social housing retrofit case study

Case study: Raising the bar on community housing retrofits

Affordable housing project generates valuable lessons

Read the transcript

A municipally-owned social housing provider transforms a failing 50 year-old apartment tower with 146 units of affordable housing into a landmark building with state-of-the-art performance in energy, health, comfort and accessibility.

Ken Soble Tower Transformation

Project Management

City of Hamilton

CityHousing Hamilton Corporation (CHH)

Affordable Housing

Construction

ongoing, began in 2019

$33 million (2020 estimate)

Architect and Prime Consultant

ERA Architects

Mechanical Engineer

Reinbold Engineering Group

Construction Manager

Building Envelope Engineer

Entuitive Corporation

Passive House Consultant

JMV Consulting

City of Hamilton FCM (Green Municipal Fund) Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (National Housing Co-investment Fund, Innovation Fund) Province of Ontario

The City of Hamilton’s waitlist for community housing includes more than 6,000 households (10,000 people). CityHousing Hamilton (CHH) manages nearly 7,000 units in a total of 1,265 properties, housing approximately 13,000 residents. The 18-storey Ken Soble Tower, built in 1967, is the oldest high-rise building in CHH’s portfolio and a landmark on Hamilton’s West Harbour waterfront. Deferred maintenance, however, has resulted in disrepair and contributes to capital deficit.

Major considerations for CHH include:

• Renewal of existing affordable housing units;
• Ensuring quality living standards for tenants; and
• Astute management of capital and assets, particularly over the long term  

Ken Soble Tower is one of two major CHH properties located in a Hamilton neighbourhood under redevelopment. CHH commissioned Deloitte to analyze the properties and to consider various options, such as renovation, or sale and replacement. After reviewing the Deloitte study and potential funding programs, CHH worked with ERA Architects to design a plan to renovate Ken Soble Tower to best-in-class standards for accessibility, energy efficiency and quality of life.

CHH chose to retrofit the Tower to meet EnerPHit Certification, a branch of the Passive House (Passivhaus) performance-based standard designed specifically for building retrofits. The project will provide residents with improved comfort, health and greater control over their indoor environments, and dramatically reduce the building’s environmental impacts.

In addition, the project will help to meet projected long-term growth in demand for affordable seniors’ housing by incorporating accessibility and aging-in-place principles. By establishing new community spaces and proposed partnerships with social service agencies, the project aims to support tenants, along with the surrounding neighbourhood.

The project also showcases an approach to retrofitting the thousands of apartment towers across Canada and around the world facing similar problems.

The project includes a significant research component. CHH, in partnership with CMHC, is documenting the energy and non-energy benefits of the project’s holistic approach. Other research partners include: The Tower Renewal Partnership; The Atmospheric Fund; University of Toronto; Transsolar; and Pembina Institute.

"Old buildings can be great places to showcase the value of new ideas." – Sean Botham, CityHousing Hamilton Corporation

Health, Energy and Environmental Measures

Along with new plumbing and electrical systems, the project will install heat-recovery systems and direct ducting of fresh air into all units. Other retrofit tasks include:

• Apply air barrier to exterior brick topped by mineral wool
• Remove balconies to eliminate thermal bridging and reduce maintenance
• Seal fire-separation breaks found throughout all units

The project aims to decrease overall energy intensity by at least 70%, significantly reduce energy and maintenance costs, and cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 90%. Once construction is complete, the total energy required to heat or cool each unit will be equal to the energy required to run 3 incandescent light bulbs (100W). The project will qualify as one of only 10 high-rise retrofits registered with International PH Certification in the world – and the first in North America – and ties in strongly with Hamilton’s goals of design excellence, and financial and environmental sustainability.

Building condition worse than anticipate

Despite the analysis conducted during the feasibility stage and subsequent investigations, the start of construction revealed additional areas of building deterioration. These included extensive mould growth, breaks in the fire separation between units and inadequate plumbing. Addressing these previously concealed problems added to the scope of work and to project costs.

Rising construction costs

Between design completion and start of construction, construction costs in the Hamilton region escalated at approximately one percent per month, an unprecedented rate. The addition of a sprinkler system, along with air conditioning (to adapt to climate change, and improve the health and comfort of residents), also increased costs, although to a much lesser extent. The project is now expected to cost significantly more than the initial estimate of $16 million. To cover the cost increases, CHH secured an additional grant and loans from funders.

Expected Results

The project will provide residents with improved comfort and control of their indoor environments, and the ability to withstand future extreme climate events. It also aims to support Canada’s climate change targets and to demonstrate the long-term financial advantages of reducing operational and maintenance costs.

Key Statistics: Before and After Construction

Lessons learned.

Balance assessment considerations and funding program deadlines. Completing more thorough assessment of the building’s condition might have provided a more accurate understanding of project scope, but the time needed would have caused the project to miss the deadlines of funding programs. As a result, the project would not have proceeded.

Support for sustainability can inspire transformational change. While it can be expensive to bring a building back online, the additional costs of incorporating features that improve energy performance and promote sustainability are relatively small, and can generate long-term savings on utilities and operations. Grants that cover the additional cost of high-performance enable transformative jumps rather than incremental change.

Sean Botham Senior Development Project Manager CityHousing Hamilton (905) 546-2424 ext. 7620 [email protected]

Want to explore all GMF-funded projects? Check out the Projects Database for a complete overview of funded projects and get inspired by municipalities of all sizes, across Canada. 

Visit the projects database

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Find practical case studies and guidance for planning your local community building retrofit.

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This video walks through the key sections of a successful business case: Needs Assessment, Organizational Readiness, Project Vision and Financials.

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Watch this webinar recording to learn about the various forms of grant, loan and capacity building support we offer to help you retrofit existing units or build new ones.

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Pilot project: Retrofit or new construction of sustainable affordable housing

A pilot project for an initiative that supports the integration of leading-edge deep energy efficiency measures and onsite renewable energy generation in existing affordable housing retrofit and new build projects.

Capital project: New construction of sustainable affordable housing

A capital project for an initiative that constructs new affordable housing projects to a higher environmental performance standard.

Study: Retrofit or new construction of sustainable affordable housing

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Planning: Early support grant for sustainable affordable housing projects

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Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction

ISSN : 1366-4387

Article publication date: 1 December 2020

Issue publication date: 30 April 2021

Sustainably addressing the social and economic demands from an ageing population is a major global challenge, with significant implications for policy and practice. This is resultant of the increasing demand for housing adaptations to prevent increased pressure upon acute health services. Through the lens of institutional theory, this paper aims to explore the levels of joined-up retrofit practice within a Scottish social housing provider, under a constructivist approach.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory single case study of a Scottish local authority was undertaken. Within this, nine key stakeholders were interviewed, taking a hierarchical approach, from director to repair and maintenance staff. Results were analysed by using Braun and Clarke’s six stages of thematic analysis.

There is a need for greater levels of integration within retrofit practice to not only improve the health and well-being of the older population but also increase efficiency and economic savings within public services. Currently, there are key issues surrounding silo-based decision-making, poor data infrastructure, power struggles and a dereliction of built environment knowledge and expertise, preventing both internal and external collaboration. However, housing, energy and health have interlinking agendas which are integral to achieving ageing in place. Therefore, there must be system-wide recognition of the potential benefits of improved cross-sector collaboration, preventing unintended consequences whilst providing socioeconomic outcomes.

Originality/value

This research provides a new perspective surrounding retrofit practice within the context of an ageing population. It highlights the requirement for improved cross sector collaboration and the social and economic cost of poor quality practice.

• Collaboration
• Institutional theory
• Social housing
• Ageing population

Rodger, D. , Callaghan, N. and Thomson, C. (2021), "Exploring collaboration within social housing retrofit practice for an ageing population: a single case study in the West of Scotland", Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction , Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 126-140. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMPC-04-2020-0020

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Exploring the complexities of energy retrofit in mixed tenure social housing: a case study from England, UK

• Original Article
• Published: 13 May 2018
• Volume 12 , pages 157–174, ( 2019 )

