Lisa Cairns, Business Development & Improvement Manager at IRT Surveys, part of the Mears Group, explains how by working with a partner that combines new technologies together with empirical data can empower the public sector to make smarter retrofitting decisions.
The government’s bid to lift over a million households out of fuel poverty and provide tenants with warmer and cheaper homes[1] has resulted in an ambitious plan to make all rented properties EPC C-rated by 2030. And with four million social homes in the UK, the retrofitting task for local authorities and housing associations is both complex and monumental.
While the ultimate goal may be to achieve net zero across the entire UK housing stock by 2050, a move estimated to cost around £104 billion, the government’s Warner Homes Plan will make significant inroads towards it. To encourage progress, £6.6 billion will be provided in grants and low-interest loans to fund rented sector retrofit projects over the next parliament. However, even with this funding, delivering cost-effective retrofits across the social housing sector’s four million homes will require careful planning and budgeting to implement the most effective energy-saving improvements.
To ensure the right energy efficiency improvements are installed and that budgets are not wasted on unnecessary or ineffective measures, local authorities and housing associations need to understand the energy issues affecting individual properties, which include porous brickwork, render delamination, waterproofing problems or lack of insulation.
The merits of data
The most effective pathway to decarbonisation is to gather data about individual properties within the housing stock. Armed with this information, decision-makers are better informed about the specific improvements each property needs to become energy-efficient, helping them achieve cost efficiency while ensuring residents benefit from smaller bills and warmer homes.
The use of technologies like thermal imaging plays an important part in data gathering. Thermal imaging surveys deliver precise visual insights into the energy efficiency issues of individual homes, including their thermal performance and the condition of the building fabric. Furthermore, they identify issues frequently missed by other types of survey, such as waterproofing and rendering defects, draughts, porous brickwork, insufficient insulation and unfilled wall cavities. This fabric-first approach, when applied across the housing stock, offers local authorities and housing associations the ability to make highly informed, data-driven, decisions.
Moreover, as individual properties can be surveyed quickly using thermal imaging, it offers an expeditious way to address problems at pace. Its cost-efficiency and convenience are also evident in the fact that it doesn’t require scaffolding and, being non-invasive, doesn’t result in the need for repairs.
More modern, advanced technologies, also complement and enhance the benefits of thermal imaging. One such technology is MappIR, a specially designed road vehicle equipped with visual and thermal imaging and LiDAR technology that surveys streets, housing estates and even cities. Enabling large areas to be surveyed quickly, at low cost, it assesses the fabric of individual homes, identifying problems such as poor insulation, heat loss, water ingress, damp and ‘at-risk’ properties. Recently used in Milton Keynes where it successfully surveyed over 10,000 social homes, MappIR is an effective option for authorities carrying out improvements to ‘area-based’ schemes and ‘place-based’ projects.
Frequently used in conjunction, sophisticated data collection software, can analyse data collected and provide a complete understanding of the energy-efficiency needs of individual homes. Deployed on retrofit projects, the combination can be accurately costed and matched to available financing. Moreover, such software also tracks the progress of a project, monitoring installation rollout and improvements in energy efficiency and carbon reduction, helping local authorities and housing associations to achieve their aims cost-effectively.
In a recent project to retrofit 200 homes in the South of England, thermal imaging and retrofitting software were used together. After the thermal images had been analysed and insulation problems, heat loss and other issues identified, the software processed the data, evaluating the issues using filtering and mapping tools. In doing so, it was able to deliver the most effective retrofit pathway, enabling the housing provider to prioritise improvements, group properties and find relevant financing.
The value of experienced partners
To meet the government’s EPC C target, local authorities and housing associations will have to retrofit housing stocks cost-effectively and at speed. And while projects of this scale may be challenging to implement, working with a partner that has a successful history of delivering projects for large organisations, like local authorities, will enable housing providers to remain confident. They will, at the same time, have access to a fast and efficient suite of services that employs advanced technologies, assuring them of an inclusive solution that delivers critical insights.
For more information, visit https://irtsurveys.co.uk/
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/home-upgrade-revolution-as-renters-set-for-warmer-homes-and-cheaper-bills
This article appeared in the Nov/Dec 2024 issue of Energy Manager magazine. Subscribe here.