'RETROFIT - Fixing a broken system' - SHAP February 2022 newsletter

·      To add your voice to our proposal to government - ‘Retrofit: Fixing a broken system’

·      To register for free Retrofit Coordinator training, sponsored by West Midlands Combined Authority

·      SHAP has been leading on creating a retrofit roadmap, helping Zero Carbon Rugeley win phase 2 funding to move to implementation

·      Your organisation compares to peers in environmental benchmarking, through the SHIFT Environmental Strategy Readiness Assessment being offered to SHAP members for £500

·      You can join SHAP’s ‘Supplier Group’ and play a part in creating recommendations to clients and the Government for developing deliverable, high quality retrofit programmes.  

‘RETROFIT - FIXING A BROKEN SYSTEM’ - A PROPOSAL TO GOVERNMENT 

The SHAP Net Zero Asset Managers Group (NZAMG) has met monthly to discuss the issues and opportunities of planning and delivering all tenure retrofit at scale. Experience of SHDF and LAD has reinforced the view that scaling up retrofit is:

 

·      A national priority requiring system change to overcome market failure

·      Complex

·      A process understood by a small cohort which needs to be rapidly expanded through significant revenue investment

 

In the first of a series of videos (above) that SHAP will be sharing, SHAP Co-Ordinator Rosemary Coyne talks about the proposal the NZAMG will be taking to the Government, detailing:

·      The barriers (structural and regulatory) to scaling retrofit

·      Desired solutions – informed by those with hands-on experience

·      A request for significant upfront revenue funding to allow expert teams and high-quality programmes to be built that will ensure best value from the capital grants being made available. 

·      How Government funding will be used to drive systemic change and create a functioning retrofit market.

 

This proposal will be submitted to Government to inform the decisions about SHDF Wave 2 funding, due to be launched late summer/early autumn 2022 and further Sustainable Warmth funding rounds. 

SHAP is working with other networks and cross housing sector organisations on the development of this proposal. If you would like to join the working group, please contact co-ordinator@shap.uk.com.

The supply chain is a critical element in the ability to deliver national retrofit programmes to reduce carbon emissions. Retrofit programmes over the past ten years have challenged the supply chain, including issues such as the need to adopt changing quality standards, availability of skilled labour and short-term funding programmes. Because of this, SHAP has consulted supply chain companies and training and skills providers over the last two years on their readiness to scale up for retrofit to ensure their views and concerns are taken into the design of retrofit programmes. For example, many supply chain companies tell us that their main need is a long-term retrofit pipeline which will be enough to create the confidence to invest in business development, accreditations and skills training. 

SHAP is currently establishing a Supply Chain Working Group to develop a briefing to clients and the Government on their recommendations for developing deliverable, high quality retrofit programmes and projects.  If you would like to join the working group, please contact co-ordinator@shap.uk.com.

The Midlands Energy Hub (MEH) identified a knowledge gap between the technical standard of PAS 2035 and the operational requirements for implementation by local authorities delivering building retrofit schemes. Given the mandate of PAS 2035 in all public funded projects, MEH has commissioned the MEH-COE LA Toolkit to provide a clear process for all LAs to follow to help facilitate PAS 2035 compliance. The toolkit highlights key steps and points for intervention for local authorities, in order to be a well-informed Funding Client.

 

The toolkit, process maps and other tools and briefings are available to all Midlands local authorities. Please contact sally@retrofitacademy.org

In their recent ‘Pilot phase learnings and impact report: 2019-2021’, Cosy Homes Oxfordshire share their learnings about “delivering home retrofit – from the marketing to engaging with contractors to delivering work onsite. These learnings are crucial if we are to build the market for home retrofit across the UK, and reduce the carbon impact of our homes – so we’re sharing them”. You can read the full report here:

SWM warmly invite you to join us and 200+ others to celebrate 20 years in the region. The journey hasn’t always been easy for SWM, but we’ve transitioned into a nationally recognised hub for cross sector excellence in sustainability. We hope you can join us as we share the highs and lows of the last two decades, showcase the breadth of innovative solutions coming from our region, and look forward to the next 20 years! The programme for the day is available here with details being announced over the coming weeks.