Episode 23: Brian Berry, the Chief Executive of the FMB Talks Retrofitting

February 4, 2022

Henry McDonald interviews Brian Berry, the Chief Executive of the FMB, to explore the future of Retrofitting UK homes.

Retrofitting your home involves taking energy upgrade measures to improve the energy efficiency of the building, reducing both to your energy bills and your carbon emissions.

Henry discusses what we can do to make our homes greener – from LED lightbulbs to heat pumps, and the range of challenges facing the retrofitting industry – including lack of government incentives and skilled labour shortages.

“Retrofit is a market that needs to be developed. We need countries to learn from one another about how to adapt existing buildings, the wider issues about embodied carbon and how you go about reducing that. So retrofit, I think, will be on the agenda for many years to come.”

“If we’re going to actually kickstart the retrofit market in a serious way, we need the government to commit to this and put in a range of incentives to start the retrofit market.”

About Brian Berry, the Chief Executive of the FMB

Brian Berry is the Chief Executive of the Federation of Master Builders. He is also a member of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) and Chair of the CLC Domestic Repair Maintenance & Improvement Working Group. Prior to his current position Brian was Director of External Affairs at the FMB with responsibility for UK and EU policy, public affairs and media relations. Before the FMB, he worked at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), where he was Head of UK Public Policy. Brian regularly provides commentary on construction issues for television, national and trade press.

Written by: Jackie De Burca