Transforming Social Housing: Retrofitting for the Future
Faced with astronomical energy costs and environmental concerns, times are tough for the millions of households in the social rented sector, 14% of which live in non-decent housing. Homes that use an average amount of gas and electricity will pay £1,717 a year from October 2024, and then there’s still the challenge of trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Residential buildings are responsible for 20% of the UK’s emissions.
Thankfully, it’s not all bad news. Retrofit solutions for social housing can help address these challenges by improving energy efficiency, comfort, and sustainability.
Explore the key aspects of retrofitting, including upgrading insulation and ventilation, enhancing energy performance, and innovative solutions for future-proof social housing below.
Upgrading Insulation and Ventilation
The Importance of Proper Insulation
Proper insulation is one of the most effective ways of improving social housing energy efficiency. Insulation plays a pivotal role in maintaining indoor temperatures, reducing energy consumption, and enhancing resident comfort. Let’s take a closer look at why insulation is important.
Improved energy efficiency: Good insulation acts as a heat flow barrier that keeps cool air indoors during summer and warmth inside during winter. A significant amount of heat escapes through floors, roofs, walls, and windows without insulation, which translates to increased energy consumption. With proper insulation in place, social housing residents can greatly reduce the amount of energy they need to maintain comfortable temperatures.
Enhanced comfort: By preventing cold spots and drafts, insulation helps maintain a consistent indoor temperature. This ensures social housing residents stay cool in summer and warm in winter.
Potential for cost savings: Heating and cooling accounts for a large portion of household energy bills. Without proper insulation, homes lose approximately 45% of heat through solid walls. Insulation can help reduce energy expenses, leading to lower bills and significant savings in the long run.
Positive environmental impact: Reduced greenhouse gas emissions are another reason why insulation is an effective retrofit solution for social housing. Well-insulated homes use less energy for heating and cooling, which means reduced demand for fossil fuel-reliant energy production, leading to a smaller carbon footprint.
Types of Insulation
Various insulation materials and techniques are suitable for future-proof social housing retrofitting. Among them are:
Solid wall insulation: Panels, fibre-based systems, or sprayed insulative coatings can be used to insulate solid walls from the inside or outside.
Cavity wall insulation: If wall cavities are insulated during construction, they can be insulated using insulation rolls or rigid boards. If not, they can be insulated using expanding foam, polystyrene beads, or mineral fibre. Cavity wall insulation is not recommended in areas on the west coast of England, Scotland, and Wales, or in homes with existing damp issues.
Windows and door insulation: Windows and doors can be insulated using draft-proofing or secondary glazing, which should be replaced every 15 to 30 years.
Flat roof insulation: There are two ways of insulating flat roofs for social housing energy efficiency and enhanced comfort. Insulation can be applied on top of the deck before being covered by a waterproof membrane (known as a ‘warm roof’), or it can be installed above the ceiling, between the rafters (known as a ‘cold roof’).
Pitched roof insulation: A pitched roof can be insulated by installing insulation between and over the rafters (a ‘warm roof’), or by installing it at ceiling level, which is also known as loft insulation (a ‘cold roof’).
Underfloor insulation: Suitable for housing with suspended floors, underfloor insulation sees the cavity below the flooring filled with rigid boards, mineral wool rolls, or other insulative material.
Solid floor insulation: There are a couple of ways to insulate solid floors in social housing. One is to lay solid insulation boards on top of the floor. Another is to lay a floating floor, creating a cavity to be filled with insulative material.
Ventilation Solutions
Effective ventilation solutions should also play a prominent role in future-proof social housing retrofitting. Good ventilation can help improve indoor air quality and prevent issues such as damp and mould by replacing moisture-laden air indoors with fresh air from outdoors. A few modern ventilation systems that complement insulation upgrades include:
Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR): These systems allow for continuous air exchange while retaining heat. These systems are available with smart controls for energy efficiency and maintaining optimal air quality.
Sealed duct systems: Installing sealed duct systems allows for efficient fresh air distribution throughout the home and prevents air leakage.
Smart controls: Use smart controls to monitor and adjust ventilation rates. These controls use real-time air quality data to make adjustments.
Local extract ventilation (LEV): LEV systems can control humidity levels in kitchens, bathrooms, and other rooms prone to moisture, preventing the growth of mould.
