In the latest of our industry Q&A series, Mark Wilkins, Technologies & Training Director at Vaillant outlines opportunities for decarbonisation in the social housing sector to Michelle Eastty, from the elemental team.
1) The Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy includes measures to improve the energy performance of social rental homes, on the pathway to Net Zero 2050. This includes funds allocated to the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund which can be used by social landlords, including housing associations to carry out energy efficiency upgrades in their tenants’ homes. Do you think these measures go far enough on the path to Net Zero?
The path to net zero is a challenging one, especially in the social rented sector where there is a higher proportion of hard-to-treat homes, but we are heading in the right direction.
The recent announcement of a further £800 million being invested into the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) between 2022-2025, will help accelerate plans to reach net zero. These funds were allocated from the £3.9 billion of new funding for the Heat and Buildings Strategy.
Also, through the Clean Growth Strategy, the UK government has set a target for social housing providers to attain the minimum rating of Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C for rented properties by 2035 (2030 for ‘fuel poor’ households).
This is an important milestone towards the longer term, and a much more ambitious and challenging aspiration, to make all homes ‘net-zero-carbon’ by 2050.
While these measures have been well received, they do not go far enough given the current energy crisis. It is crucial that homes are as efficient as they can be, and heat loss is kept to a minimum.
Three factors feed into fuel poverty; the energy efficiency of a home, energy prices and income. With the additional investment into the SDHF, the focus should be on improving the building fabric of its housing stock, maximising the efficiency of systems thus, improving the EPC rating of the property and reducing fuel poverty risk.
2) What are some of the energy efficiency challenges that need to be overcome and further opportunities in the social housing sector?
We launched our own white paper focusing on the Decarbonisation of Heat in UK homes in September, which focuses on heat pumps, hydrogen, and hybrid systems.
To achieve decarbonisation in the UK four areas require action; building fabric, heating systems, upskilling installers, and consumers.
The majority of social housing is retrofit work and 35% of the social housing stock is EPC rated D or below. So, aligning with our four action areas, it is imperative the building fabric is addressed first to achieve better energy efficiency and of course, improved EPC ratings. Once the building fabric has been addressed the system should then be assessed.
We recommend where possible, to size a heating system at a lower flow temperature to be more energy efficient. Then, whether a boiler or a heat pump is fitted, it is wise to do a room-by-room heat loss calculation to ensure the heating system is sized correctly for the home.
And, of course, once the system is fitted, it’s important the consumer is educated on how to use the heating system in their home. Lower flow temperature systems and heat pump systems work differently to a traditional boiler with a flow temperature of 75°C. So end users have to be smart with their systems and use timer programs to ensure they are getting the most out of them
3) What was Vaillant’s reaction to the closure of the Green Homes Grant?
It was a huge disappointment that the Green Homes Grant (GHG) closed so abruptly, however, it was not unexpected due to the issues with the complex application process that resulted in poor take-up by the public. In the six months that the GHG was live, only a third of the vouchers were issued. With the Renewable Heat Incentive closing in March, the one-off domestic installers are eagerly anticipating the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to open.
The upside to the closure of the GHG did see some of the funds reallocated to the Local Authority Delivery Scheme which will support those in fuel poverty.
4) Why is energy consumption monitoring in the home so important?
It’s never been more important to monitor energy consumption and efficiencies because we are in the middle of an energy crisis, that is set to impact households across the country.
Being proactive through energy monitoring enables housing associations and tenants to see abnormal consumption levels or anomalies that might indicate faults or performance issues before a breakdown is reported. Through reviewing consumption levels across the year, it can also help tenants to plan and budget for higher consumption periods, easing the financial burden slightly.
Additionally, profiling by house type and the potential occupancy can help bridge the energy performance gap i.e. checking the install saving meets the “in use” saving as EPC ratings alone are not a good enough indication of consumption.
