Cut Cost and Complexity By Integrating Zero Carbon Retrofit With Routine Property Services

Zero carbon retrofit programmes are such large and complex tasks in their own right that it’s tempting to look at them in isolation. But this misses many opportunities to deliver efficiencies.

Retrofits will be delivered alongside all of the ‘routine’ property services such as voids, repairs and maintenance. An integrated approach will eliminate a lot of duplicated effort and will be much less disruptive for resident customers.

Heat pumps and other low energy/low carbon heating systems will feature in the retrofit of many properties. The typical stock for a large social housing provider will also probably include a large number of gas boilers nearing end-of-life.

You don’t want to fit a new boiler in the short term that will be superseded by a heat pump within a few years. On the other hand, a heat pump may not adequately heat a home that hasn’t been retrofitted with better insulation.

Similarly, it makes sense to define the specification of windows and doors that will be needed for net zero performance and ensure these are incorporated into scheduled maintenance operations.

Net Zero Carbon Retrofit and Voids

Net zero retrofit is best achieved using a whole-house approach. This is fundamentally because it’s about achieving a balanced ecosystem for insulation, heating and ventilation. Often, the actions needed will be invasive.

The best time to tackle deep retrofits is when the property is empty. But, if voids are a separately contracted work stream, this could be hard to coordinate.

These are just a few examples of how zero carbon retrofit and routine property services activities will overlap and potentially clash. How easy this is to resolve to ensure the best possible value for money may well depend on how complex your contracting arrangements are.

For the zero carbon retrofit elements, Osborne offers a fully integrated service based on our four-step process. This offers the best possible opportunity to rationalise activities over multiple work streams as there is just one point of contact for communication and planning.

Find out more about Osborne’s Zero Carbon Retrofit Solutions by visiting our resource centre or contact Nick Davidge ([email protected]).