Cite this article

• Susan Bright 1 ,
• David Weatherall 2 &
• Roxana Willis 3  

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Article 19 of the Energy Efficiency Directive requires EU member states to address split incentives for energy efficiency between the multiple owners of buildings. But, building governance has been relatively neglected by researchers and policy makers working on Europe’s trajectory to a highly energy-efficient building stock. Taking a socio-legal approach, this paper illustrates the complexities that occur with retrofit of mixed tenure (social and private) apartment blocks and, more broadly, how building governance is a determinant of the costs and outcomes of refurbishment projects. Forty-two percent of Europeans live in apartments and mixed tenure apartment blocks and neighbourhoods have become more prevalent in Europe in recent decades. The paper focuses on a detailed study of a large refurbishment project of five tower blocks by Oxford City Council, involving external wall insulation and other energy efficiency measures. In addition to the Council’s social tenants, these blocks house significant numbers of private owners who have challenged the Council’s attempt to recover from them a share of the refurbishment costs. The experience of the Oxford project raises questions about aspects of property law, allocation of project costs and benefits, and issues of communication, engagement and decision-making. The paper also presents qualitative data gathered from social housing providers through a survey and roundtable meeting to provide an indication of the extent to which these issues are affecting energy efficiency refurbishment projects across England.

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Local strategies to promote energy retrofitting of single-family houses, beyond economics—understanding the decision-making of german small private landlords in terms of energy efficiency investment.

Transformational Role of Lochiel Park Green Village

Data availability.

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available as this is ongoing research but, as far as possible within data protection regulations, the anonymised data will be available from the corresponding author on reasonable request following completion of the research.

We use the term ‘mixed tenure’ in the rest of this paper to refer specifically to a mix of social and private ownership in an apartment block. The term can also be used to refer to different mixes of tenure in buildings (e.g. private short-term rented/privately owner-occupied) and to tenure mix across a neighbourhood.

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Wilmott Dixon sold off their energy services division in the course of this project. The new company is known as Fortem.

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Newbolt has also written with TPAS a detailed guide for SHPs to good practice in leaseholder engagement: see Newbolt 2015

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Bright, S., Weatherall, D. & Willis, R. Exploring the complexities of energy retrofit in mixed tenure social housing: a case study from England, UK. Energy Efficiency 12 , 157–174 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-018-9676-y

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Received : 23 October 2017

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Published : 13 May 2018

Issue Date : 03 January 2019

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-018-9676-y

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Exploring collaboration within social housing retrofit practice for an ageing population: a single case study in the West of Scotland

• Construction and Surveying
• Department of Civil Engineering and Environmental Management
• Civil Engineering and Environmental Management

Research output : Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• ageing population; case study; collaboration; constructivism; energy efficiency; health; institutional theory; local authority; neoliberalism; retrofit; social housing
• Ageing population
• Social housing
• Collaboration
• Institutional theory

ASJC Scopus subject areas

• Economics and Econometrics
• Business and International Management

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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• 10.1108/JFMPC-04-2020-0020

This is a post-peer review, pre-copy edited version of the article published in Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction and may differ slightly from the final published version of the work. This article is © Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear in this repository. Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

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• Social Housing Business & Economics 100%
• Aging Population Business & Economics 92%
• Scotland Business & Economics 70%
• Thematic Analysis Business & Economics 34%
• Health Business & Economics 34%
• Savings Business & Economics 31%
• Built Environment Business & Economics 31%
• Unintended Consequences Business & Economics 29%

Research output

• 1 Citations

Research output per year

Impact of implementing constructed wetlands on supporting the sustainable development goals

• Wetlands 100%
• constructed wetlands 91%
• Sustainable Development Goal 80%
• Sustainable Development Goals 77%

Nicola Callaghan

• Construction and Surveying - Senior Lecturer
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T1 - Exploring collaboration within social housing retrofit practice for an ageing population: a single case study in the West of Scotland

AU - Rodger, Dayna

AU - Callaghan, Nicola

AU - Thomson, Craig

N1 - Acceptance in SAN AAM: open upon publication Found via journal Earlycite 10/12/20, not yet available via web search. ET

PY - 2021/4/30

Y1 - 2021/4/30

N2 - PurposeSustainably addressing the social and economic demands from an ageing population is a major global challenge, with significant implications for policy and practice. This is resultant of the increasing demand for housing adaptations to prevent increased pressure upon acute health services. Through the lens of institutional theory, this paper aims to explore the levels of joined-up retrofit practice within a Scottish social housing provider, under a constructivist approach.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory single case study of a Scottish local authority was undertaken. Within this, nine key stakeholders were interviewed, taking a hierarchical approach, from director to repair and maintenance staff. Results were analysed by using Braun and Clarke’s six stages of thematic analysis.FindingsThere is a need for greater levels of integration within retrofit practice to not only improve the health and well-being of the older population but also increase efficiency and economic savings within public services. Currently, there are key issues surrounding silo-based decision-making, poor data infrastructure, power struggles and a dereliction of built environment knowledge and expertise, preventing both internal and external collaboration. However, housing, energy and health have interlinking agendas which are integral to achieving ageing in place. Therefore, there must be system-wide recognition of the potential benefits of improved cross-sector collaboration, preventing unintended consequences whilst providing socioeconomic outcomes.Originality/valueThis research provides a new perspective surrounding retrofit practice within the context of an ageing population. It highlights the requirement for improved cross sector collaboration and the social and economic cost of poor quality practice.

