COMMENT
Retrofitting homes for a low-carbon future Neil Waite, NetZero Collective Lead
ordination support, from assessing properties through to ensuring the retrofit works are completed and deliver the efficiencies they set out to. Measuring net zero
Achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 is a significant challenge for all industries. For the housing sector this is even more significant because not only does it mean ensuring that homes being built now are fit for a low-carbon future, it also means bringing existing stock up to the same standards. The NetZero Collective was launched last year to help housing associations and local authorities to better understand which technologies and energy efficient measures will help them to achieve their lowcarbon targets and, importantly, to create warmer homes that are more affordable for their tenants. A partnership with the University of Southampton, we undertake the retrofit assessments which are then analysed using the university’s academic software to generate an accurate projected annual heat and energy demand for each home, based on its current design, construction, and occupancy, and runs analytics to propose a suite of retrofit measures to achieve net-zero energy use. The role of the retrofit co-ordinator One of the benefits of NetZero Collective’s approach is that we can offer, if our clients choose, an independent retrofit co-ordinator to help manage the process. This is a role that can independently sign off the property survey and approve the identified works, as well as overseeing the appointment of a contractor to deliver them, adding an extra level of reassurance and transparency for clients that work is being independently verified. They can also oversee the handover to tenants and ensure that they understand how to use the technologies installed and check that it’s all working correctly. Our aim is to support housing associations and local authorities with full, end-to-end co-
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Ensuring the installed measures are achieving the desired carbon savings is equally important. Our installed monitoring equipment allows the University of Southampton to make that assessment, providing unique analysis of the elements a property needs to lower its carbon impact, using real time data. This also means that if a tenant isn’t engaging with a particular technology such as a heat pump in the right way, it can be picked up quickly. We can then engage with them on how to use it so that we can ensure their bills remain lower, helping to tackle fuel poverty before it happens. Enabling action The message emerging from COP26 was that, now more than ever, we need to be taking action to halt the effects of climate change. At NetZero Collective we’re working with our clients to help them ramp up their retrofit approach to better enable them to deal with the scale of the challenge – we need to be retrofitting low-carbon technologies into existing homes at a much higher rate if we’re to meet the challenging targets set by government. There’s no doubt that now’s the time for action – retrofitting properties with low-carbon technologies is a huge challenge and it’s vital that the housing sector tackles this now on a much greater scale.
