success of the Sustainable Renovation Guide, the Pebble Trust commissioned John Gilbert Architects to produce a policy pamphlet, putting forward ideas for policy, financial and regulatory changes to support the practical improvements proposed in the guide. Find out more.

Download a free copy of the pamplet
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Penny Edwards

Trustee

Penny began her career in nature and woodland conservation, with an employment history spanning the Central Scotland Countryside Trust, Sussex Wildlife Trust, and the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers. Within the environmental field she has considerable experience of business and strategic planning, community engagement, volunteering and project and programme management, all of which were put to good use in her own environmental consultancy.

In her second career Penny established Falkirk Wood, a local timber processing company which provided characterful local hardwood timbers into local markets. This was sold as a going concern in 2008. She now runs Stoneybank Furniture Workshop, a small furniture and upholstery business.

Penny has worked in a voluntary capacity for a wide range of environmental organisations. She is a past Trustee of Transition Black Isle and is a past Chair and current Director of the Culbokie Community Trust which is working to develop a new community hub in the village.

Penny lives on the Black Isle and her spare time is spent in the garden and in the local countryside.

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Martin Sherring

Trustee

Most of Martin’s working life has been as a chartered accountant, including 9 years with Price Waterhouse (now PWC) in London and 12 years as Finance Director of Canvas Holidays. He also worked with Penny Edwards as a partner in Falkirk Wood, and when that was sold he retrained and briefly carried out consultancy work on domestic energy before putting his training to use in the construction of his and Penny’s new Passive House in Culbokie, one of the most northerly in Britain.

Martin is also a trustee of Transition Black Isle and The Highland Good Food Partnership, and a director of Scotland the Bread. He enjoys being outdoors, in the garden or the hills.

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Nicolas Gubbins

Trustee

Nicholas worked in the field for the Nature Conservancy Council for 10 years before joining Scottish Natural Heritage where he focused on policy and project development around the wide area of sustainable development. In 2000, he moved to Highlands and Islands Enterprise where he was Head of Community Regeneration, working on community development programmes and social enterprise initiatives.

He was the founding CEO of the Highlands and Islands Community Energy Company and then Community Energy Scotland which has supported hundreds of community energy projects of all sorts across Scotland. He retired from CES in 2021. Along with being a trustee of the Pebble Trust, Nicholas is a director of HISEZ & helps with the work of Community Energy Malawi.

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Neil Sutherland

Trustee

Neil is the business owner and Managing Director of MAKAR Ltd which delivers services in the built environment sector from design frameworks and master-plans to house design, manufacture and assembly. The company, employing around 25 people, focuses on locally sourced timber construction using progressive off-site techniques and aims to deliver high quality, healthy buildings along with environmental accountability.

Neil engages widely with the policy agenda on the build environment and has formal links with higher education establishments and the construction industry. Based on the family farm just outside Inverness, Neil spends his weekends working with his wife on their organic vegetable farm.

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Jo Cumming

Trustee

Jo has a background in project management through her professional career as an occupational psychologist. She moved from the Central Belt to the Highlands in 2000 to found Glentruim Change Agents with her husband Ian Hall. They worked with individuals, teams and organisations wanting to become more effective.

From 2004-12, Jo and Ian owned and ran Laggan Stores. Over 8 years they created a ‘wee store with a big heart’, open 7 days, and renowned as a general store. Although privately owned, the shop was very much a social enterprise, serving a fragile Highland community. Jo enjoys training her young labrador, organic gardening, international cooking, orienteering and cycling.

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Stephen Carr

Trustee

Stephen moved to the Highlands in 2012 to work for the Highland Council as Principal Policy Officer. As part of this, he has overseen the Council’s strategic approach to mitigating and adapting to climate change for three years. More recently he has been focusing on the Council’s policy approach to local democracy, poverty, community empowerment, and has been involved in the restructure of the Council.

Before moving to the Highlands, Stephen completed a PhD in Environmental Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, studying low-cost ways to remove pollutants from water. Before this he completed a Masters in hydrology, and he has a BSc in Physical Geography from the University of Newcastle.

Stephen grew up on a family-run farm in rural Norfolk. He is passionate about the Highlands, hill walking and cricket.

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Emma Whitham

Trustee

Emma has worked in the environmental sector for 20 years in a range of roles from policy and education to grassroots action. She is passionate about supporting and enabling transformational action towards local resilient communities that are healthy and flourishing.

Emma is the founder of MOO Food, a community food charity in Highland that has inspired communities far and wide to plant, eat and share local seasonal food, and she is co-founder of the Highland Good Food Partnership, a regional charity working with partners from diverse backgrounds to create a sustainable food system that is fair to people, planet and producers.  She is currently the lead for Highland Adapts, a place-based climate change adaptation partnership supporting the transition to a climate-ready Highland.

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Catriona Mallows

Trustee

Catriona grew up on the shores of the Cromarty Firth and has since returned to her Highland roots. After her undergraduate degree, she worked for several years in community development in Scotland and New Zealand and was a trustee for the 2050 Climate Group, Scotland’s youth climate group.

In 2018, she moved to Canada and completed a Master’s in Political Ecology at the University of Victoria on Vancouver Island. Whilst there, she worked for the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions and also helped teach university courses in the School of Environmental Studies.

She currently works for Scottish Rural Action, campaigning for rural and island policy, and is also a freelance researcher and writer.

She loves running in the hills, climbing, and has a fascination with shellfish farming.

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Julie Shortreed

Administrator

After studying languages, Julie spent the first part of her career in the European travel industry working in France then for 9 years with Canvas Holidays as Contracts Manager. After returning to study in 1999, she spent her second career in Information Services at Abertay University.  Julie took early retirement and moved to the Black Isle in 2017.

She joined The Pebble Trust as administrator shortly afterwards. She spends most of her spare time in the outdoors, cycling, hillwalking or kayaking as well as trying to develop an edible and wildlife friendly garden.

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