Local Authority Building & Maintenance May/June 2021

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LABMONLINE.CO.UK

MAY/JUNE 2021

LOCAL AUTHORITY BUILDING & MAINTENANCE

HOUSING & REGENERATION ROAD TO ZERO CARBON FIRE PROTECTION & SECURITY

THE HOUSING FORUM In a new column, Chief Executive Shelagh Grant shares industry insights and discusses the priorities for council housebuilding Q&A Nik Turner, Executive Director of Communities and Customer Services from believe housing, tells LABM what it means to achieve the Carbon Neutral International Standard

THE LEADING MAGAZINE FOR LOCAL AUTHORITY AND HOUSING ASSOCIATION SPECIFIERS, INCORPORATING

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CONTENTS

May/June 2021 Vol.37 No.3

REGULARS 5 COMMENT Planning for the Future 6 NEWS Enfield Council secures £1m funding to make existing homes energy-efficient — Birmingham Council House refurbishment offers opportunities to residents — ONS construction output 7 CONTRACT UPDATE Perth & Kinross Council approve planning for a new Passivhaus primary school in North Perth 8 INDUSTRY COMMENT Matthew Warburton, Policy Advisor at the Association of Retained Council Housing (ARCH) discusses council housing fit for the future 10 VIEW FROM THE SUPPLY CHAIN Anna Plesniar, Process Development Scientist at AluK, looks at the application of colours and textures to aluminium windows and doors 11 GUEST COMMENT Paul Miller, Cabinet Member with responsibility for economic development, leisure, culture and tourism at Pembrokeshire County Council and consultant at V4 Services, talks about post pandemic built environment transformation

Lovell discusses the Trinity Walk housing development in London and delivering regeneration schemes HOUSING & REGENERATION 17 Creating a Lasting Legacy Lovell on its flexible and collaborative approach to regeneration and its work with the Royal Borough of Greenwich 20 Going Electric Electric heating and hot water solutions for affordable housing 22 ROUND-UP

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FIRE PROTECTION & SECURITY 28 Reviewing Fire Safety Claims The importance of interrogating the data and test results, and what social housing providers need to consider when specifying fire safety products 31 Reducing the Risk Advice on how to reduce the risk of roof fire spread in social housing

ROAD TO ZERO CARBON 34 ROUND-UP

12 ACHIEVING NET ZERO HOMES Andy Sutton, Co Founder and Director of Design & Innovation at Sero, explores how we make UK housing Net Zero 15 THE HOUSING FORUM Chief Executive Shelagh Grant shares insights on council housebuilding and details of the organisation’s events aimed at local authorities

Industry insights from The Housing Forum

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23 Blueprint for Sustainable, Affordable, new Homes Hastoe Housing Association talks to LABM about it’s New-Build Standard and the importance of addressing the climate emergency 26 Carbon Footprint Q&A with Nik Turner from believe housing about the housing association’s commitment to achieving carbon neutrality

Delivering sustainable new homes

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Fire safety and material specification

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EDITOR’S COMMENT

Editor Claire Clutten labm@hamerville.co.uk

Planning for the Future

Advertisement Manager Jacob Tatum jtatum@hamerville.co.uk

In the Queen’s Speech on the 11th May, as expected, reference was made to bringing forward laws that will modernise the planning system — Planning Bill. Ahead of the Queen’s Speech I spoke to John East, Board Member of The Housing Forum and Interim Strategic Director for Place at Winchester City Council, about the proposed planning reforms and the potential impact on affordable housing delivery.

John believes the reforms could “make it more difficult to deliver genuinely affordable housing”.

Planning, regulatory reforms, viability, council housing delivery and the drive to net zero carbon were all key talking points at The Housing Forum’s virtual Councils Housing Spring Conference on the 13th May. In his opening speech as Conference Chair, John East cited the relationship between housing and planning as fundamental.

Professor Janice Morphet, Visiting Professor at Bartlett School of Planning at UCL, reported on the Third National Survey of Local Authority Housebuilding activity. The survey revealed how a significant proportion of local authorities now have dedicated housing companies created specifically to accelerate the construction of affordable homes and that a large number of councils are also entering into joint ventures and partnering with housing associations to boost supply. This increased appetite for providing affordable homes is further backed up by the research, which highlights that 80% of councils have identified the need for affordable housing in their corporate strategies.

The pandemic has brought into sharper focus the urgent need for high quality genuinely affordable homes and crucially, more social housing. Councils and housing associations are perfectly placed to deliver in this regard. As LAs and HAs regularly engage with their communities, they are aware of the local need and can ensure the right balance of tenure is achieved.

Planning has often be criticised for being the problem as to why not enough new homes get built year on year, however, according to analysis from the Local Government Association released in May, more than 1.1 million homes granted planning permission in England in the last decade have not been built yet. Since 2010, the number of planning permissions granted for new homes

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14,289 (1 July 2019 — 30 June 2020)

has more than doubled, with nine in 10 planning applications approved by councils. The analysis follows new polling by the LGA which found that ‘80% of MPs and 88% of Peers think councils should have more financial freedoms and powers to build new homes’.

of councils have identified “the80%need for affordable housing in their corporate strategies. ” Will the changes to the housing planning rules in England using a zoning system help deliver the volumes of affordable homes needed at pace?

Mark Perry, Chief Executive of VIVID says: “This will only be possible if there’s increased access to funding to support the building of more affordable housing and a heightened focus on place shaping and communities.”

The establishment of a new Building Safety Regulator “to ensure that the tragedies of the past are never repeated” was also mentioned in the Queen’s Speech. To make homes safe from fire, as Matthew Warburton, Policy Advisor at the Association of Retained Council Housing quite rightly points out in his Industry Comment, “councils will need to do much more than remove flammable cladding from high-rise blocks”.

Against this backdrop the Government is currently reviewing the Decent Homes Standard and in BEIS, Matthew says, “civil servants are beginning to size up the challenge of decarbonising the social housing stock as the countdown to 2050 continues.”

All of this is essential work for councils, which requires significant investment — including grant funding if it is to be achieved — plus a lot of thought around the logistics. Councils cannot afford to waste money and there needs to be more of a focus on how we can deliver wider retrofit schemes that deliver on the dual aims of building safety and decarbonisation.

LABMONLINE.CO.UK

MAY/JUNE 2021

LOCAL AUTHOR ITY BUILDING & MAINTENANCE

HOUSING & REGENE RATION ROAD TO ZERO

CARBON

FIRE PROTECTION

& SECURITY

COVER STORY: To be removed from LABM’s circulation please call 01923 237799 or email: circulation@hamerville.co.uk

THE HOUSING FORUM In a new column, Chief Executive Shelagh Grant shares industry insights and discusses the priorities for council housebuild ing

In April, Willmott Dixon was appointed by Be First to deliver the next segments for Phase 2 in the regeneration of Gascoigne estate’s east side in Barking. Read more about that story here: www.rdr.link/lv001

MAY/JUN E

Nik Turner, Executive Q&A Director of Communit and Customer Services ies from believe housing, tells LABM what it means to achieve the Carbon Neutral International Standard

THE LEADING MAGAZINE FOR LOCAL AUTHORIT AND HOUSING Y ASSOCIATION SPECIFIER S, INCORPORATING

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NEWS IN BRIEF

Council homes to go green

Grange Place investment Progressive landlord ForHousing has bought four flats in Salford to enable tenants to stay in their homes. Tenants living at Grange Place in Cadishead were at risk of having to leave the flats after a five-year lease arrangement came to an end. ForHousing had been managing the homes for a private owner as part of a lease and repair scheme, which was funded by Salford City Council in 2015 and designed to bring empty properties back into use for social housing.

At the end of the five-year period, the flats reverted to the owner, who was interested in selling the properties.

ForHousing stepped in and bought them.

This means tenants can stay in their homes at an affordable rent. Each tenant has benefited from a rent reduction of about £13 per week as a result.

ONS construction output Mark Robinson, Group Chief Executive at SCAPE says: “The continued growth in output reaffirms the construction industry’s resilience and ability to overcome the challenges it has faced over the last 12 months. Despite the ongoing concerns posed by materials and labour shortages, the figures indicate that the industry is continuing to help lead the economic recovery.

“The speed and scale of project delivery must now be our focus. Over the next few years, we have a real opportunity to accelerate public investment in sustainable, urban regeneration projects that will transform communities and improve the quality of people’s lives in a post-pandemic world.

It’s crucial that projects are able to move through procurement quickly, so that we don’t lose momentum.”

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©wetzkaz/AdobeStock

Funding worth more than £1m has been secured by Enfield Council to make council homes more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.

The Council has successfully joined the National Net Zero Retrofit Accelerator project to develop deep, whole-house retrofits of homes in Edmonton Green, Upper Edmonton and Haselbury wards.

The funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) of around £1m will be match funded

by Enfield Council from a housing budget set aside for environmental improvements, as agreed by the local authority's Cabinet in February 2021.

The project aims to make the circa 36 council homes super-efficient with thermal improvements and renewable energy generation, reducing carbon emissions and lowering residents’ energy bills. The whole-house retrofit approach is a more

in-depth package of work than standard retrofit measures such as loft insulation or refitting of windows.

Enfield Council’s Deputy Leader, Cllr Ian Barnes says: “The Retrofit Accelerator programme helps achieve our climate action aims while reducing energy bills through insulation and low carbon heat and power solutions. It supports Enfield Council’s proposals, as set out in our Climate Action Plan. On top of this, the partnership will also help to develop ‘green jobs’ in construction, manufacturing and project management, making this a project that will benefit local people and the local economy.”

Enfield Council will join seven other housing partners in the collaborative scheme — worth more than £31.3m in total.

Opportunities through refurbishment A project to make Birmingham’s Council House fit for the 21st century will create a range of jobs and opportunities for local people, including long-term unemployed and apprentices. The £32.5m scheme will see the Council House, the Council House extension and part of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery undergo extensive electrical refurbishment to both modernise the building and ensure the safety of councillors, staff and visitors who use the different parts of it.

Under the Birmingham Business Charter for Social Responsibility, contractor ISG has made a series of commitments to ensure local businesses, people and schools will also benefit from the project, in particular those within the Ladywood and Bordesley and Highgate

wards, which cover the city centre.

These include: ● To employ six local people to work on the construction phase for over 12 months. ● Employ a further five people who are long-term unemployed. ● Provide a range of apprenticeships to support young people. ● Use local sub-contractors and honour a ‘buy local’ commitment. ● 144 hours of staff hours to work with the local community (engaging with schools, offering virtual and face to face work experience.)

Under the Charter, there is also a commitment to support a green, sustainable environment through reducing carbon dioxide by 21 tonnes during the project.

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CONTRACT UPDATE: PERTH & KINROSS COUNCIL

Planning approval for new Passivhaus school Perth & Kinross Council has approved planning for a new Passivhaus primary school in North Perth. The school, which will replace both the current North Muirton and Balhousie Primary Schools, is being delivered by Robertson Construction Tayside on behalf of hub East Central, with Architype as both Lead Consultant and Passivhaus Designer. BakerHicks have been appointed to provide mechanical and electrical design services.

The new school will be built on the site of the current North Muirton Primary School, will have a capacity for 500 pupils and will incorporate a nursery and additional support needs (ASN) provision each with their own dedicated outdoor space. Due to complete in early 2023, both original schools will remain in operation until that time.

The new school will deliver a 60-80% reduction in energy consumption, resulting in carbon reductions, and lower running

and maintenance costs. The standard is achieved through the design and build phase, and selection of materials to ensure building efficiency throughout the project.

Councillor Caroline Shiers, Lifelong Learning Convener, Perth & Kinross Council, says: “This is a very exciting development as part of the Council’s work to transform the school estate in Perth and Kinross. We aim through this project to both enhance education provision for children in the north of Perth but also support a more environmentally friendly learning and teaching environment."

The new school also meets the aspirations of Perth & Kinross Council as they work towards a Zero Carbon agenda, as the Council’s Interim Chief Executive, Barbara Renton explains: “We want to ensure that our buildings, from offices to schools, are energy-efficient, cost-effective to run and maintain, and contribute to an improved environment. Using the

Passivhaus Standard for the new primary school in North Perth enables us to address all three areas at once through carbon reduction being built into the design and construction process.”

Ann-Marie Fallon, Associate Director and Passivhaus Designer, Architype, says: “We have been delighted to be involved in designing Scotland's first Passivhaus primary school in a year when Scotland is on the international map hosting COP26. Full credit should go to Perth & Kinross Council and Robertson for committing with us to building forward better.”

Gary Bushnell, Chief Executive, hub East Central Scotland, adds: “It is great to see this project moving forward and it builds on our strategic partnership with Perth & Kinross Council, which has so far successfully delivered six new schools across the region since 2015.”

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IN ASSOCIATION WITH

INDUSTRY COMMENT

Council housing fit for the future Matthew Warburton, Policy Advisor at the Association of Retained Council Housing (ARCH), discusses the latest developments in government policy initiatives relating to building safety, Decent Homes and the decarbonisation of social housing, and the issues that must be resolved to achieve successful implementation. en years ago, hopes were high that the self-financing settlement for local authority housing would free councils from the treadmill of annual subsidy payments and end years of under-investment in their stock of homes. Councils were encouraged to take a long-term view of their housing assets and plan investment over 30 years, confident that the rent they expected to be able to charge under the settlement would allow them the resources to bring all the stock up to the Decent Homes Standard and keep it there.

Events, of course, did not pan out as expected; zigzags in government rent policy made a large hole in projected income. But it is now also clear that it was over-optimistic to expect that stock investment needs would be limited to the requirements of Decent Homes.

In different parts of government three separate teams are working on plans that point to requirements for major new investment in council housing. It is already clear that in order to make homes safe from fire councils will need to do much more than remove flammable cladding from high-rise blocks. The new Building Safety regime will not only clarify the extent of landlord’s responsibilities but also, rightly, ensure that they are fulfilled.

In parallel, but another part of MHCLG, the Government is undertaking a review of the Decent Homes Standard to assess the need to update it to meet

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today’s — and tomorrow’s — expectations. Meanwhile, the Housing Ombudsman is using his new powers to spotlight landlords that are failing to meet the existing standard. And over in BEIS, civil servants are beginning to size up the challenge of decarbonising the social housing stock as the countdown to 2050 continues.

It goes without saying that the combined cost implications of these developments are likely to be huge. But the Government, one suspects, is acutely aware of this. But it may not be so wellinformed about how the impact varies from council to council, depending on the age and type of stock or the balance between houses and flats, although the aftermath of Grenfell has raised awareness of the incidence and distribution of high-rise blocks.

Responding to the challenges It is less clear whether officials or Ministers are equally alive to some of the other problems involved in responding to these challenges. Most importantly, seen from government these are three different policy areas for the separate teams of officials working on them; from the landlord or the tenant’s point of view it is just the one stock of homes that is affected. There are potential conflicts or trade-offs between different policy objectives; for example, removing cladding may make a block of flats safe

without saying “thatIt goes the combined cost implications of these developments are likely to be huge.

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from fire but will rarely help improve thermal efficiency. Landlords will want to avoid the need to waste money and inconvenience residents twice because lack of coordination in the timing of government funding streams means they have to put scaffolding up twice.

Most blocks of council flats now include a mix of tenants and leaseholders, some of whom have sub-let their flats. But neither the Decent Homes regime nor the current proposals to improve building safety have yet come to terms with the challenges this poses. Both rightly include expectations that residents will be kept informed and consulted about planned works but offer little advice on how to handle conflicts of interest between tenants and leaseholders.

As work goes on to bring these separate policy initiatives to fruition, these are just some of the problems that will need to be resolved for implementation to be successful.

