Sustenic: Accelerating Retrofit for Net Zero Housing

About the project

This project is a feasibility study for an innovative new end-to-end tool that will help social housing providers, and their agents, to identify and sequence energy efficiency improvement work effectively. The proposed system will allow an agile and iterative approach for authorities that still provides effective oversight that would otherwise have to be provided by having suitably qualified staff or contractors involved throughout. This is seen as impractical for many schemes and, when it is necessary to substantially ramp up activity in the sector, it is a need that cannot be met with available resources.

What has been delivered? What has been successful?

• Successfully assessed and confirmed the feasibility of the proposed system
• Identified and partnered with several North Yorkshire social housing providers
• Specified the new processes to be included in the proposed end-to-end system
• Adapted the concept to better meet market needs identified during project
• Established a high level design for the new system.

What did the project achieve?

The project delivered a feasibility report that confirmed the viability of the concept and provided us with the confidence to progress the product development to the next stage.

Key lessons learnt

• Social housing provides all have very similar objectives and user requirements but start with varying positions, resources, tools and support requirements
• Some tools exist in the market to deliver some elements of what landlords require but none fully meet their needs.

Next steps

• Secure funding to build and test a prototype
• Work with social landlords to ensure that the design and implementation meets user requirements
• Work with third-party suppliers to integrate any required APIs
• Identify and engage with potential partners for securing funding sources for retrofit measures
• Develop and implement a commercialisation plan to extend use of the tool to wider group of social landlords and then into the private rented sector.