REDUCING CARBON FOOTPRINT IN SOCIAL HOUSING
Driving decarbonisation across social housing
Travis Perkins Managed Services discusses how the company is working to decarbonise the social housing sector through retrofit and new build technologies
T
he social housing sector remains almost constantly in the news at the moment, with a host of upcoming legislative changes due to take effect in the coming years. The second phase of Awaab’s
Law and the Future Homes Standard (FHS) in particular are likely to have a significant impact on both retrofit and new build social properties, but at Travis Perkins, we’ve found that there are routes available to address them both.
Retrofit
The sweeping legislative changes – including the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES), FSH and phase two of Awaab’s Law – due to come into effect in the coming months, will see improvements made to a significant portion of the UK’s social housing stock. Following a retrofit, the upgraded properties will be considerably more sustainable, with the idea being that more efficient and environmentally friendly properties will lead to lower energy bills for tenants. However, in order to carry out these works to the 4.6 million social housing properties in the country, operatives will need to spend more time on the road, which will inevitably lead to an increase in vehicle emissions. This is a particularly difficult challenge to
overcome for those providers who have stock in more rural parts of the country, where there can be considerable distances from one property to another, and to the nearest builder’s merchant. This will lead to a lot of time potentially being lost with operatives in transit from jobs to branches and back again.
It’s often the case that simple changes can have the biggest impacts, so we wanted to find better ways of bringing the branches to the operatives. There are a range of different options available, from standard van stock replenishments that make sure that operatives have the most commonly used items to hand, to setting up pop-up branches, making it easy, quick and convenient for people to dive in and grab what they need.
But what about those rural operatives who might be some distance from a branch? We wanted to make sure that we were
providing a solution to all of our customers, so developed the SelfServe model: fully automated, secure stores that can be set up practically anywhere, from an unused back- office space to a shipping container.
Operatives have a code to enter the SelfStore unit, with RFID tags monitoring the materials and products that they take with them. This also has the massive advantage of being available 24 hours a day, so regardless of the time when it’s needed, the stock is available. By reducing time spent on the road, operatives can spend more time delivering improvements to residents’ properties and be confident that they are minimising their carbon footprint.
New homes
There remains a core issue, however, around new-build properties and in particular how we’re going to reach the government’s ambitious delivery targets. The government has committed to delivering 300,000 new social homes in the next 10 years, all of which will need to align with the new legislation. For instance, any new build property completed after March 2028 will – as part of the Future Homes Standard – have to demonstrate an improvement of 75% on carbon emissions over the 2013 standards. Housebuilders will need to think differently about constructing new-build social properties, ensuring that they are aligned with the new legislative requirements, while offering a commercially viable product. When we were designing the WholeHouse platform, we knew that we had to take an approach that was about more than just adding in loads of additional insulation and hoping for the best and we placed these dual
demands at the centre of the process. We built a network of industry experts – from sustainability consultants, AES, to architectural and design practice SPACE group – and worked closely with them to understand what was needed to facilitate the building of homes that prioritise future resident requirements, while remaining viable to build.
WholeHouse offers over 1 billion design options
across six house types; every decision and design choice supports the minimisation of waste and optimisation of energy efficiency for a positive environmental impact. This means that multiple configurations include underfloor heating, PV panels, air source heat pumps, and wastewater heat recovery systems. It’s been hard work, but the results speak for themselves: depending on the house type, residents living in a WholeHouse property can see a 91% reduction in carbon emissions, with 95% of configurations achieving an A or B EPC rating. And with the ongoing cost of living squeeze, it’s important to think about the longer-term needs of residents. We’ve modelled that occupiers in WholeHouse-designed properties are likely to see a reduction in water usage of 22% with energy bills due to be around 79% lower than the national average. Looking more broadly, we have also moved the design freeze – a vital part of the construction phase – to the start of the process. This means that developers can have greater certainty around materials’ availability and construction costs, and through this approach several systems have achieved 0% waste, which provides a substantial additional environmental benefit. Social housing will remain an important part of the fabric of the UK’s residential landscape, so it’s imperative that when it comes to supporting decarbonisation of the sector we’re all thinking about both the product itself and the long-term impacts on the end user.
24 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER AUGUST 2026 Read the latest at:
www.bsee.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38
