The Housing Forum East of England Regional Conference Topical Debate - Greening the Existing Stock
01 March 2010 |
The final debate in our national series was held in Milton Keynes on February 25th 2010. As this national series of debates has progressed over our monthly conferences, the focus of concern has been shown to be in the benefits of investing in fabric over fixtures, "pay-back" and of acceptance by occupiers. The range of opinion over the 9 regions will be summarised separately and placed on The Housing Forum website.
The Guest Chair for the East of England debate was Phil Mitchinson, Group Director of Corporate Development, Grand Union Housing Group, joined by a cross industry panel of specialists
· John Milner, Member, Baily Garner LLP
· Paul Senior, Contracts Director, Frank Haslam Milan
· Colin Wiles, Director, Wiles Consulting and Chair, CIH Eastern Branch
Phil Mitchinson opened the discussion with his analysis of the issues from a housing association perspective. Grand Union Housing Group have over 9,000 largely ex Council stock in mid Beds and south Northants with average SAP ratings of 79/80 (broadly equivalent to EPC rating of C/D). To reduce carbon emissions from a 1990 base by 80% to meet government targets would add costs of £10,000 - £15,000 per individual property. Target rents that can be charged only cover the current business plan and there are no funds identified for this scale of investment. New technology may also require a new breed of maintenance operative. Although there are different funding streams available, the application process for these funds is bureaucratic and provides relatively few funds.
Colin Wiles commented from his most recent experience running a housing association with many properties in Cambridge conservation areas where it is not possible to put in PVC windows or GSHPs. The market is not well developed for alternative products and a particular issue is the lack of a main source of clear and objective advice. A mixture of "carrots" and "sticks" is needed to incentivise residents to improve properties - perhaps rising fuel prices will act as a trigger. Colin advocated building on the edge of cities in preference to Eco Towns - which lack infrastructure. It is crucial to adapt the existing stock due to climate change which will give rise to severe health issues caused by overheating and consequently will have an impact on future specification and design.
John Milner was concerned that there is a law of diminishing returns on eco-refurbishment. Whilst the first direct interventions have the greatest effect in relation to the amount invested - probably up to 30% carbon reduction -the return on investment reduces and becomes more challenging as we get closer to 80% reduction.
Some measures to reduce carbon work better than others and the whole-house approach may not be the most cost-effective way of approaching the existing stock.
John's view, and backed up by examples like the Notting Hill eco-refurbishment exemplar, is that most of the products we need are already out there. The order of priority should be the fabric, and then the services, then low and zero carbon technologies - the simplest makes the most difference. "Eco-bling" is not the way forward -sensible, basic approaches in asset management, data base control, and programming have a big impact on cost effectiveness.
Paul Senior from Frank Haslam Milan spoke next from his perspective as company business champion for Sustainability. Companies like FHM employ their workforce direct but this is not every company's approach. Investing in staff is essential - re-skilling is needed for direct M&E on components like PVs and solar thermal. Current market conditions, including very low contract prices will damage the industry's ability to deal with sustainable refurbishment.
The conference took up the following issues for discussion:
· Funding issues are key - housing associations need to be able to flex rent regimes, with a slight increase to pay for refurbishment investment as tenants will get the benefit of energy savings.
· Taking advantage of a well planned voids process to install improvements which can have a 20-30 year life can only be accommodated if "turn around" times can be changed.
· Feed-in tariffs have the potential to generate improvements and currently produce 41.5p for every unit of energy produced.
· Residents' expectations have risen - comfort levels were 16 degrees with coal, 18 with gas and current expectations are 21 degrees.
· The experience of Tenant Liaison Officers who advise tenants on sustainability measures are well received - suggesting that there could be pay back from more at home "education" and older users need simple controls - "iPad" type controls that are simple to use.
· Another issue is the management of leaseholder expectations where communal systems are in place.
· There are huge implications for funding all buildings to zero carbon by 2015 - view is that funds will have to come from taxation.
· As providers of homes, the industry should not dictate personal choices - but we should supply warm homes that save residents fuel costs.
· Grant approved appliances cost too much - even with grant, specifiers should go for a flexible fit as each existing home is different.
· More thought needs to go into energy use in materials when they are made - and also consider disposal. Some insulation products use more carbon than others in manufacture - but the Code for Sustainable Homes does not assess the embodied carbon in relation to carbon savings within insulation products.
The Housing Forum is grateful to the panel for their time and knowledge on this subject.
- Related:
