Wanted: Innovation partners to join the journey to net zero
We‘re marking the completion of the 3,000th low carbon retrofit we’ve carried out on social housing properties with a hunt for innovative and sustainable technology products which can help our housing customers meet their carbon emissions targets.
With the start of the Government’s SHDF (Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund) wave 2.1, through which £778m will be provided to decarbonise over 90,000 homes across England, there is a pressing need for delivery experts to partner with technology specialists to provide customers with innovative solutions to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
We’re searching for specialists in products that improve energy use, help save energy or money on household energy bills, or improve the sustainability of properties.
Businesses keen to register their interest can apply online. Suppliers will be screened by a technical advisory panel of experts and successful suppliers and may be chosen by social housing providers to pilot on their properties.
Successful applicants will also be registered on the Wates Innovation Network (WIN) portal, our online hub for suppliers of environmental technologies and services.
The social housing sector has challenging targets to meet in relation to energy efficiency and carbon emissions.
While lack of funding is certainly a barrier to achieving these goals, so is knowing about and understanding the best and most suitable technologies which are available, which is why we created the WIN Portal to connect the built environment with a diverse variety of previously unknown green innovations.
New technologies are emerging all the time, and we’re working with our partners and customers to grow the WIN Portal, to find out what new innovations may be coming to market and in turn support the continued expansion of the UK’s green economy.”
Dr Zainab Dangana
Head of Sustainable Technology at Wates Group
All social landlords are currently working towards a rapidly approaching target of achieving Energy Performance Certificate ratings of C across all social housing by 2030.
The pressure on our customers to decarbonise their housing stock while balancing housing repairs and maintenance as well as capital budgets is huge. It is our job to guide them on their zero carbon journeys.
Having now delivered 3,000 social housing retrofit projects, we have a really good understanding of some of the challenges our customers face and some of the best technology-based solutions that can achieve their goals.
Although we have this wealth of experience, we have only just begun to scratch the surface with social housing retrofit and this workshop is part of our plans to ramp up our support for the sector as we edge closer to net zero carbon.”
David Morgan
Executive Managing Director, Wates Property Services