AB - PurposeSustainably addressing the social and economic demands from an ageing population is a major global challenge, with significant implications for policy and practice. This is resultant of the increasing demand for housing adaptations to prevent increased pressure upon acute health services. Through the lens of institutional theory, this paper aims to explore the levels of joined-up retrofit practice within a Scottish social housing provider, under a constructivist approach.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory single case study of a Scottish local authority was undertaken. Within this, nine key stakeholders were interviewed, taking a hierarchical approach, from director to repair and maintenance staff. Results were analysed by using Braun and Clarke’s six stages of thematic analysis.FindingsThere is a need for greater levels of integration within retrofit practice to not only improve the health and well-being of the older population but also increase efficiency and economic savings within public services. Currently, there are key issues surrounding silo-based decision-making, poor data infrastructure, power struggles and a dereliction of built environment knowledge and expertise, preventing both internal and external collaboration. However, housing, energy and health have interlinking agendas which are integral to achieving ageing in place. Therefore, there must be system-wide recognition of the potential benefits of improved cross-sector collaboration, preventing unintended consequences whilst providing socioeconomic outcomes.Originality/valueThis research provides a new perspective surrounding retrofit practice within the context of an ageing population. It highlights the requirement for improved cross sector collaboration and the social and economic cost of poor quality practice.

KW - ageing population; case study; collaboration; constructivism; energy efficiency; health; institutional theory; local authority; neoliberalism; retrofit; social housing

KW - Case study

KW - Retrofit

KW - Ageing population

KW - Social housing

KW - Collaboration

KW - Institutional theory

U2 - 10.1108/JFMPC-04-2020-0020

DO - 10.1108/JFMPC-04-2020-0020

M3 - Article

SN - 1366-4387

JO - Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction

JF - Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction

Retrofitting Social Housing: A Model for the UK

The uk’s social rented sector is already investing and innovating in its quest to get to net zero. with the right financial stimulus, it could be a model for how to decarbonise the rest of the uk’s homes..

The energy performance of the UK’s social rented sector is significantly better than private housing, partly because of energy efficiency and fuel poverty regulations, and partly because social landlords (RSLs) are proactively tackling the energy efficient retrofit of their properties. The sector is already investing and driving innovation in this area. As a result, 64.3% of housing association homes already have an EPC rating of C or above, according to The National Housing Federation’s report, ‘Decarbonisation: a guide for housing associations’, compared to 35.6% of owner occupied homes.

Yet the full cost of getting social housing to net zero is still daunting. A recent report from Savills and the National Housing Federation (NHF) found that, to meet the UK government target of reaching net zero by 2050, housing associations alone will have to spend a further £36 billion to bring all their homes up to an EPC rating of C by 2030 and install the required clean heat technologies. Our new report examines the existing barriers to financing energy efficiency upgrades of social housing, and presents a range of solutions to enable increased investment.

To find out more about retrofitting social housing contact [email protected] .

• Knowledge Hub

Business Case toolkit

Introduction.

Developing and delivering a successful retrofit project requires a clear and convincing business case. This toolkit will help you create a solid case that will explain the project’s goals, the project’s importance, and how you plan to deliver it.

Who should use the toolkit?

The toolkit aims to help the project leadership and team to develop a strong business case. Those responsible for writing the business case will get the most value.

When should you use the toolkit?

Start using the toolkit as soon as you can. Use it whilst developing the project, securing support and funding, and throughout delivery. An early start is essential.

Download the Business Case toolkit below, along with the accompanying templates to help you develop your business case. 

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Related content.

