Scotland looks to excel in energy efficiency drive

Councils and housing associations will have a particular role to play in the transition. The task is a massive one, but a new tool to help has just been launched.

Scotland Excel, which develops and manages procurement frameworks for Scotland’s local authorities and other public bodies, has rolled out the next generation of its Energy Efficiency Contractors’ Framework. This aims to help cut carbon emissions while at the same time tackling fuel poverty and creating warmer homes.

The first generation of the framework was launched four years ago. “We’ve now expanded on that”, explains Hugh Carr, Head of Strategic Procurement at Scotland Excel.

“Contractors can deliver a whole range of measures to enhance the heat efficiency of homes that are primarily social housing. They include loft insulation, windows, door replacements, and roof insulation. It’s across the whole spectrum of building works that enable homes to be more energy efficient.”

The framework will run for four years and its total value is some £800 million. Mr Carr points out that about half of Scotland’s social housing is managed by councils and the other half by housing associations. The framework is open to both and is also available to other organisations to upgrade public buildings.

“We’ve tried to ensure that we’ve embedded sustainability measures where we can. We’ve worked very closely with skills developers and BEST (formerly CSIC) so we can identify the most effective and current materials.

“There is a huge drive for us to understand the level of skills that are going to be required for us to carry out the new works.”

The new and expanded framework now allows a whole house to be fitted out rather than its individual components, which was the case previously. The framework includes all the technical elements the contractor has to comply with.

Housing associations or councils can go to one of the 46 UK-based suppliers on the framework and make a direct award of a contract on already agreed terms. Alternatively, they can invite a number of contractors to submit an offer based on different criteria. Or they may choose both routes.

Hugh Carr says that there are two primary advantages to the framework. “It means that the organisations taking advantage of it don’t have to run a tender process.

“Public procurement is a regulated environment and tenders have to be advertised and legally compliant. We’ve now created this route and it will save a lot of time and money.

“The other big advantage is that we have engaged with the market and put together something that is current and we think is future proof. We have embedded all of the current standards not just in terms of materials and energy efficiency but also in terms of the level of training and certification required in order to deliver.”

Environmental sustainability has long been at the heart of Scotland Excel’s work, he adds. “We’ve worked with the Scottish Government and with Zero Waste Scotland to ensure that key policy drivers have been embedded and are at the heart of what we do.

“It’s interesting that on the back of COP26 in Glasgow, there’s been a greater focus on environmental sustainability. It’s a perfect opportunity for us to create a bit more visibility about the work we’ve done and also to make it clearer for the public.”

Most people in Scotland, no matter where they live, already interact with Scotland Excel, he explains: even the wheely bins provided by their councils probably result from one of their frameworks, as do street lights and care services.

The new framework will, Mr Carr says, provide significant opportunities for the supply chain. “It gives companies a chance to secure long term work packages. And it’s not just about primary contractors, but also sub-contracting opportunities.

“It will also allow them to work with local suppliers of materials, whether it’s timbers, doors, windows or insulation materials. That of course will also help with local economic development.”

The drive to net zero means that some expertise among contractors needs to be upgraded. “Those skills are at a very high level across Scotland for people such as plumbers and electricians, but they do vary from the ones needed in the past.

“For example, the installation of a heat pump rather than a traditional boiler or electric storage heaters still requires skilled tradespeople, but there’s an opportunity for us to help upskill the construction sector. It means there’s a whole new level of capability to be developed, and that can’t be done unless there is a guaranteed pipeline of work. This framework provides contractors with a degree of certainty so that they can bring in that upskilling.”

Scotland Excel has been working with a number of agencies, including the not-for-profit agency ESP Scotland which works on developing skills for the construction sector.

This partnership allows those involved to understand what is required, how the skills can be certified and how they can align with environmental standards.

The new Energy Efficiency Contractors’ Framework was showcased last Thursday at an important Scotland Excel event in Edinburgh.

The organisation’s conference and expo gathering Building A Net Zero Scotland heard from leading experts in energy efficiency and the built environment.

