Using our assets – Existing Buildings

Passivhaus retrofits, Feed-in tariffs (FITs), RdSAP, Pay As You Save (PAYS) – SHIFT members get serious about improving existing homes….

Reducing carbon emissions and other environmental impacts in existing homes is a major challenge. Our homes produce over 27% of the UK’s carbon emissions and most will still be around in 2050.

Housing organisations across the country are grappling to respond. SHIFT members are leading the way in unravelling these challenges. This week SHIFT members came together to share their experiences and work together. Useful sessions focussed on using feed-in tariffs and a real example of applying Passiv Haus principles (already ten fold improvement on building regulations) to existing buildings. There were also great examples of practical solutions to benchmarking and reducing carbon emissions across existing stock.

Discussions focussed on the risks and opportunities for housing providers and there was a genuine excitement about the way forward. Speakers from the Energy Savings Trust, Bere Architects, National Energy Service, Chevin Housing Trust and Parity Projects presented real examples of how some organisations are turning confusion into concrete action. Throughout the day members worked together to develop responses to their specific challenges.

The event in Manchester was part of the SHIFT Learning Year, organised by Sustainable Homes. This is a series of learning events designed for affordable housing providers who want to tackle environmental challenges. SHIFT members manage over one million homes.

For more information on funding streams click here.

Sustainable Homes run training courses on EcoHomes XB, sustainable refurbishments and the Passiv Haus standard.

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