Councils will not be slow to mention them. Let’s hope government is listening.

www.arch-housing.org.uk

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VIEW FROM THE SUPPLY CHAIN

The striking AluK façade in powder coated aluminium at the newly opened Torfaen Learning Zone in Cwmbran

Any colour your like?

Anna Plesniar, Process Development Scientist at AluK, discusses the application of colours and textures to aluminium windows and doors, and the need to achieve consistency, quality and durability. ne of the key reasons why local authority specifiers choose aluminium for their windows and doors is the vast choice of colours and textures available and the durability of the finish that can be achieved. Specifiers know that they can basically have any colour they want in a range of textures to suit any style of project, with manufacturers offering pretty comprehensive standard ranges on pre-set lead times, as well as the option of any RAL colour to order.

What specifiers need to be aware of though is that, even on aluminium, colour and texture is only skin deep and what really makes the difference in terms of consistency, quality and durability is how that colour and texture is applied to the aluminium substrate. Every piece of

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The anodising creates a “sealed layer of aluminium oxide, which allows the paint to adhere to the aluminium and provides a good level of durability and corrosion resistance.

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aluminium profile used in windows and doors has to be pre-treated before colour can be applied, and then there are various powder coating technologies, which dictate the performance classification that can be achieved.

Improved paint adherence For an even better finish however, specifiers can choose profiles from a limited number of suppliers (including Aluk) that are pre-anodised. In contrast to the sealed oxide layer created by anodising, in pre-anodising the oxide layer stays unsealed, and this gives improved paint adherence and better protection against filiform corrosion which can sometimes be associated with powder coated aluminium.

When it comes to the powder coat itself, there are two grades for the powders used in the UK as laid down by Qualicoat, which licenses both paint producers and applicators to ensure consistent levels of quality. Qualicoat Class 1 compliant powders are suitable for the vast majority of UK applications including most residential applications, while Class 2 are generally reserved for high-rise buildings or those subjected to particularly high levels of UV or pollution.

Warranties can be up to 40 years for Class 2 powders and cleaning regimes

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Anthracite grey powder coated AluK windows and doors installed at Schooners Wharf in Cardiff 6

can be extended from one year to 18 months, representing a considerable potential saving over the long term.

It is worth bearing in mind though that the quality of finish and durability which can be achieved by combining pre-anodising with Class 1 powders is easily equivalent to Class 2 performance, and the upfront savings that this can achieve easily outweigh any longerterm savings in cleaning.

Warranties and accreditations will vary by system, so the best advice is to look for Qualicoat Seaside grading for any projects in a coastal or aggressive environment.

■ For more information visit www.rdr.link/lv002

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GUEST COMMENT

Built environment transformation Paul Miller, Cabinet Member with responsibility for economic development, leisure, culture and tourism at Pembrokeshire County Council and consultant at V4 Services, discusses transforming local authority built environments in a post COVID-19 world. ong before the pandemic, technology had revolutionised the world of work, making remote working eminently possible. Despite that, the office culture routinely restricted home working days to just Mondays or perhaps, for the lucky few, Fridays too.

COVID-19 instantly moved us all online and is now proving to be the catalyst for a longer-term cultural revolution that means more employers — both public and private sector — are beginning to realise they are going to need a very different office portfolio from here on out.

For local authorities, the opportunity is twofold. Firstly, a real opportunity to shift capital from dedicated office accommodation into services more visible to, and better appreciated by, the communities they serve. We were too radical when, in 2018, we pitched the idea of a local authority ditching its principal office entirely in favour of developing and funding a network of community hubs, set up for flexible and collaborative working by day and for supporting community activity by night.

But is it still such a radical concept today?

Secondly, with the market in a fundamentally different place than 2019, has there ever been a better time to forge a community and political consensus around a future vision for urban centres?

The radically disrupted market, a heightened expectation and welcoming of public sector intervention, access to

historically low fixed rate borrowing, new funding opportunities emerging from the UK’s reshaping and redistributing of former EU programmes. All this means we’re seeing local authority funding intervention rates as low as 10% delivering £20m+ acquisition and direct investment projects in regional centres and bringing hundreds of homes (and the associated footfall) back into town centres.

Transformational intervention 2021 is undoubtedly the time for ambitious, transformational intervention in the built environment space. Relatively small investments by local authorities, coupled with their putting to better use existing locked in capital and sites, can and should be the catalyst for transforming communities.

A neat, single project example of where this is being done can be found in the London Borough of Ealing’s redevelopment of their office Perceval House. As 215,000 sq ft gross of office space over five stories in the heart of Ealing Broadway, Perceval House was initially designed for a possible road widening that did not take end up taking place. Therefore, the building represented an inefficient use of the plot available in an area of high land value. Like many public sector administrative buildings of its age and type, it was inefficient, expensive to run and heading towards the need for a substantial and expensive overhaul.

undoubtedly the “time2021forisambitious, transformational intervention in the built environment space.

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V4 Services supported Ealing from the concept through to modelling, procurement, a new ways of working rollout and into construction programme management. The agreed scheme, now in delivery, will reduce the council’s current accommodation to 100,000 sq ft of brand new grade A office accommodation, funded through receipts from 240 new market sale properties while at the same time providing a further 240 (50%) affordable homes.

V4 Services are experienced working with local authorities, developing and testing their thinking and then delivering on their ambitions. We undertake the detailed analysis required to underpin solid options appraisals, propose and develop services models to maximise opportunity.

■ Visit www.rdr.link/lv003 to learn more about the services V4 offer and click here www.rdr.link/lv004 to book a complimentary one-hour planning workshop to discuss your district’s built environment portfolio as we continue to emerge from COVID-19.

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ACHIEVING NET ZERO HOMES in association with

Net zero housing — how do we do that?

How do we make UK housing Net Zero? Andy Sutton, Co Founder and Director of Design & Innovation at Sero, outlines the challenge facing politicians, councils, RSLs, policy makers and contractors and suppliers to retrofit our housing stock to deliver genuine decarbonisation.

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ur homes need to change. The UK’s homes and the activities within them generate about 40% of total national emissions.

What’s more, the UK’s Climate Change Act 2008 (extended in 2017) makes the requirement to decarbonise a legal obligation, as well as a moral and ethical imperative: “Net Zero” is the law.

New home construction rates rarely break 200,000 in any year, so decarbonising the existing 29m homes in the UK is the priority — and it is a retrofit problem. But there are other issues — poor tools and understanding, few financial drivers, poor competency and quality plus the challenge of decarbonising the embodied carbon in the materials and retrofit process. In the next few articles we’ll unpick these, but we’ll start with the tools assessing what Net Zero actually is.

No legal definition Despite legislation, the UK does not have a statutory definition of Net Zero. No precise legal definition means no proper understanding and no agreed tools or method for measuring what’s net zero carbon — it unfortunately also means free reign for many claims of “green” and “zero carbon”. The prevailing definition is by the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC), which recognises that all carbon emissions from energy usage and occupancy of a home should be considered as part that home’s carbon footprint.

This is not in line with existing UK regulatory tools and certification schemes. The most important of these is the Building Regulation’s ‘Standard

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Assessment Procedure’ (SAP), and for retrofit the little sibling RdSAP (reduced data…). These are the statutory mechanism used to confirm the energy performance of buildings are above a notional minimum level. Every home in the UK must have a SAP score and consequential Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) — but it’s the wrong tool for assessing Net Zero.

SAP uses an energy metric to assess space heating demands and hot water needs, converting to carbon only as a yearly output based on an historic average annual carbon factor. But it is blind to the ongoing decarbonising of the national energy grid and ignores the differences in the carbon emitted depending on when electricity is used.

SAP’s normalisations of climate and occupancy, which are right for assessing legislative compliance with a minimum performance level, are for the same reason wrong for forecasting any individual cases.

This is why the advice on the back of EPCs

is so famously bad — it’s the retrofit equivalent of averaging complex dietary and nutritional advice down to “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”.

