"What’s key to this entire operation is communication and digital tools and software can act as the ‘ go-between’ amongst contractors and housing associations, offering instant messaging over slow, sluggish email chains."
- Rob Norton - PlanRadar
Wales has set a high bar with its ambition to enhance 230,000 social homes. Achieving this goal is certainly possible, however, it will require meticulous attention to detail, treating each home on a case-by-case basis, while maintaining a strong emphasis on quality.
Born out of the 2019 "Better Homes, Better Wales, Better World" report, and the following Optimised Retrofit Programme (ORP), the region is making considerable efforts to improve living standards whilst reducing the carbon cost of social homes.
In turn, Housing Associations (HAs), have been set the lofty task of achieving an EPC Band C rating on all their social properties by 2030. While ambitious, these targets are within grasp but only if HAs and their chosen contractors adopt slick processes, and precise record-keeping and use systems that offer greater work rate efficiency.
Managing great expectations
One of the main challenges lies in managing the specifics of each property. Clear records, of what work has been done and by whom, are compulsory. For example, HAs must abide by PAS 2035 specifications for energy retrofits, demanding a slew of reporting metrics, such as the number of premises involved, types of interventions needed and detailed action plans for product and service suppliers.
Each home must also have a ‘Target Energy Pathway’ - a strategic framework designed to guide each property towards a lower carbon outcome, whilst promoting energy efficiency.
Keeping up with this level of detail requires considerable organisation skills - the likes of which require digital assistance to manage effectively. Importantly, there’s no room for error here. Setbacks are costly and undermine the country’s wider decarbonisation goals. Plus, eyes are on Wales to get this right, following high-profile media pressure.
The role of digitalisation
Given the scale of the task at hand, it’s clear that digital solutions can play an effective supporting role, helping to manage the many hundreds of homes expecting work. What’s key to this entire operation is communication and digital tools and software can act as the ‘ go-between’ amongst contractors and housing associations, offering instant messaging over slow, sluggish email chains.
Importantly though, one of the biggest benefits is its ability to remedy the administrative headache of retrofitting at scale.
Through a safe, shared platform, it’s possible to handle vast amounts of documentation including that of fire safety and installation reports, making information sharing a much easier, less arduous task.
That’s because ‘going digital’, means users can access and see updates on the fly, ensuring clear revision histories and a tamper-proof digital audit trail. This is worth its weight in gold for HAs concerned about compliance and quality of work. By achieving the all-important ‘golden thread’, HAs can ensure that work has been done correctly and to the proper standard, with a digital blueprint of step-by-step decision-making to prove it.
Alongside this is the ability for cloud-based photographic evidence, a feature that can speed up site audits and help accelerate sign-off procedures. Crucially, it also streamlines stakeholder communication as well as amongst teams, delivering instant reports, and keeping building owners ‘in the loop’.
Through the latest digital platforms, images can also be geo-tagged to pinpoint exactly where installation is needed on BIM models, tracking build elements every step of the way and helping to prove work has been carried out successfully. Once works are completed, digital platforms aid in creating detailed handover documents, ensuring a smooth transition after retrofit - a notoriously overlooked area.
While introducing new technologies into existing workflows can feel unnerving, premium software is built with interoperability and ease-of-use in mind, so that it works seamlessly with existing programs. It means teams can get up to speed without delay. Not only does this integration with tech stacks ensure data integrity, but it also ensures everyone is marching to the same beat.
Choosing the right path
Wales’ journey to retrofit success hinges on organisational integrity, effective processes and clear lines of communication. By leveraging the latest technological advancements, the nation has an opportunity to demonstrate leadership on the issue of retrofit decarbonisation whilst delivering all-important living upgrades, transforming lives and pulling people out of fuel poverty.
Let’s hope that it chooses the route of digital tools and software, and brings long-lasting change to some of its most vulnerable residents.
