Changeworks recently brought together professionals from the social housing sector to discuss how data and technology can be used to drive the decarbonisation of homes across Scotland.
The event featured guest speakers from Connected Response, Switchee and Changeworks. Attendees also took part in a Q&A which discussed the opportunities and barriers organisations face when it comes to retrofitting homes.
Key take-aways from the event included:
- Changeworks uses data to help influence all aspects of work, including impact evaluation, stock management and planning.
- Smart technologies and services can support:
- Valuable insights into building performance and occupant behaviour.
- Evidence-based decisions and plans for your housing stock and overall strategic plans.
- Help tenants to better manage their home energy use and identify support needs.
- Sharing data and learnings to drive practical, impactful, and no-regret retrofit programmes
- The challenge is determining how to best use rapidly evolving technologies and service offers to energy efficiency and carbon emission targets, while at the same time improving the comfort and wellbeing of tenants.
- Felix White, of Connected Response, stressed the importance of the design philosophy they follow to ensure their electric storage and water heating control products and services are easy to use for residents, tenants and landlord.
- Switchee’s Simon Akufo-Tetteh and Vicky Lynch highlighted how connected smart home technology can help landlords to identify risks of overheating, damp, mould and fuel poverty.
- Joanna Long, Changeworks’ Senior Impact Evaluation Consultant, highlighted the value of improved data collection, and how better data can allow us to showcase our successes and improve future projects.
- The discussion highlighted several opportunities that social landlords see, including:
- Contribution to meeting statutory requirements
- Data collection to meet potential mould and damp regulatory requirements
- Decreased repair visits and void periods.
- Participants nevertheless identified several concerns when looking at their decision making, including:
- Interoperability
- Potential for regulatory requirements to install sensors
- In-house capacity to make effective use of data collected
- How to build an effective value proposition to justify the upfront costs.
Ian Cochran, Changeworks’ Head of Consultancy, who opened the event, commented:
“Collaboration is the key to success if we are to all meet our net zero goals. These Changeworks Connects events are the perfect opportunity to bring together like-minded individuals and organisations who share the same goals and visions for a decarbonised Scotland.
“It allows us to share best practices and ideas, as well as catch-up on what others are doing to make an impact. Thank you to Felix, Simon and Vicky for presenting to the group on the day, and to everyone who attended.”