SAP ignores the unregulated energy use that’s plugged in by the occupants, which is around a third of the energy used in a modern home. UKGBC’s definition of Net Zero, and our planet’s atmosphere, doesn’t exclude the impact of unregulated energy.

Carbon savings Using the wrong tool for the job leads to poor outcomes. It means that photovoltaics dumping generation on the grid when it doesn’t need it will score you SAP points, but batteries that help to balance the grid gets you nothing. It means that athletic, jumper-wearing couples are told to spend thousands on insulation that will actually save them grammes of carbon (and pennies), not on a large hot water tank heating overnight that could save them kilogrammes (and pounds). And it means that manufacturers chase points not carbon — products claim to ‘achieve 2 SAP points’ but rarely do these deliver genuine carbon savings.

This isn’t to say SAP and rdSAP are bad tools, they are in fact very good ones for what they were designed to do.

But you don’t put a screw in with a hammer: SAP might nail minimum energy compliance, but we’re all screwed if we use it to try and deliver Net Zero.

■ For more information on Sero and its work visit https://sero.group/

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The pace is quickening for the many councils nationwide who are rapidly taking a significant role locally in the delivery of new homes and in partnership through Homes England and with others, says Shelagh Grant, Chief Executive of The Housing Forum.

©nrqemi/AdobeStock

High priorities for council housebuilding he Housing Forum established a dedicated Councils Network in early 2019, which has now grown to over 75 councils, giving them a place to connect and understand the breadth of development skills and commissioning approaches available throughout the housing industry. The Councils Network covers all of England and includes combined authorities, cities and districts plus the London Councils — all aware they can gain from understanding approaches and solutions taken in areas different to their own.

The Housing Forum is an independent cross sector network, that works with local councils, developers and contractors, housing associations, design and cost consultancies, and the suppliers and manufacturers into the housing construction industry to share best practice.

The Councils Network sets its own agenda for twice-yearly conferences through an Advisory Group with a regional balance including smaller and larger councils. The Councils Housing Spring Conference in May brought housing and planning officers together and planning and regulatory changes were debated with

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support from the Planning Officers Society.

Homes England highlighted the launch of a new Local Government Capacity Centre (LGCC) to provide a “well-structured and joined-up access to a range of tools and initiatives” intended to boost local authorities’ skills and capacity to deliver their housing supply ambitions. Gravesham Council's topic addressed local housing supply issues through a low energy downsizing initiative. Housing and planning services working together on council-led Garden Communities also featured. Professor Janice Morphet gave early findings and insights from the Third National Survey of Local Authority Housebuilding activity.

For the autumn conference we expect to cover what to anticipate in years to come, as the Future Homes Standard will begin to impact on the design and performance of new-build home.

Housing Forum events Council Network members also attend the full range of Housing Forum events where council initiatives are regularly featured.

Asset Strategy Forums are covering Net Zero Carbon and the steps to take now,

Homes England launched the new Local Government “Capacity Centre (LGCC) to provide ‘well-structured joined-up access to a range of tools and initiatives’. ”

plus developments in the Building Safety Case trials. The January Asset Strategy Forum showed the results of collaborative council and contractor partnership working — where reinvestment decisions reduced the liability and cost of future repairs freeing up investment for urgent structural fire risk measures. Our February Development Partnership Forum covered Council-led housing regeneration in Rotherham Town Centre and the strategic East Leeds extension.

Insight reports from these events are on The Housing Forum website www.housingforum.org.uk.

We are delighted to have LABM magazine on board as the media partner for our council housing events, with many readers responsible for the construction, retrofit, refurbishment and maintenance of social and affordable housing, there are strong parallels with The Housing Forum’s remit of sharing best practice information.

■ For details of The Housing Forum’s forthcoming events visit: https://housingforum.org.uk/events

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HOUSING & REGENERATION

Creating a lasting legacy Taking a flexible and collaborative approach to regeneration. LABM finds out how Lovell is making a difference to people’s lives in a new community in London. ustained population growth and fast rising land values are bringing a new set of considerations into the way local authorities and housing associations decide how to improve and provide new affordable housing across many of London’s social housing estates.

In the last 10 years around 50 former council estates of varying sizes and complexity across the London boroughs have been granted planning permission for substantial regeneration. A project that typifies the ambitions and vision in the London Boroughs has been Lovell Partnerships’ £398m 13-year regeneration programme in Woolwich.

In 2013, Lovell was appointed by Royal Borough of Greenwich for its ‘flexibility and collaborative’ approach to long-term partnership. This dedicated programme of investment, partnership working and housebuilding will deliver over 1,500 new homes across two former council estates selected by the council for regeneration.

The first, the Connaught Estate in Woolwich, was built by London County Council in the 1960s as part of a slum clearance programme, heralding a new

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era in mass social housing. It was the first estate in London to use a system-built method of prefabricated concrete slabs to quickly and efficiently address the area’s housing shortages.

However, the estate soon deteriorated and became blighted by high crime rates, drug use and anti-social behaviour. The blocks’ communal stairways were unprotected by security doors, creating an intimidating environment for residents,

while the flats themselves were cramped, noisy, damp and expensive to heat.

Transformational project The first phase of this project is transforming this predominantly social housing area into a vibrant mixed community of one-, twoand three-bedroom apartments in blocks up to 10 storeys high, as well as three- and four-bedroom houses. Over a third of the homes are affordable housing for rent or

A CGI of the one-, two- and threebedroom apartments at Trinity Walk

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HOUSING & REGENERATION

The opening of Vaile Court

This development sits “right at the heart of Woolwich and has allowed many young people and families to remain in this part of London.

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shared ownership, with the rest for open market sale.

Over the last six years, this major regeneration scheme for Woolwich has already delivered more than 600 open market and affordable homes to the borough whilst also driving job creation, apprenticeships and economic growth.

Lovell’s vision for Trinity Walk was to create high-quality communities, with a strong sense of place, where people choose to live and stay. The company’s approach was to ensure the new homes enhance existing connections to local communities, shared facilities, health, transport links and other infrastructure.

To ensure Trinity Walk met local needs, Lovell worked with the council and the local residents to carry out extensive community consultations as well as a number of public exhibitions where residents, businesses and other stakeholders could discuss the proposals.

Lovell used BIM software to give 3D views of the new estates to show how the completed schemes will look.

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From the feedback, street scenes at Trinity Walk were carefully considered to enhance the sense of community with a public realm at its heart and attractive treelined streets connecting the new homes with Woolwich town centre. Apartments with balconies now enjoy views over the surrounding open space and towards the River Thames while quiet podium courtyards and walled gardens with trees and shrubs provide a sheltered backdrop to outdoor private and shared spaces.

Employment and training opportunities As part of its commitment to leaving lasting community benefits, Lovell also made sure the scheme provided major job and training opportunities locally, including up to 177 apprenticeships over the duration of the project. Lovell attended a job fair organised by Woolwich Jobcentre Plus, with over 70 jobseekers visiting its stand for advice on the opportunities available as part of the project.

Lovell has also worked with The Royal Borough of Greenwich to develop an extensive employment and skills plan to improve the economic position of residents within the borough, with all vacancies advertised through Greenwich Local Labour and Business. Its housing partner, PA Housing, is working with the community to deliver a Volunteer Training Programme, which gives opportunities to tenants.

An open evening was organised to encourage local women to consider a career in construction. The event included

a tour of the site, a presentation and the chance to meet women already working at Lovell. As part of its commitment to establishing lasting benefits for local neighbourhoods, Lovell created a £150,000 Community Trust to fund community groups and projects.

Spirit of collaboration The council have worked in collaboration with Lovell with the exciting project from the start. Leader of Royal Borough of Greenwich, Danny Thorpe, said: “This development sits right at the heart of Woolwich and has allowed many young people and families to remain in this part of London. I am also pleased that so many local people are being employed here on the site — a project with longevity and the local community at its heart.”

Stuart Gibbons, Lovell Managing Director, London and Southern regions, adds: “The Lovell vision is to create highquality schemes with a strong sense of place and community. Our approach will ensure the new homes enhance existing connections to local communities, shared facilities, health, transport links and other infrastructure.

