Fusion 21 supports research into Retrofit for Social Housing

Fusion21, in partnership with Salford University’s Centre for Research and Innovation (SCRI), has been awarded a £264,000 Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP).

The Knowledge Transfer Partnership will enable two associate researchers to be employed for 2 years; the research will look at both the technical and social aspects of implementing ‘sustainable retrofit’ in social housing.

Recently Fusion21 has been looking to carry out retro-fit works in social housing homes both nationally and locally. Retro-fit is a term that can be applied to any improvement on a home that increases the energy efficiency of that home.
The improvements retro-fit can bring to both homes and tenants are increased energy efficiency, a reduction in carbon emissions and reductions to tenant’s fuel bills.

 

Bill Taylor project manager on behalf of Fusion21 commented, ‘Fusion21 is delighted to win this Knowledge Transfer Partnership support. It will help us and our clients (Social Housing Landlords) improve our understanding of how to make a better offer and get the maximum benefit to end users’.

He further added, ‘Fuel costs are going to rise, and affordable housing providers taking action now will help those who will be most affected by price rises. The University of Salford and ourselves will be able to ensure our clients can take the best possible approach to the issue’.

Housing accounts for approximately 26% of the UK’s carbon emissions and many of the homes that will be in use in 2050 have already been built. This means we must look to improving the performance of our current buildings.

In addition, around 21% of social housing residents are said to be living in fuel poverty, so improving the efficiency of their homes, essentially making them cheaper to run can make a positive contribution to address this problem.

The Knowledge Transfer Partnership associates will each look into different aspects of retrofit. The first will develop a decision making toolkit to identify appropriate sustainable retrofit options for RSLs, given their individual housing stock, commercial position and overall strategy.

The second will research the attitudes and behaviors of residents, looking at developing interventions for Social Landlords to help residents adopt and get the most out of any changes to their homes.

Dave Neilson, Helen Cooper and Bill Taylor from Fusion 21 will lead the project from the company side. The academic team from SCRI is Dr. Will Swan, Dr. Stephen Todd, Dr. Angela Lee and Prof. Erik Bichard.  

This Partnership is receiving financial support from the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Programme (KTP). KTP aims to help businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills that reside within the UK Knowledge Base. KTP is funded by the Technology Strategy Board along with the other government funding organisations.