Consortium Forming toolkit

Data for Retrofit Projects toolkit

Introduction to PAS 2035 toolkit

Monitoring and Evaluation toolkit

Procurement toolkit

Resident Engagement toolkit

Retrofit Project Overview toolkit

Senior Management Buy-in toolkit

Team Forming and Skills toolkit

EDI in Retrofit toolkit

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Rental affordability in Australia is as bad as it has ever been, according to new Anglicare Australia report

There is not a single property across Australia – or even a room in a shared house – that's affordable for someone on youth allowance, according to a new report from support organisation Anglicare Australia.

And just three properties Australia-wide were deemed affordable for those on a JobSeeker allowance.

The affordability snapshot found rental affordability is the worst it has ever been, with Anglicare describing its findings as "nothing short of horrifying".

"For those fortunate enough to find a home, they will be forced to choose between putting food on the table and staying warm this winter or keeping a roof over their head," the report said.

Declining availability

The snapshot report released today tested 45,115 rental listings in March across the country to find what is affordable for low-income earners.

It compared the properties with various household types and found affordability "is the worst it's ever been", with average rents $200 per week higher than pre-pandemic levels.

A property was considered affordable if it required less than 30 per cent of a household's income (and had an adequate number of bedrooms), as paying more than that puts renters in housing stress.

Its data revealed just 13.4 per cent of rental listings across the country are affordable for a family of four with both parents on a full-time minimum wage and only 1.8 per cent are affordable for a single parent on a full-time minimum wage.

For a single person out of work and on the JobSeeker payment, the only affordable properties were two rooms in a shared house, or a single unit in rural New South Wales.

In WA, not a single property for someone on JobSeeker or youth allowance would be affordable.

Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers said the vacancy rate for rentals is adding pressure to a stretched market.

"Every year we say it's getting worse and it's hard to imagine how much worse it can get," she said.

"But this year, there's just about zilch that's affordable."

She said the average dual income household on minimum wage would have previously found about a third of properties affordable, but that's drastically changed.

"We can really see that the unaffordability that used to affect people on the very lowest of incomes is climbing the income level," she said.

'It can happen to anyone'

For some, the issue of Australia's housing crisis is closer to home.

Caitlin* was working in the homelessness sector last year in Perth when she almost became homeless herself due to steep rental increases.

The 33-year-old was living in a dual-income household in Perth's inner east, caring for her 15-year-old child who has severe autism, when things started to snowball.

From October last year, Caitlin and her partner started to fall behind on rent and were facing eviction notices.

"I work in a position where I'm supposed to be helping people and now I'm someone who reached out for that help – I had a lot of shame around that," she said.

Come December, she was about to be forced onto the streets when a state government scheme saved her.

Caitlin accessed the WA government's rent relief program, which allows tenants in private rentals to access a one-off support payment of up to $5,000 to cover rental arrears.

The scheme was able to pay off a backlog of rent owed and enabled her to "get back on her feet".

"This [housing stress] is not discriminating, it's affecting such a wide cross section of people," she said.

"Without a program like this, at best we would have had to split up as a family and live in share houses, at worst, I can't even think about it."

Tax reform, federal involvement needed

Anglicare Australia outlined bold reform to address Australia's housing crisis, including tax reform and federal government involvement in the building of social housing.

The report indicated "an overhaul of the tax regime" is needed – including the capital gains tax discount being phased out over a period of 10 years and negative gearing deductions to be phased out for new investors in the private market.

It also suggested the federal government should become directly involved in the building and funding of social housing across all states – similar to policies of the 1980s.

"To meaningfully tackle this crisis, sustained capital investment is needed over longer periods of time," the report said.

"Anglicare Australia believes that to make a difference, we need the government to build at least 25,000 new homes every year for the next two decades."

Minister for Housing Julie Collins said the federal government had a "broad and ambitious housing reform agenda" to give more Australians a home.

The government has set a target of building 1.2 million new homes by 2029.

It has set up a $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, expected to help build 30,000 new social and affordable rental properties, and a $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator for around 4,000 new social homes.

Ms Collins said the government was already helping states and territories to address the issue.

"We are working with states and territories, and housing and homelessness organisations, on the development of the National Housing and Homelessness Plan," she said.

 "The plan will help set out a shared national vision on tackling the country's housing challenges across the responsibilities of different levels of government."

The plan is expected to be released later this year.

But it's cold comfort for people like Caitlin, who don't have a backup plan if she's faced with more rental hikes.

*Name has been changed for privacy reasons

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