Developing guidance for the management of Government funded dwelling retrofit programs, evaluating occupant Quality of Life (QoL)

The aim of this doctoral research project is to evaluate the impact of dwelling retrofit funded through the Welsh Government Arbed 2 programme upon occupant Quality of Life and stakeholder decision making to achieve this goal. There are two contributions to knowledge documented in this doctoral research project. The first is a methodology for obtaining empirical data about the health and wellbeing (QoL) of occupants living in dwellings retrofitted through the Arbed 2 programmes in Wales, which is the Short Form 36 (SF36) health survey alongside the RAND scoring system ensured a patient (occupant) lead approach to gathering and scoring occupant health factors. The findings demonstrate the value and need for occupant engagement and QoL factors throughout the lifecycle of a government funded dwelling retrofit scheme, and something that is not practiced within industry. The second is a methodology for obtaining empirical data on stakeholder decision making for occupants living in dwellings retrofitted by Government funded programmes in Wales, using IDEFØ mapping. The use of stakeholder questionnaire, causal loop diagram, theory of change and IDEFØ language ensured the development of a decision-making process map. Through the occupant engagement (SF36) and stakeholder engagement (IDEFØ), the findings indicated that a multi-method approach would be extremely beneficial to both academic, as well as industry knowledge due to the gaps in knowledge. The IDEFØ decision making process tool with embedded QoL method was developed in case study B as part of this doctorate, providing a robust, validated, easy to manage and use decision making process tool for dwelling retrofit projects, aiming to improve occupant QoL.