The urgency of the climate crisis and the UK’s NetZero 2050 target means mounting pressure on social housing landlords to decarbonise their property portfolios. While the need to improve the efficiency of social housing is clear, the decarbonisation of
England’s social housing stock presents some considerable challenges.
In addition to costing an estimated £36 billion, optimising the efficiency of social housing will require landlords to review their properties and assess the work required. This may involve analysing EPC and SAP certificates, considering historic maintenance work and reviewing repair projects and surveys. This process would then need to be carried out for each home in the portfolio – a figure that may amount to tens of thousands.
To address this substantial challenge and support the social housing sector in its NetZero targets, Morgan Sindall Property Services (MSPS) has launched Carbon Zero, a dynamic new software solution. Carbon Zero analyses data from several key sources and generates a report on the current status of each property. The software also generates a schedule of proposed updates to improve the home’s efficiency and energy performance. The program includes a breakdown of the costs and labour resources associated with the proposed works and a timeline to completion. This means that landlords have a complete picture of precisely what must be achieved to reach their decarbonisation targets.
The granular detail regarding the costs involved with the proposed works means that the Carbon Zero reports can be used in bids for an internal budget. timeline programmes will also allow property management teams to adjust their budgets for the coming years to ensure adequate allocation to support the delivery of the plan.
Carbon Zero’s insights on each property’s carbon emissions and energy consumption can be used to support landlords’ annual scope 3 emissions reporting. This information also serves as a benchmark for the property’s efficiency, which can then be compared against data upon completion of the works. Reviewing the ‘before’ and ‘after’ data sets makes it possible to ensure that the building is progressing towards the NetZero target.
The Carbon Zero output can also be combined with goldeni and SmartHTC to continually monitor each property’s emissions, conditions and efficiency. By tracking the home following the execution of the Carbon Zero plan, landlords can verify that
the works have created more efficient and environmentally sustainable homes. The real-time data provided by goldeni will also highlight any potential issues, such as a leak or risk of damp, so that action can be taken to preserve the building and the
efficiency measures implemented.
For more information please contact the team.