It is important for people to understand how their energy is used via heating and hot water consumption, presenting a golden opportunity to understand their habits can be adapted to lower energy usage.
5) How does Vaillant UK support the social housing sector?
With over 140 years of experience in the heating industry, we are a leading heating manufacturer in this sector and are the only boiler manufacturer that has invested in heat pump technologies for the last 30 years. This is set to continue with the development of our first UK heat pump production line at our Belper manufacturing site.
We understand the unique challenges this sector faces and we are already engaging with a significant number of social housing providers on their transition to low carbon technologies, together with their partner contractors, and direct labour organisations. It’s vital that all parties are ready for the transition so providing bespoke training to these individuals is paramount.
Additionally, we are on hand to support when it comes to getting the tenant’s buy-in for a new heating system. In particular, heat pumps, as they are an unfamiliar technology to many. Therefore, we often attend tenant consultation days where we complete live demos of a working heat pump. This not only gives the tenant confidence in the system they might potentially be getting but alleviates some of the pressure on the housing association.
With regulations, legislation and the green agenda needing to be met when specifying the heat provision of a building design, access to expert guidance and support for each bespoke project is vital.
With this in mind, we have created The Vaillant Standard, a standard that brings together our end-to-end expertise and support teams to deliver an unrivalled level of support for specifiers. By partnering with us, specifiers benefit from our extensive support network, covering everything from presales consultancy, design services, award winning manufacturing facilities and aftersales support to name a few.
Our partnership with Derby homes and their Rivermead House project is a great example of this, where we saw 54 heat pumps installed on the balconies of each flat. We took our trailer with a working heat pump to show each tenant how the product worked and supported the upskilling of their own maintenance team to complete the installation.
6) How can the social housing sector help tenants to be more energy efficient in the home?
Education is key. Whether tenants have a boiler or heat pump system, it is important to show the tenant how to use and set up their system to maximise efficiency without compromising on their comfort levels.
We would always advocate for lower flow temperature systems regardless of the technology used, however, we do understand that this might not be possible in some cases.
Alongside education, it all boils down to the building fabric. We must address this first in order to limit the heat loss of the property.
We always suggest to “Wrap first, then heat” a property. It’s important to look at how the property is insulated, the windows and doors used and the roof to ensure that the property is as air tight as possible, then it makes the property easier and more efficient to heat.
7) What type of heating systems are available to the social housing market to help them be more energy efficient?
When it comes to being more energy efficient, heat pumps are leading the way as they are an extremely efficient technology. We talk in terms of COPs or co-efficient of performance, and, roughly, you can get three times the amount of energy out that you pay to put in. So, for every one kilowatt of electrical energy used to power the unit, you will get 3-4 kilowatts of heat energy out of the unit, making it very efficient.
Another option is simply upgrading to a modern, high efficiency gas boiler. We still find that oil boilers and electric storage heaters are used in some social housing properties which are very inefficient. Therefore, depending on what allocated funding is available to the organisation, this is still a good interim option alongside improving the fabric of the building.
Another way to improve efficiency of heating systems is by opting for weather and load compensating controls which modulate the system to optimise efficiency. This means that the system only works as hard as it needs to – reaching the correct temperature without wasting additional energy. This ensures peak performance and optimum efficiency for the system.
As I mentioned previously, low flow temperature systems should be the goal moving forward and local authorities should focus on preparing their housing stock for this. By opting for a low flow temperature system, it means that less energy is used as the property will be kept at a consistent and comfortable temperature.
Increasing the pipe sizing and radiators before renovation works should be considered. This will not only reduce the amount of work needed later down the line but also prepares the housing stock for any future heating system operating at lower temperatures such as a heat pump.
Heating systems are only one piece of the net zero puzzle and there are several other factors that need to be addressed such as the building fabric. The road to decarbonisation isn’t a simple one but we believe it is achievable.
For further information about Vaillant visit https://www.vaillant.co.uk/specifiers/
