Zero Emission Social Housing Taskforce technical sub-group minutes: 14 June 2021

Attendees and apologies

• Aubrey Fawcett – Chief Executive, Inverclyde Council and SOLACE (Chair)
• Mark McArthur – Energy Saving Trust (EST)
• Paul Leask - Hjaltland HA and Rural and Islands Housing Association Forum
• Stacey Dingwall – SFHA
• Stephen Kemp – Orkney Builders
• Colin Reid – Wheatley Group
• Sean Smith – Edinburgh University
• Roddy Hamilton – Changeworks
• Roger Curtis – Historic Environment Scotland
• Graeme Bruce – West Highland Housing Association
• Michael Cameron – Scottish Housing Regulator
• Chris Morgan – John Gilbert Architects

SG Secretariat

• Catriona MacKean
• Naeem Bhatti
• Simon Roberts
• Tony Cruickshank

SG Officials

• Emaline Kulasinghe – Energy & Climate Change

Apologies

• Duncan Smith – Renfrewshire Council

• Cassandra Dove – SFHA
• Graeme Hannah - Robertson Group
• Bruce Cuthbertson – Tenant Participation

Items and actions

Welcome and previous meeting minutes

1. The chair welcomed attendees and the previous meeting note was deemed as an accurate record.

Output from discussion on PAS2035

2. The Chair provided an update of the discussion on PAS2035 and highlighted that it has been possible to come up with wording for the recommendation which should be acceptable for all members of the Sub-group. The intention would be to have qualified assessors who can sign-off on others work that would be to the standard that is demanded – this should help reduce any issues especially for locally based smaller contractors in rural, remote and island communities.

Paper and presentation on Developing Net Zero Technical Solutions for Scotland’s Future Mass Retrofit Housing Programme

3. Sean Smith delivered a presentation on a possible Net Zero Technical Solution and highlighted the following:

• The number of work days  and the number of homes on a yearly and daily basis to achieve net zero targets
• A Scottish comparison with England and Europe in achieving net zero targets
• Issues surrounding the sourcing of materials & resources due to post Brexit arrangements.
• The issue of a moratorium on construction industry having a 1 year target of achieving testing for materials to achieve CA standard by 2022 and indicated the likely cost
• Issues on importing and exporting due to Brexit, and highlighted the issue of sourcing electrical wiring and also the impact of haulage issues
• Discussed in detail the set-up of the group following the end of ZEST and highlighted that to move forward with this, would require quick action
• Emphasised the value of technical handbooks for training, installation and end users
• The need for post-install evaluation to test predicted reductions in emissions
• The question of the impact on the work as a result of the Scottish Government Circular Economy Bill was raised

Signing-off on Tech Sub-group recommendations

4. The Sub-group proposals were discussed and generally accepted and indicated that any comments should be sent to Tony Cruickshank following the meeting by COP 16 June.

5. The issue of having a ventilation strategy was discussed. Important for indoor air quality, and should be included in recommendation. The additional impact of Covid homeworking has highlighted the need for appropriate ventilation in buildings.  . It was highlighted that there is a Building Standards paper on ventilation in schools and that this should be looked at from a housing perspective.

6. The issue of energy network providers and grid restraints was raised, and that the network providers could be holding back progress

7. There was a suggestion the current EPC and SAP calculations at a UK wide basis are not adequately taking Scottish content into account.  Having the EPCs being recalculated in a Scottish context would be helpful.

8. Highlighting that energy storage in Scotland was not only a local issue, but affecting others globally.

9. Highlighting the need for detailed Comms Strategy to engage with the sector and help inform landlords & tenants on ZEST proposals.