“Our objective is to regenerate places and make them better by building affordable, quality housing across all tenures. That’s very much the foundation of our business model over the last 50 years and our strategy for the foreseeable future.”

With thanks to Lovell for preparing this article

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HOUSING & REGENERATION ©Joe Gough/AdobeStock

Advance Appliances’ eGlow electric boiler

For the provision of hot water Advance offers its Electric Thermal Store

Going electric ith homes better insulated than ever, the demand for hot water is beginning to outstrip that of space heating as standards for airtightness and heat loss drive down the heating load. Hot water demand also continues to grow as the desire for properties with more than one bathroom increases.

In the pursuit of ever greener energy, government is pushing electricity as the main energy source in future new-builds.

More of the electricity generated in the UK is from renewable resources. This can be done at a macro level with groups of wind turbines, hydro schemes and solar farms, or at a micro level with roof mounted solar panels or heat pumps for example. The means to harvest and store this energy along with demand management, largely through flexible tariffs, are being developed and improved.

So if the future is going to see a growth of electric heating systems, what solutions

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should local authority and housing association specifiers be aware of?

There are a number of flexible solutions in small dwellings such as point of use water heating and electric showers for example, and in bigger properties heat pumps may be preferred. However, this article will look at a few of the electric options for space heating and hot water.

Efficient at point of use For space heating most people prefer wet systems with radiators or underfloor heating. The good news is that electric boilers for these applications have been around for many years and offer proven simple technology. Electric heating is inherently efficient at point of use as the energy input is converted directly to heat with only tiny losses.

Electric boilers provide all the things that you would expect from any boiler, including the ability to modulate, and some benefits you might not expect, such as not requiring

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Geoff Egginton at Advance Appliances discusses electric heating and hot water solutions for affordable housing. flues or annual servicing. This reduces cost of installation and ongoing maintenance. In addition some are supplied for sealed system use with relief valves and expansion vessels fitted, and some include pumps.

Most households will have 100 amp supplies and boilers up to 12kW (40,000BTU) will draw around 50 amps.

For space heating alone in a modern mid market property for example this is more than adequate. Advance Appliances offer the eGlow electric boiler in three outputs from 6kW to 12kW. The units modulate and can be supplied as standard 80˚C models or underfloor models, which run at 60˚C. These boilers have a pump and by-pass fitted shortening installation time.

For the provision of hot water Advance offers its Electric Thermal Store in two sizes — for single bathroom or twin bathroom applications. These hot water only stores offer tenants mains pressure hot water with safe vented storage using an internal heat exchanger. They are fitted

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with two 3kW stainless steel immersion heaters, the lower one for an off peak overnight charge, the higher one for boost or solar PV if available. Utilising off peak electricity makes them economical to run.

Storage solutions A significant difference between an electric boiler and a gas boiler is power. Electric boilers do not offer a combination of hot water and heating in one wall mounted box with the ability to generate instantaneous hot water in useful amounts. A typical gas combi boiler is around 24kW, which can be seen would consume all of the electric energy available in the home. At this power gas combis deliver around 12 litres per minute of water at 40˚C; rates vary of

course with incoming water temperatures and different boiler models. Although electric combination ‘boilers in a box’ exist, their flow rates tend to suffer in comparison, typically less than half of those which gas or oil boilers can offer.

The solution, fortunately, is straightforward. Storage is required. There are a number of significant advantages to this. Electricity can be consumed at the best tariffs, for example overnight or with flexible tariffs offering daytime top ups, and used throughout the day, making the system economical for tenants by reducing running costs.

Flow rates for these mains pressure hot water cylinders can be as high as 40 litres a minute at 60˚C, giving users the ability to have the washing machine on at the same time as the shower, for example. Advance offer this option with central heating primaries for the best of both worlds —

providing the comfort of wet central heating and mains hot water. The central heating can be vented or sealed with the addition of a plate heat exchanger. Another advantage is the possible utilisation of solar PV, which can make a significant contribution to water heating throughout the year.

The unit is suitable for systems in apartments or small dwellings running four or five radiators. It is pre wired and pre plumbed with heating pump fitted. Heat Pumps have the highest profile in the electric/renewables market and Advance has a range of compatible hot water cylinders designed for optimum performance with this technology.

■ For more information on the eGlow electric boiler visit www.rdr.link/lv005 ■ For more information on the Electric Thermal stores visit www.rdr.link/lv006

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HOUSING & REGENERATION ROUND-UP

New thermally efficient windpost Leviat has launched a new thermally efficient Ancon windpost designed to minimise thermal bridging in masonry cavity walls. Following extensive research and testing, the patented Thermal Windpost (TWP2), part of the Ancon range of steel construction fixings, is said to offer up to a 70% reduction in thermal transmission through the span of the windpost. This guarantees it meets the BRE level for thermal performance provided in BR 443 as a minimum and offers opportunities for more stringent thermal specifications to be met. The product is manufactured from stainless steel and features integral mineral fibre insulation to ensure continuity of insulation in the cavity, and its design means the windpost sits level with the outside face of partial-fill insulation so it can be taped to further reduce thermal heat loss.

■ For more details about the Ancon Thermal Windpost visit www.rdr.link/lv007 Keyhouse ‘12 Hour House’ Keystone Group’s Keyhouse was highly commended in the Innovation category at the 14th Annual Construction Excellence National Awards 2020. The system is based around a series of factory built components that are delivered to site. Once on site a team of four people can construct the house in just 12 hours delivering the complete structure of a brick finish on a robust concrete outer leaf with an internal insulated timber frame, along with floor cassettes, staircase and a pre-tiled roof. It is watertight, airtight-insulated and ready for the first fix. The company’s design team can work with architects, housebuilders and developers to adapt the concept design to suit most house requirements. The system can also accommodate ‘stepped’ and ‘staggered’ site layouts.

Council trials connected boiler control Technology Intelligent remote monitoring and control technology from Vericon Systems is helping South Cambridgeshire District Council to realise the operational and financial benefits of ‘connected’ boiler control. As part of a new trial agreement, the Council has installed a small number of Vericon’s BCM devices in its tenants homes to enable the remote monitoring not only of a boiler’s health and condition in real time, but also predict when the boiler might fail in the future, potentially leaving customers without heating or hot water. The devices are monitored and managed via Vericon’s online portal, with performance data that can be recorded and analysed to predict and identify common failures such as low pressure and electrical or mechanical parts failures.

■ For more information on Vericon’s BCM devices visit www.rdr.link/lv010 Building envelope specification package

■ For more information on Keyhouse visit www.rdr.link/lv008 First social housing Passivhaus scheme handed over in Powys The first ever social housing scheme in Powys to reach Passivhaus Standard is now complete.

Pave Aways Building Contractors handed over the seven energy-efficient homes in a £1.3m development it built in Sarn, near Newtown, to Powys County Council. The homes — four two-bedroom bungalows, two two-bedroom and one three-bedroom houses — have all been certified to Passivhaus Standard.

Final air tests in the bungalows revealed 0.27 air changes an hour with the houses registering 0.49, below the maximum of 0.6 air changes per hour required for Passivhaus certification. The properties were built with heat recovery units to utilise the excess heat that is produced to warm the homes.

Each home also has 4.2KW of photovoltaic roof panels to generate electricity.

■ For information about Pave Aways Building Contractors here visit www.rdr.link/lv009

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Wienerberger launches complete product specification package for the external envelope, available from one source and covered by a 15-year guarantee. The HomeSpec solution includes every item required to complete a high-quality building envelope, ranging from the internal and external walls to the roof as well as any accessories or specialist bricks necessary for the project. Housing associations that source external envelope solutions in this way will also benefit from assured supply, ensuring that materials are available exactly when and where they are needed. One of the key solutions included within the range is Wienerberger’s Porotherm cellular clay block walling system, which delivers a versatile and high-performance alternative to traditional masonry, can be rapidly installed and help boost thermal efficiency levels.

