At Transition by Design, we’ve been working alongside Bioregional and Currie & Brown to develop a comprehensive retrofit strategy for Platform Housing Group’s estate of approximately 40,000 homes across the Midlands. This project represents a significant step towards reducing carbon emissions and improving the energy efficiency of social housing, ensuring that every home is fit for a sustainable future.
The Challenge
Platform Housing Group’s diverse housing stock spans a wide range of building types, ages, and conditions. The challenge was to create a retrofit strategy that:
- Addresses varying baseline energy performances.
- Delivers significant carbon reductions while ensuring affordability for tenants.
- Balances cost-effectiveness with high-impact energy-saving measures.
Our Approach
We began by identifying key house types (archetypes) within the estate and assessing their current performance. This allowed us to develop tailored retrofit measures for each archetype, ensuring that solutions were both practical and effective.
Key elements of our approach included:
- Energy Modelling: Using detailed energy modelling to understand heat loss patterns and identify the most impactful retrofit measures.
- Equitable Electrification: Ensuring that the switch to low-carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps, does not increase energy bills for tenants.
- Embodied Carbon Analysis: Comparing the environmental impact of different materials and systems to minimise the carbon footprint of retrofit measures.
Key Measures
The retrofit strategy focuses on a range of measures designed to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions:
- Heat Pumps: Replacing gas boilers with air source or ground source heat pumps to provide low-carbon heating.
- Air Tightness Improvements: Reducing heat loss through improved insulation and sealing of gaps.
- Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR): Ensuring good indoor air quality while retaining heat.
- Low-Carbon Materials: Using bio-based materials, such as timber fibre insulation, where possible to reduce embodied carbon.
Outcomes
The strategy delivers a clear pathway for Platform Housing Group to achieve its sustainability goals:
Cost-Effectiveness: By prioritising measures with the highest impact, the strategy ensures value for money while delivering significant energy savings.
80% Carbon Reduction: The proposed measures aim to reduce carbon emissions by around 80% across the estate.
Improved Comfort: Enhanced insulation and ventilation will improve thermal comfort for residents.
We believe that retrofitting existing housing stock is one of the most effective ways to tackle the climate crisis while improving the quality of life for residents. This project with Platform Housing Group is a clear example of how thoughtful, sustainable design can drive meaningful change.
