The Viking Chats: Heat Pumps, Retrofit, and the Future of Sustainable Housing with Simon Bones

In the latest episode of The Viking Chats, Kristjan speaks with Simon Bones, founder of Genous, about one of the biggest challenges in sustainability that rarely gets discussed in practical terms: making homes genuinely energy efficient.

Simon’s background is not the typical climate-tech founder story. Before launching Genous, he spent years in management consulting, building and scaling businesses in energy and infrastructure services. After selling his consultancy business, he found himself increasingly drawn toward climate change and the gap between policy ambitions and the reality facing ordinary homeowners. That eventually led to Genous.

The company focuses on retrofit, helping homeowners improve the efficiency of their properties through measures like insulation, solar panels, and heat pumps. But as Simon explains during the conversation, the problem is far bigger than simply convincing people to “go green.”

Most homeowners face three major barriers. First, they often don’t know what actually works. The retrofit space is filled with conflicting advice, technical jargon, and uncertainty around costs and savings. Many people simply don’t know where to begin.

Second, even once homeowners decide what they want, they struggle to find companies they trust to do the work properly. Retrofitting is still highly fragmented, with multiple contractors, inconsistent quality, and very little simplicity in the process.

Third, the financial challenge remains significant. Many of the upgrades that genuinely improve efficiency still require substantial upfront investment, even if they create long-term savings.

Simon explains that Genous was built to tackle at least the first two problems directly, combining technology-driven advice with delivery capabilities that make the process less painful for homeowners. The discussion also explores the wider climate context.

Simon talks about his interest in climate science, his time connected to academic research at the University of Bristol, and why he ultimately decided he wanted to focus on practical execution rather than theory. Throughout the conversation, there is a recurring theme around trust. Whether it is homeowners trusting installers, consumers trusting government policy, or businesses trusting long-term regulation, uncertainty continues to slow progress.

The episode also touches on the stop-start nature of UK energy policy, the complexity around government retrofit schemes, and why sustainable housing still feels inaccessible to many people. What makes the conversation particularly interesting is that it stays grounded in operational reality.

Rather than discussing climate targets in abstract terms, Simon focuses on what actually happens when someone tries to improve their home, the friction involved, and why delivery matters just as much as innovation.

For anyone interested in climate tech, housing, sustainability, or the practical side of energy transition, this episode offers a refreshingly honest look at the challenges and opportunities ahead.