■ For more information about HomeSpec visit www.rdr.link/lv011

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ROAD TO ZERO CARBON Hastoe’s Sharnbrook development in Bedfordshire

Blueprint for sustainable, affordable, new homes Hastoe Housing Association has long understood the need to address the climate emergency and has been at the forefront of sustainable solutions for its new-build homes for nearly two decades. As early adopters of the Eco-Homes Standard, proud proponents of the higher levels of Code for Sustainable Homes, and of course developing the first rural Passivhaus affordable housing in the country, we have clearly demonstrated our commitment to climate and sustainability issues, says Chris Parsons, Hastoe Board Member. t feels as if the climate message is better understood now than at any time in the past. Over 300 UK local authorities have declared a climate emergency and more than half of these have set a zero emissions target of 2030 or earlier1, outstripping even the Government’s ambitious target of 2050.

Their recent consultations on the Future Homes Standard received unprecedented responses from architects, engineers and other professionals all calling for greater ambition and higher standards, and the forthcoming regulatory changes are the better for it.

The need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has never been greater and naturally much of the legislation and drive is centred on this (often using ‘carbon’ as a shorthand). Whilst a rapidly decarbonising grid is undoubtedly good news, there is a danger that this will hide, even deflect away from, demand reduction.

There was a time when it was believed we could generate electricity so cheaply that

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outcomes and warm comfortable homes as we would not need to meter it, which in a birthright. And the easiest place to start is turn devalued energy efficiency. And the right now on our new homes. same risk is true today in GHG terms.

Housing Associations are perhaps In addition, as we move towards heating best placed to take this agenda forward. our homes and fuelling our cars with We have a long-term interest both in the electricity, questions emerge as to whether welfare of our customers and in the value we can generate enough to cope with the sort of peak loads this change will generate. of our properties. There is little point in building homes today that will need to be And of course, reducing GHGs does not necessarily lower the cost of heating our homes and Hastoe’s Colne housing could risk increasing it. scheme in Cambridgeshire Demand reduction, or using less energy, whilst still delivering warmth and comfort has to be considered within our energy policy if we are to avoid these problems.

And the benefit of doing so is the ability to consign fuel poverty to history whilst delivering better housing, better health

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ROAD TO ZERO CARBON Hastoe’s housing scheme in Cheriton Bishop, Devon

Our experience has “shown that thermal comfort is improved when all the elements work together to eliminate cold spots and thermal bridges, providing more comfortable, useable homes as a consequence.

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retrofitted with energy saving measures during their lifetime. We know how to do it; all we need is a regulatory framework for industry to work within.

Introducing a new standard At Hastoe we are starting this journey through our own New-Build Standard, launched in April, which addresses design, space standards, reduced water consumption and future proofing among a comprehensive range of elements.

However perhaps the biggest step is in seeking much better energy efficiency for our new-build homes. We are specifying a much higher level of fabric energy efficiency than the proposed 2022 regulations. In early studies of our Standard against these regulations we are proposing a fabric energy efficiency (FEE) some 20% better than the regulations, and this is delivering an almost 60% improvement on the carbon reduction standards as measured by SAP. We are stepping away from gas boilers earlier than required and developing our supply chain to provide efficient Air Source

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Hastoe’s housing scheme in Lavenham, Suffolk

Heat Pumps as a source of heating and hot water. We recognise the need to improve mechanical design to ensure heat pumps are installed and used efficiently and are properly matched to the heat loss of our buildings. In particular there is likely to be a need for smaller heat pumps as we develop more efficient fabric and bettercontrolled ventilation, and a regulatory framework that encourages manufacturers to develop these would be helpful.

The Hastoe New-Build Standard’s approach to fabric efficiency extends to considering occupant comfort and we are specifying low U-value triple glazed windows for all our new properties. Our experience has shown that thermal comfort is improved when all the elements work together to eliminate cold spots and thermal bridges, providing more comfortable, useable homes as a consequence.

Addressing the performance gap One of the big issues in UK construction is the performance gap. Whilst we all design to achieve a given energy performance, and this design can be checked, the actual construction on site can sometimes fall short of the designed parameters. Of course this is not just true of energy matters, as we have all seen over the last few years. Hastoe will be ensuring that the inspection, certifying, and commissioning regime is increased to ensure we are getting ‘what it says on the tin’.

Addressing water consumption is also important to us and our Standard introduces a lower usage standard than the proposed Building Regulations. We have adopted the Nationally Described Space Standards as our minimum spatial requirement and we also ask for electric car charging points for

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all our new homes where possible, along with high-speed broadband.

Adaptability and accessibility are also very important, especially within our sector, so our Standard requires all of our new homes to be constructed to the accessible standard (M4(2)) of the Building Regulations, with principle private entrances also achieving the M4(3) standard.

New design guidance Of course, all new developments need to have respect for the environment and as rural specialists this is probably more important to us than most. In this regard, the New-Build Standard is just a part of a wider re-evaluation of our approach to new developments.

Influenced by the Build Better, Build Beautiful campaign we have worked hard to produce new Design Guidance (launching in June) for our architects and consultants outlining what is important to us as a rural housing specialist. The process of designing for context, considering the environmental impact, connectivity, landscaping and the natural environment is all now enshrined in our procedures for new developments.

Hastoe believe that this New-Build Standard represents a good first step on the road to ‘Zero-Carbon Ready’ homes but more importantly it also addresses demand reduction in pursuit of building better quality, more efficient, more comfortable and healthier homes that are fit for the future.

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Climateemergency.uk

■ You can watch Hastoe’s film about the New-Build Standard here: www.rdr.link/lv012

PB Live - LABM_Layout 1 19/05/2021 16:51 Page 1

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ROAD TO ZERO CARBON

Gareth Hutchinson from ENGIE and Daryl Reed from believe housing with upgraded homes in Woodhouse Close, Bishop Auckland

Carbon footprint LABM speaks to Nik Turner, Executive Director of Communities and Customer Services from believe housing, about the housing association’s commitment to achieving carbon neutrality. an you tell LABM about the Carbon Neutral International Standard, and what it means to be the first housing association in the sector to achieve it and the United Nations Climate Neutral Now initiative participation?

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We’re really proud to be the first in the sector. Putting believe housing up there with the likes of Microsoft means a lot and really proves our commitment to carbon neutrality. It’s a way of demonstrating that we’re turning ideas into tangible, benchmarkable actions that make a difference.

Part of our commitment is supporting others in the sector. We’re hoping to encourage more housing associations to join the initiative and reach the standard.

As a housing association, why is achieving carbon neutrality so important?

I’ve seen research that suggests the housing sector accounts for around 22% of the UK carbon footprint. That alone shows we have a significant role to play.

Our aim is to deliver a life without barriers for customers. That means homes that are warm and inexpensive to run, supporting our customers currently facing fuel poverty and improving their quality of life. That fits perfectly with improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions.

During 2020 UK emissions dropped 6%. To achieve the targets set out in the Paris Climate Agreement, we need to continue with that level of reduction. We can’t return to what we’ve done before as

Nik Turner

we come out of lockdown. We have to reconsider every aspect of how we do business and, most importantly, support our customers on the journey.

Can you tell LABM about the work you’re doing with One Carbon World and how you achieved the Standard?

One Carbon World has been working with us to establish where our emissions really come from. They’re a carbon neutral

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What are you doing to upgrade the energy performance of your existing homes?

From L-R Paul Satow, Regional Business manager for Vaillant, Mick Buston, of Buston and Maughan, and Andrew Graham, Team Lead at believe housing, with the latest air source heat pump installed in a home in rural Rookhope

organisation and a global resource partner of the Climate Neutral Now Initiative.

They left no rock unturned. Even the overheads for our suppliers, like leased photocopiers were considered. They benchmarked each of the emissions categories to give us a baseline.

Once we fully understood our results, we could look at our footprint and understand how many carbon tonnes our operations generate.

