Sustainable Homes

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Founded 13 years ago, Sustainable Homes began as a means of producing research and guidance documents on sustainable construction and development. After initial work, it was decided that the most effective way of disseminating this knowledge was through providing training courses for building and environmental professionals, as well as consultancy in these areas. As a social enterprise, profits made by the organisation are recycled back into the parent company – a housing association which works to provide housing for vulnerable people.

Sustainable Homes also provides a benchmarking index for organisations to measure their sustainability performance: SHIFT (the Sustainable Homes Index For Tomorrow). This process is undertaken through a best practice group, where sustainability assessments take place and members share results and advice on how to improve.

Beginning with 16 founding members, SHIFT now has 37 members, which Maeve Adams, Training and Business Manager at Sustainable Homes, says is proof of the effectiveness of knowledge sharing amongst housing organisations: “It indicates that housing associations are recognising the benefits that joining SHIFT gives, for both them and their members. It has a resident focus – residents want a chance to lead more sustainable lives and SHIFT can help with this. It also helps members to benchmark against their peers, giving a slightly more competitive angle to drive themselves.

Sustainable Homes has worked on a number of innovative projects aiming at improving the environmental performance of buildings through reducing carbon emissions.

Sustainable Homes is working to promote exemplar best practice of replicable low carbon housing - an often-cited concern regarding low and zero carbon construction: “We are starting works on a house which has an air source heat pump, internal insulation on external walls, and back-up solar water. This project aims to showcase innovation and replicability.”

Projects like these are indeed demonstrating that low and zero carbon housing has evolved a great deal from the ‘novelty’ one-off constructions of several years ago. It is now widely accepted that low carbon does not have to mean high cost where housing is concerned. Adams points towards a recent project by Sovereign Housing, which contains an entire housing development built at Levels 5-6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes. A highly impressive achievement, and one likely to replicated in the future, especially when the financial benefits of low carbon housing are also fully realised; as Adams points out, “a shift towards sustainability will mean financial savings as well.”

Sustainable Homes is also involved with a ‘Local Standards’ pilot project for the Tenant Services Authority. A resident-focused scheme, its aim is to investigate the kind of environmental standards that residents want delivered from their homes. This takes a number of factors into account, including the involvement of the landlord in environmental matters, quality of accommodation, and issues in this area that residents are concerned about, like fuel poverty.

Other projects with which the organisation has recently become involved include work with the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes and the Zero Carbon Hub, where Sustainable Homes are facilitating a dialogue between members of a new-build zero carbon wider stakeholder forum, which reports directly to Communities and Local Government.

Adams is also positive about the progress being made in low carbon refurbishment of homes – a hugely important area for sustainable housing and national low carbon targets – such as the government’s commitment to cut the UK’s carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 – but she believes that more action needs to be taken urgently if we are to meet such ambitious goals. This includes a far more holistic approach to housing and sustainable development – the approach that Sustainable Homes works from, as she explains: “Things are really getting off the ground with low carbon refurbishment but we need to shift up a gear. Sustainable Homes and SHIFTpromotes a holistic approach – we need to look at all areas, including energy, water, materials, management, ecology and the health and well-being of people living in the buildings.”