SMEs to 'retrofit' UK social housing stock

SMEs made up 70 per cent of those organisations picked for the next round of the competition being run by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB). They include Bristol-based integrated sustainability solutions provider, Sustain Ltd, and London-based ECD Architects, a specialist in energy and sustainability. These, along with other companies, now have the opportunity to devise feasibility studies on how they would carry out low carbon refits on existing, low-rise social housing across the UK.

The competition, launched in March this year, sought proposals for suppliers to design and install new high performance solutions to dramatically improve the energy efficiency of houses, in line with Government target reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and energy use. Successful companies were invited to bid for contracts to work with social housing providers, refurbishing example buildings and evaluating their environmental performance.

Housing in the UK accounts for 27 per cent of carbon emissions and the social housing sector includes over 4.5 million homes.

"To meet the UK's target of an 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, we must dramatically improve the performance of our existing housing stock," said Iain Gray chief executive of the TSB. "The challenge is to come up with innovative and well tested solutions so that when these buildings are refurbished, they are done so in a sustainable manner that is sure to make significant cuts in carbon emissions. "

The next phase of the competition, coming up in the autumn, will develop on the initial feasibility studies, with up to 100 of the most promising designs taken through to real builds, culminating in the retrofit and monitoring of up to 100 ‘demonstrator' houses in early 2010.

The TSB has earmarked £16 million for phase two of the competition, with the initial feasibility contracts worth up to £20,000 and subsequent build contracts up to £150,000.

"This is an opportunity to ‘kick-start' the social housing retrofit market by connecting the organisations that will be refitting housing, such as social landlords and local councils, with innovative and capable suppliers so that together they can develop a range of high performance and cost effective solutions," said Gray.