Even though our footprint was benchmarked as low, we still decided we wanted to take it a step further by offsetting our unavoidable emissions. We invested in verified projects like tree planting with the Rainforest Alliance. One Carbon World only supports projects in countries with established carbon policies to make sure that we offset in the most responsible way.

Can you tell LABM about the comprehensive green plan believe housing has in place and what the key priorities are?

We take a lot of pride in our green plan.

Staff came together from across the organisation with suggestions on how we could make a difference. Their ideas were merged into key themes that mirror our corporate plan.

From the very beginning we’ve had strong support and leadership from our

board, they really support the ambitious plans we have.

The green plan acknowledges that we’re in a period of uncertainty and change. It considers short, medium and long-term targets. Our priorities for year one are tackling fuel poverty and ensuring that our customers have the right advice on how to best use their utilities. Although it doesn’t directly impact our targets, we’ve also placed emphasis on biodiversity gains; making sure we re-provide habitats for plants and wildlife wherever possible.

How do you intend to reduce energy use and consumption in the new homes you build?

Our new-build homes are currently designed to provide a minimum rating of a high EPC B. We’ve committed to making that EPC A by 2023.

It is important to include appropriate green measures during the construction phase. Retrofit will always come at an additional cost in future years.

We’re also making best use of smart technology and the ability to include Internet of Things methods. They’ll help customers become more aware of energy use and support them to keep consumption low. We’re keeping a close eye on our supply chain too, using locally sourced materials wherever we can.

We’ve already done a lot, but the launch of the green plan this year is also a commitment to revolutionise our investment programme. When we’re investing, we will aim to satisfy three key requirements — component replacement, ensuring our properties are well maintained; retrofit and green measures, ensuring we meet our targets for 2050 and address fuel poverty; and finally placemaking, to ensure our communities are thriving places where people want to live.

Our programme includes measures that contribute to improving performance, but we’d like to be ambitious.

We’re looking at the feasibility of improvements like ground source heat recovery, using coal mine shafts. These ideas are in the very early stages and will not be easy to bring to fruition, but it’ll take big ideas to really make the difference that’s needed.

How will you be engaging with your customers to help them save money on energy use and reduce emissions?

We’re conscious that our customers must be involved at the beginning of any green discussions and continue to have a voice as projects evolve. We can’t implement and install green measures in isolation. These are our customers’ homes; they’re the people that make an initiative a success.

We’ve partnered with the Royal College of Arts on a project to shape how we deliver services. It’s aiming to understand how best to engage with customers when rolling out green programmes and how to embed carbon neutrality in everyday discussions. A dedicated advice and referrals service is already underway, and we recently surveyed our customers on how they felt about smart technology in homes.

Like any change we can’t simply expect customers to adapt. We need to create a compelling green narrative that responds to the needs of individuals and clearly demonstrates the benefits.

www.believehousing.co.uk

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FIRE PROTECTION & SECURITY

Reviewing fire safety claims Renders and fire safety — more than skin deep, says Lee Lambley, Technical Director at Saint-Gobain Weber. ver since the tragedy at Grenfell Tower, fire safety has been an issue of paramount importance at the top of everyone’s mind and attention. Construction product manufacturers have pursued important fire safety initiatives throughout the years and are likely to continue these for many more years yet, driving through a total change in the industry’s attitude to fire and life safety.

Saint-Gobain Weber is no exception. Its renders, decorative finishes and external wall insulation (EWI) products have been tested, retested and reviewed to assess fire safety. Each variation has been put under scientific scrutiny to understand its suitability for multiple building types and scenarios, not just in isolation but also in combinations and building systems commonly found in the UK. Consequently, Weber is entirely confident that its webertherm EWI systems, for example, are appropriate for use across a wide range of building types.

But what do social housing providers and specifiers need to consider when reviewing fire safety claims like this being made today?

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Don’t just look for an A2 classification Our technical experts are warning anyone involved in product specification to look much deeper into claims around fire safety performance.

Most specifiers will be familiar with the British Standard 476 fire test series, which continue to be important tests. But today’s specifications also demand a good understanding of different testing regimes, including the Euroclass classifications, which range from A1 (best) to F (worst).

These gradings rely on products passing

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Bron Afon Community Housing’s The Tower high-rise block in Cwmbran has been wrapped in BBA-approved webertherm XM EWI

stringent European (EN) standards which are different from BS 476.

Ever since additional Building Regulations guidance was issued at the end of 2018, which introduced a ban on the use of combustible materials in the external walls of high-risk residential buildings, there has been a steady presumption that a Euroclass A1 or A2 classification is required for all façade materials.

Or, more precisely, a presumption for dwellings over 18 metres in favour of either A1, which is basically completely non-combustible, or for A2-s1,d0, which describes products that are of limited combustibility and generate very little smoke development and no flaming droplets or particles.

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This ‘A1 / A2 approach’ is still considered by many clients and specifiers to design out risk and creates confidence that a building will always comply to future building regulations. However, in some cases, this has led to an over-simplification of the issue.

It’s not enough just to look for an A2 classification. It’s the information that sits behind this grading that matters most, along with a lot of other complementary data.

Interrogate the evidence The Euroclass test relates to how a product reacts to fire, but there are also essential BS tests regarding fire resistance, which look at integrity and load-bearing capacity, for example.

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The Weber system uses 90mm thick Mineral Fibre Density (MFD) insulation and offers the fire resistant qualities necessary for a high-rise structure

Most specifiers look at the classification report summary and think “that’s my due diligence done”. But it’s nowhere near that simple. Product decisions should be made based on the full suite of documentation, not just the claims in the marketing literature. This includes looking at the complete set of individual test reports looking at the calorific value of the product, the way it responds to surface spread of flame, and other aspects of performance.

Specifiers should interrogate the evidence for renders and related EWI systems, and insist that all test evidence is made openly available to all customers and published, ideally available on the manufacturer’s website, particularly relating to products used on external façades.

One important check is to ensure that all the documentation matches up. The Euroclass certification for a product should align with the individual test reports. The test reports should align with the Declaration of Performance (DoP).

Another area that needs checking is the date of the test data, as it may be quite old — and chances are, the product may be materially different now from that which was originally tested. Any change to a product’s formulation, no matter how small, means previous test data may be invalid and the product may need to be tested again.

Even colour is a factor Perhaps surprisingly, one of the key issues in testing renders for fire safety is the colour. Historically manufacturers have only tested lighter colours such as white or cream — not just because these are the most popular colours, but also because the amount of organic (and therefore combustible) content in these renders is less, and so they are more likely to pass a fire test more easily.

An appropriate range of colours should be tested with the support of a UKAS accredited testing facility. Weber has conducted this assessment on its full colour range, including Carnival Red, which contains the highest level of organic content. Greys and yellows can also throw up interesting test results that need careful checking.

The biggest hurdle is becoming better educated and familiar with testing regimes and what different test reports are saying. Once you are familiar with them, it’s not difficult to identify anomalies. So my final advice: keep asking questions and don’t take anything at face value. Any reputable product manufacturer will be happy to share test data openly and honestly.

■ To get further advice on the specification of Weber EWI and render systems, go to: www.rdr.link/lv013

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FIRE PROTECTION & SECURITY

Following reports about inadequate or missing fire barriers in new-build homes, Stuart Nicholson, Roof Systems Director at Marley, gives advice on how to reduce the risk of roof fire spread in social housing.

©trgowanlock/AdobeStock

Reducing the risk F or the social housing sector, which has a large proportion of terraced and semi-detached homes, preventing fire spread between properties is critical. Building Regulations require that new homes are built with fire protection measures to delay the spread of fire and allow crucial time to escape. So, when a roof is compartmentalised between adjoining homes, fire barriers are an integral safety feature, to prevent the spread of flames and smoke in case of a fire.

