SHIFT-ing gear: our interview with Andrew Eagles

Andrew Eagles has been the Managing Director of Sustainable Homes for 9 years and has seen it grow from a good idea to a thriving not-for-profit consultancy and research body providing advice and assistance to the housing sector.  In 2009 they set up SHIFT, ‘the sustainability standard of the housing sector’, and linked to that the SHIFT Awards, recognising outstanding sustainability projects and achievements in the housing sector.

It’s been quite a journey, and Andrew is now moving on to pastures new  so I took the opportunity to catch up with him to look back on his time at Sustainable Homes and find out what his hopes are for the sector going forward.

So Andrew, what’s the one thing you’ve been proudest of since you’ve been running Sustainable Homes?

I think it’s probably how the sustainable homes team has moved some organisations just a tiny step forward in independently measuring their actual performance. Obviously, it’s only a tiny element to what we do, but when I started people would say – ‘Oh, we’re green because we do some recycling’ – or ‘We’re green because we’ve built four EcoHomes’. Often there was a lack of recognition of their 10,000 existing housing stock, their fleet where they drove 6 million miles a year. 

But then, slowly, some of those quite large organisations started to measure their impacts on real metrics and accredited themselves independently.  They also started measuring flood risk.  Now organisations involved manage over 1.3 million homes.  And if we’re going to move any way forward with this whole agenda, then we need to be measuring our actual impacts and to be real about it.  Some of these organisations are now comparing themselves with others, sharing retrofit best practice and saying ‘We want to get to Platinum’. Often it is because they want to beat other associations.  

I'm also proud of the Sustainable Homes' work with the sector carrying out research and monitoring of energy performance and energy use in homes.  This is important - and more of it is needed!

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing housing associations in terms of sustainability – or generally?

The Rent Review - and their heads being taken up with mergers and surviving - which sometimes means sustainability is not getting as much focus as it did.  This Government has not only cut standards and stripped away funding, but also changed the whole nature of the conversation: Europe has become a big deal internally within the Tory party and they’re having to placate activists in other ways.

Do you think there are any glimmers of hope on the horizon?

I do!  I think there are three key things that are likely to help:

• The Lords are very supportive of lower carbon generally
• They’ll get an opportunity to exercise that when George Osborne has to answer to the 5^th Carbon Budget in June
• And the peer pressure to take action that comes with signing of the Paris Climate Change Agreement   

If you were Prime Minister for the day, what would you do to help the sustainability of the housing sector?

All the policy levers are actually there – it’s just getting them properly implemented and giving them teeth.  If we just had slightly more courage we’d see multitudes more progress which would be quite stunning!  However, if I had a magic policy wand, I would:

• Allow flexible rents in the social sector that reflect the sustainability of the home: this is something we’re campaigning for through our Social PAYS proposals. 
• Halt the £6bn subsidises to oil and gas each year.  Instead guarantee £3bn per year for 5 years to create a market for energy efficiency and retrofit with the goal of:

               -    Improving the 8 million solid wall properties in the UK

               -    Stop us having the worst homes in Europe

               -    Generate 130,000 jobs local long term jobs

               -    Bring in ‘as built’ testing for new build homes

               -    Market transformation of retrofit services so they improve and reduce in price

• Plug the loopholes to the minimum energy efficiency standards for renting out privately rented homes
• Triple the number of post retrofit tests of moisture, quality of works and performance

These are great policy ideas – which leads us on nicely to the SHIFT Awards!  I thought the ‘Dragons Den’ categories for new project and policy ideas – pitched to the audience and voted for at the event - looked great.  Perhaps you should enter! 

I don’t know about that!  We’ve done a Dragons Den before at smaller events and it’s great fun.  Someone could say ‘I think we should cover buildings in bubbles’ or someone else could say  ‘I think every child should be trained up on retrofit’ – anything goes so we could get some be crazy ideas!  I’m quite excited about the idea of getting more interaction.

I thought the Lean and Green Award, showcasing environmental projects with operational savings, was good as well given the current funding environment.

That’s right – we’re constantly looking for innovation. Sustainability and energy efficiency has really been hit hard and if we can showcase how energy efficiency then it might be another way forward.

The awards really do cover the whole spectrum of the market, from newbuild and retrofit to resident engagement and sustainable supplier, housing provider and champion of the year. 

We’ve designed the awards so they’re easy to enter – we want to hear the story behind the projects.  As John Prescott said at our Awards last year: “This is not all about big bucks investment – it’s as much about people, be that staff or be that residents.” 

What’s your hopes for Sustainable Homes in the future?

The SHIFT awards will become THE sustainability awards for the housing sector!  That will be great.

Also for Sustainable Homes to continue to diversify, grow and make keep making retrofit happen.  Sustainable Homes have two Innovate UK funded projects which are delivering quite funky, innovative particularly around modelling and monitoring energy performance post retrofit – so I’d like to see those deliver and take off. 

The SHIFT Awards are open to all organisations in the housing sector, including housing associations, private landlords, developers, contractors, suppliers, consultants, architects and partnerships, and are free to enter. 

Full details and information on how to enter are available at http://www.sustainablehomes.co.uk/shift/shiftawards.  The deadline for submissions is  Wednesday 6th July 2016, with the awards being presented at the prestigious sector event on 24^th November.