The conference was opened by Patrick Harvie, Scottish Government Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights.

He said the event highlighted the vital role that reducing emissions from Scottish homes and buildings had to play in helping end the country’s contribution to climate change.

“This is a monumental but necessary task”, Mr Harvie continued. “We can, and must, make very significant progress towards eliminating these emissions over the next decade.

“Actions and processes such as the new Energy Efficiency Contractors’ Framework were vital in helping Scotland to achieve its net zero carbon ambitions,” he said.

 “The scale of the task is enormous and we must collectively find ways to increase the pace and scale of progress while ensuring we get the transition right for every community.

“We need champions within industry and the public sector to grab hold of the challenges presented by the vision set out in our Heat in Buildings Strategy.

“Together we must drive forward the growth in skills, quality assurance and consumer engagement that is vitally needed to ensure that we make this transition while building a sustainable and prosperous supply chain for the sector.”

Other speakers at the event included Martin Valenti, Director of Net Zero at South of Scotland Enterprise, (see interview below) and Sean Smith, Professor of Future Construction and the Centre for Future Infrastructure Director at Edinburgh University.

www.scotland-excel.org.uk

South aims to take the lead in decarbonising across all sectors

With six months having passed since COP 26, there is a general sense that Scotland, along with the rest of the UK, needs to pick up the pace if government targets for achieving net zero are going to be met.

Dr Martin Valenti, Director of Net Zero at South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE), points out that decarbonising the heat used to keep public and private sector buildings at a comfortable level is a key priority in meeting these targets. “At SOSE we are committed to helping to drive the South of Scotland’s just transition to net zero, for a thriving economy,” he says.

SOSE was launched on April 1st, 2020 as the Economic and Community Development Agency for Dumfries and Galloway, and Scottish Borders. The legal framework for SOSE was established by the South of Scotland Enterprise Act 2019, published in June 2019.

“We are the first of Scotland’s public agencies whose legislation promotes a wider view of the economy and how it impacts all we do,” Valenti explains.

SOSE recently took part in a conference organised by the national procurement agency, Scotland Excel, called ‘Building a Net Zero Scotland’.

Scotland Excel has been leading the Scottish public sector’s response to climate change for a number of years. It is working to help embed carbon reduction principles across all of its contracts put in place for the Scottish public sector. 

“At SOSE we are looking to decarbonise heat and power production across all sectors of our economy here in the South of Scotland. This includes industry, agriculture, tourism and textiles,” Valenti says.

“Having a decarbonised power production capacity in the South of Scotland will be huge for the ability of all our industry sectors to work towards net zero. It will help all kinds of businesses to do more exciting things as they each strive to lower their carbon footprint,” he comments.

He points out that the Scottish Government recently launched a new ten-year national strategy for the Scottish Economy.

“This opens up opportunities to tackle climate and natural resource initiatives. In response, SOSE is producing the UK’s first net zero regional roadmap,” he says.

The roadmap will consist of a baseline that sets out where we are now in each of the industry sectors across the South of Scotland. It will then show what is entailed in getting to net zero. “We are setting the framework for sectors to transition to net zero,” Valenti says.

As an example, Scotland Food and Drink, the national body for the sector, already has a general roadmap for all food and drink companies across Scotland to transition to net zero. “We will be taking that and translating it for the South of Scotland. Our belief is that here in the South, we can achieve the transition faster than elsewhere in Scotland, not just for food and drink, but across all the sectors,” he comments.

According to Valenti, SOSE’s ambition is for the South of Scotland to lead the way, showing the rest of Scotland how to transition.

“Take agriculture: we have an abundance of businesses in the agri-sector and this region is well placed to show how agriculture can transition more boldly, faster and better. The same is true of our textile sector. We have a long history of textile manufacture and its environmental record in the past has not been good. On a global scale, textile manufacturing has been very environmentally unfriendly. Our plans here will make a huge difference and will show what can be achieved,” he comments.