However, separate reports from the BRE and BBC Watchdog have raised concerns that some modern homes could have inadequate, incorrectly installed and, in some cases, no fire barriers at all. In fact, investigations found that 650 new homes in one region of the UK had missing, or incorrectly installed, fire barriers. In terraced or semi-detached properties, this increases the risk that fire could spread rapidly through

roof voids from one home to the next. Whilst the research took place in the private newbuild sector, it is equally concerning for social housing. When local authority or housing association specifiers include fire stopping in roof specifications, they presume that the fire barriers are present and installed properly on the completed buildings. So, what could the problem be?

While Part B of the Building Regulations gives guidance on fire stopping, there are still different types of products that can be used. Often limited details are given in Building Regulations applications, so sometimes the responsibility is on building contractors and their sub-contractors to ensure correct detailing and they are not usually fire specialists.

Fire stopping is often achieved with a flexible mineral fibre quilt or sock, but a potential fire passage still exists at the line of the roofing battens, above the rafters,

which can span across the junction between properties. In addition, standard details, such as spandrel panels in timber frame construction, may be used to satisfy fire separating requirements but do not provide fire stopping to the underside of the roof covering.

There are fire barrier products available on the market to close this gap but feedback from contractors suggests that these can be bulky and difficult to install in line with the roof tiles, especially with deep profiled tiles.

It is also difficult to see if the fire protection is in the correct place once the tiles have been laid. This means there is a risk that local authorities have specified a fire barrier and it is present, but it may not be installed correctly, or might not be sufficient to fully seal the gap.

So, what can local authorities and housing associations do to reduce the risk?

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FIRE PROTECTION & SECURITY

The Marley Roof Defence fire barrier features two strips of intumescent material bonded at 90 degrees

1. Ensure fire stopping is specified in line with Part B of the Building Regulations Approved Document Part B provides guidance on specifying and providing compartmentation within the roof.

2. Take more control of fire barrier specification Give careful consideration to fire stopping in the roof of semi-detached and terraced housing, as well as fire breaking in blocks of flats. Provide specific detailing and a named product; don’t leave it open to interpretation by non-specialist contractors.

3. Specify an easy-to-install intumescent fire barrier that can fill all gaps in case of fire To give social housing specifiers peace of mind, we have launched our new Marley Roof Defence fire barrier. It is simple to install, which gives confidence that it is

reports from “the…separate BRE and BBC Watchdog have raised concerns that some modern homes could have inadequate, incorrectly installed and, in some cases, no fire barriers at all.

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correctly fitted and will provide full fire protection, from one roof to the next, achieving up to a 60-minute fire rating.

The Roof Defence fire barrier features two strips of intumescent material bonded at 90 degrees, with an inverted T design, that can simply be installed under tiles and between roof battens to close all gaps in the event of fire. Whereas some other systems are rigid, Roof Defence is flexible, lightweight and is supplied on a roll, so it can easily be taken onto a roof and rolled out over the party wall.

When activated by heat, the inverted T intumescent seal expands, filling the space between roofing battens and sealing all spaces under the tiles, slates, and other roofing elements. It has outperformed all fire testing requirements and fills every void from the party wall to the bottom tile, meaning smoke and fire cannot pass through.

It can also be specified as a comprehensive fire barrier in larger roofs, or as a fire break in expansive buildings with large footprints such as apartment blocks, schools and hospitals.

4. Make sure the product you are specifying doesn’t affect the fit of the roof covering or block ventilation A compressed mineral fibre option can affect the way the roof covering is fitted. This is because, to be securely

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fixed, the projecting nibs on the underside of tiles must have space to hook on the rear face of the roofing batten. A compressed mineral fibre quilt, or sock, occupying this space can interfere with this. It can also block important ventilation paths on large, compartmentalised roofs, causing additonal ventilation problems.

However, Roof Defence ensures clearance until activated by the heat of a fire, so it doesn’t affect the fit of the roof covering or block ventilation. The double intumescent strip and inverted T design also make it much more effective at filling both horizontal and vertical spaces.

5. Consider specifying a full pitched roof system with fire barrier included For ultimate peace of mind, local authorities and social housing providers can specify a full Marley roof system, including JB Red battens, underlay, tiles or slates, fixings, accessories, Roof Defence fire barrier and optional solar PV, backed up by a 15-year warranty. This ensures that every roof on every property is fully compatible and compliant with all regulations, as well as reducing the risk of product substitution.

■ For more information and advice on Roof Defence, please visit www.rdr.link/lv014

The Marley Roof Defence achieves up to a 60-minute fire rating roofs

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FIRE PROTECTION & SECURITY ROUND-UP

Developing a safety case framework Clarion Housing Group is collaborating with Adelard, safety case and risk management specialists, to develop and deploy a safety case programme and framework for Higher Risk Buildings (HRB), helping to further enhance the safety of its residents and visitors. Following the tragic events at Grenfell Tower and the subsequent recommendations of the report by Dame Judith Hackitt to the UK Government, Clarion has taken the initiative to develop a new framework for creating, managing, communicating, and maintaining residential buildings’ safety cases across its business. Adelard is mentoring Clarion in becoming proficient in developing safety cases for themselves using its industry standard software tool, Assurance and Safety Case Environment (ASCE), which shows areas of building safety that successfully meet regulatory requirements as well as those in need of improvement.

■ For more details about the ASCE software tool visit www.rdr.link/lv015 Housing Quality Network partnership Aico announces its partnership with the Housing Quality Network (HQN), a best practice membership organisation delivering high-quality advice, tailored support and training to housing associations and councils in the UK. Aico, a leader in home life safety, works closely with social housing providers across the country through the provision of Fire and Carbon Monoxide alarm systems and educational events. HQN’s members can now access webinars and events hosted by Aico that will provide advice and guidance surrounding safety and compliance within social housing to facilitate long-term change. Working together, both organisations will create a platform for discussion, clarity and the opportunity to share best practice around all aspects of safety and compliance.

Competence criteria for everyone working on a building UK National Standards Body BSI recently published new competence criteria following two rounds of public consultation. The standard supports industry reform and intends to minimise safety risks and improve protection to consumers and occupants, including residents, in and about buildings. Competence of all who provide services and products throughout the life of a building is key to achieving this. The new code of practice, named BSI Flex 8670 v3.0 Built environment – Core criteria for building safety in competence frameworks – Code of practice, sets the core criteria for building safety competence, including fire safety, structural safety and public health for all individuals working in the built environment, to improve safety outcomes throughout the building life cycle.

■ You can download a copy of the standard here www.rdr.link/lv018 Cladding system secures BBA accreditation

■ For more information on Aico’s webinars visit www.rdr.link/lv016 Facial recognition solution for construction sites Biosite Systems Ltd has developed a facial recognition solution to respond to increased demand for contactless site entry. It utilises the latest biometric technology and follows Biosite’s innovative data workflow to combine total workforce data visibility with an effective non-contact mechanism for operatives to access site. At site entry and exit points, operatives simply stand in front of the camera device whilst their facial template is matched against a preexisting database before access is either granted or denied.

The system is completely contactless, with no secondary authentication such as pin entry required. The facial matching process is completed quickly and also remotely, ‘off device’, for increased security, accuracy and speed of throughput. Integrated temperature measurement is also an option, for sites looking to combine operative entry with mandatory fever screening.

■ For more information on Biosite Facial Recognition visit www.rdr.link/lv017

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MechSlip, the innovative brick slip cladding system developed by Ibstock Kevington and Ash & Lacy, has been awarded BBA certification, incorporating a third-party assured A1 Fire Rating. The certification is an important step forward for the MechSlip solution, as it means it can be specified and installed with confidence on high-rise residential buildings above 18 metres. The accreditation affords MechSlip compliance with Approved Document B of the Building Regulations. The mechanically fixed brick slip system is said to deliver all the benefits of a natural clay brick but is more than 50% lighter than traditional masonry, reducing structural loads.

What’s more, it is the first brick system to use Ibstock Brick and contain no combustible parts — a key safety consideration. The system is also adaptable to being assembled offsite.

■ For more information on MechSlip visit www.rdr.link/lv019

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