Addressing air leakage: Support the effective functioning of ventilation systems by sealing gaps, cracks, or holes to prevent drafts and by improving insulation to maintain consistent indoor temperatures.
Enhancing Energy Performance
Energy-Efficient Heating Systems
Various heating systems can boost social housing energy efficiency. Popular solutions include:
- Heat pumps that extract heat energy from renewable sources
- Solar thermal systems that use sunlight to heat water
- Biomass systems that burn logs, wood pellets, and other organic materials
- Modern boilers that use less fuel to produce the same amount of heat as older boilers
Some of the benefits of using sustainable, energy-efficient heating systems as retrofit solutions for social housing include:
Reduced carbon emissions: Sustainable heating systems have either less or no reliance on fossil fuels, meaning they produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions than traditional systems.
Energy cost savings: While sustainable systems can have a high upfront cost, they require less energy and can lead to significant savings over time.
Enhanced safety: Most sustainable systems, such as heat pumps, don’t burn highly combustible gases or other materials, making them a safer option than traditional systems such as oil boilers.
Smart Energy Management
Smart home technologies that help monitor and manage energy usage to offer cost savings and environmental benefits also have a role to play in future-proof social housing retrofitting. A few examples of these technologies include:
Smart meters: Smart meters send household electricity and gas meter readings directly to the relevant energy provider, ensuring correct billing. They also offer access to grid flexibility events and smart tariffs, as well as data that households can use to better understand their energy usage.
Smart thermostats: Social housing residents can manage their home’s heating and hot water with smart thermostats via a mobile app. They can create daily schedules, different zones in their homes, and control their heating remotely for energy and cost savings over time.
Smart valves: Social housing residents can use smart valves to set ideal schedules for individual radiators and prevents rooms not being used from being heated, saving energy and money.
Smart plugs: These plugs allow residents to manage plugged-in electrical devices remotely via a mobile app.
Smart lighting: Residents can turn their lights on or off, dim or brighten them, or change their colour via an app.
Case Study
Bell’s ERDF-funded Energiesprong refurbishment project of eight 1950s maisonettes in Torbay for the Sanctuary Housing Group is a good example of the successful enhancement of energy performance through installing retrofit solutions for social housing. The project included external wall insulation, structural repairs, roof covering replacement, electrical upgrade, installing underfloor and loft insulation, triple glazing on doors and windows, and installing solar PV, battery storage, MVHR, ground source heat pumps, and an IoT enabled monitoring and management platform (IERS).
These solutions for social housing energy efficiency increased the comfort of residents and led to impressive cost savings. One customer’s electricity bill for a 10-month period was only £172.
Innovative Retrofitting Solutions
Improved Resident Wellbeing
Future-proof social housing retrofitting undeniably enhances the quality of life for residents by providing more comfortable and healthier living environments. Residents can enjoy better temperature control and improved air quality with upgraded HVAC systems.
Installing insulation not only helps maintain consistent temperatures for residents. It also can help reduce noise pollution. These are just some of the ways in which retrofits such as efficient heating and cooling systems and upgraded insulation can help create living spaces that support residents’ wellbeing.
Cost Savings
As mentioned, retrofits for social housing energy efficiency offers potentially significant long-term cost savings for residents and housing providers. The solutions described above help reduce energy consumption, which leads to smaller utility bills and a positive return on investment over time.
Residents and providers can also save money on maintenance costs, thanks to these solutions requiring much less maintenance than traditional systems.
Environmental Impact
Innovative retrofit solutions for social housing also have a positive environmental impact. These upgrades decrease buildings’ carbon footprints, help mitigate the negative environmental impact of new construction, and enable more natural resources to be conserved.
Sustainable retrofitting projects prioritise green materials and practices for reduced consumption of natural resources, reduced reliance on fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources, and the adoption of energy sources that are cleaner and more sustainable.
Retrofitting for an Energy-Efficient Future
Retrofitting social housing is a crucial step towards creating energy-efficient, sustainable, and comfortable living environments. By upgrading insulation, enhancing energy performance, and incorporating innovative solutions, social housing can be future proofed to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
Prioritise retrofitting to improve resident well-being, achieve cost savings, and contribute to environmental sustainability. Contact Bell today to learn more about our retrofitting and energy services tailored for social housing.
