Should we be reframing the challenge of decarbonising the UK’s homes? Just as post-war necessity prompted a golden age of social housing, can today’s climate emergency lead to more than incremental improvements – could it be the catalyst for wider transformation across housing; the development of new systems, partnerships and technologies, along with growth in retrofit jobs and skills, to change the way social housing is conceived and managed?

Today, our Head of Research and Service Design, Ed Houghton is in Brighton to speak at the Chartered Institute of Housing conference. He’s joining an expert panel asking: ‘Refurb, Redevelop or Dispose?’ The session will consider what to do with those homes that are hard to insulate or switch to low-carbon heating. Is the answer to replace them with more energy-efficient buildings? Or to commit to finding and implementing new solutions to the challenge?

This is more than a technical equation. While the panel discusses the embodied carbon of existing buildings, equally important is the less tangible metric of ‘home’ and what that means to individuals. As we see from campaigns to save council estates from demolition, it is vital to work with the people that live in these ‘difficult’ buildings, and to understand the emotional and cultural significance of the neighbourhoods they are part of.

Hard to Treat Homes

The UK’s housing stock is uniquely diverse, encompassing buildings of almost every era and type, from timber-framed Tudor mansions to brutalist concrete towers. Our ‘hard to treat homes’ project for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (formerly BEIS) is developing an evidence base of approaches to homes that are hard to decarbonise by conventional means. Working with The Bartlett School of Architecture at UCL, our team has been conducting interviews with a range of specialists in different fields, from architects and construction firms to housing trusts, community groups and manufacturers, to gain the broadest possible perspective. The research is ongoing, but it’s clear that given the breadth of stakeholders across the sectors involved in the study, there is undoubtedly a need for holistic thinking and deep collaboration

While there are no ‘one size fits all’ solutions to decarbonise social housing, there are common themes. One is the age of properties. The majority of today’s council housing was built between 1945 and the late 1970s, [1] so there are ongoing repair and preservation issues to consider, alongside the challenges of insulation and home heating. As our projects with local authorities on different aspects of net zero show, the balance between capital projects and routine maintenance can be hard to simultaneously address.

This is where our role is particularly useful. DG Cities works as a council’s innovation partner, developing strategies, trialling, implementing and evaluating new solutions and technologies that can save money, energy and make a positive difference to people’s lives. At the moment, we’re working on a range of net zero projects across housing, transport, energy and services for a local authority. They include identifying where to install electric vehicle chargers, designing a new generation of green mobility hubs, and an innovative pilot to share renewable energy across an estate.

People-centred innovation

Technology has a role to play in every aspect of retrofit, from insulation and smart heating systems, to renewable energy sources. However, technological solutions alone are not enough – they must be designed with people in mind. It's important to recognise that the residents of these ‘hard to treat’ homes are not passengers on the route to net zero; we all play an active role through our individual choices in the way we travel, recycle waste or use energy in the home. Work by our partners at UCL shows that social factors and behaviour play a critical role in shaping how hard-to-treat or hard-to-decarbonise properties can be transitioned to net zero. [2]

At DG Cities, we are particularly interested in the potential benefits of combining new technology with a carefully designed behaviour change programme. An example of this is our trial with Sense energy monitors in Greenwich, where we are helping residents understand and reduce their own energy use. An IoT smart monitor allows them to see the relative energy consumption of different devices and activities. The residents are then supported by an Energy Saving Community, where they can get advice on energy reduction and share tips. One of the social challenges of decarbonisation is to ensure that the most vulnerable and low-income households are part of a just transition. This applies equally to the public and private sector, where the costs of retrofitting homes can be significant, and those who are already struggling to make ends meet may be left behind without adequate support.

A new golden age for social housing?

When we look at the numbers, the scale of the retrofit challenge can seem daunting, but it also represents a huge opportunity. If we approach the issue holistically, the UK can deliver more than upgraded buildings – today’s urgent imperative of climate change can be the spur to strengthen communities and create better, healthier places to live and work. There are also economic opportunities; the government has committed to creating thousands of green jobs, and retrofitting homes can play a crucial role in this effort. If we can conjure a little of the vision of that golden age of social housing, this necessary transition could make a positive impact on the lives of millions.

The heart of the net zero challenge, then, is a simple but powerful idea: that everyone deserves a safe, energy efficient and comfortable place to call home. By sharing best practice across local authority boundaries, harnessing technology and the power of communities, we can create a future in which the UK’s council housing is low carbon, high quality and accessible to all.

Read more about our research project on ‘hard to treat homes’.

[1] Municipal Dreams, John Boughton: https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/332-municipal-dreams

[2] http://shura.shu.ac.uk/30320/