Leading the new retrofit centre of excellence
We have been appointed by the Greater London Authority (GLA) as the technical lead on a new national Retrofit centre of excellence – accelerating energy efficiency projects for social housing within England.
The programme is being delivered by the Mayor of London and is backed by a £3.45 million fund from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
From the Summer of 2021 social housing providers will be able to access the centre of excellence to gain technical support and guidance on how to retrofit their aging and energy inefficient housing stock in a way that cuts carbon emissions, reduces heating bills and improves the quality of life for residents.
The announcement has been timed to allow registered providers to develop their plans to scale-up housing retrofit schemes ahead of the next round of the £160m Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
The new centre of excellence comes as part of a package of measures being led by the GLA to accelerate investment and industry capability around retrofit as part of its drive to make London zero carbon by 2030.
A ground-breaking Innovation Partnership has been set up by the Mayor to create an expert body of supply chain partners to support housing providers with their retrofit projects. The UK-wide scheme, which has been designed and established with our support, has a potential value of £10 billion in retrofit works of which at least £5 billion is expected to be spent in London.
These new programmes build on the established success of the Mayor’s longstanding Retrofit Accelerator schemes for homes and for workplaces, which we lead with support from the Carbon Trust, Energiesprong UK and Ramboll.
Richard McWilliams, Director of Sustainability said:
“These new measures demonstrate the success we have seen to-date in shaping a capable, comprehensive retrofit industry in the UK.
The Mayor’s programmes in London are playing their intended role – as a catalyst for the creation of expertise that can support a nationwide revolution in how we retrofit homes that are ultra low-carbon and efficient to run.
“With the backing of the GLA and BEIS, both the new centre of excellence and Innovation Partnership will establish high standards for comprehensive, whole-house retrofit. Through coordinated investment on this scale, we have the ability to build a world-leading industry that will make a significant contribution to net zero objectives, and create opportunities for new green jobs both at home and abroad.”