Heating & Sustainability: what our Alliance Network session taught us

Carbon delivery plans, MEES, and the new Warm Homes Plan - three very different topics, but our recent Alliance Network session kept coming to the same conclusion: the Housing sector already has the ambition, and the real opportunity now is getting the groundwork right. For them this means good data, joined-up planning, and sustainability built into asset management from the start rather than bolted on later. Get that right, and everything downstream gets easier.

Below we share what came out of each workshop, followed by what it means for SEC Members going forward.

Carbon Delivery Plans with Richard Lupo, SHIFT Environment

Richard covered how organisations can develop, baseline and deliver carbon reduction plans, including energy audits. The session explored current success with monitoring these plans and what mandatory delivery would require.

The group's clearest insight was that Carbon Delivery Plans (CDPs) are most impactful when they carry through past the bid stage. This means they cascade down to site and to subcontractors rather than living solely in the tender documents.

Their suggestion: build CDPs into contracts as real KPIs from the outset. That's what turns them from a one-off exercise into something that shapes delivery day to day. Some suppliers in the room showed what this looks like in practice, with one carbon neutral for a decade and another tracking carbon right through their logistics chain.

The group flagged Scope 3 (which includes subcontractor emissions, materials, and commuting) as the area with the most room to improve, and where better measurement could have the biggest impact.

Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) with Benjamin How, Frankham Group

Ben looked at what MEES means for housing and how a better understanding of the standards can improve contract delivery. The workshop also discussed what changes clients need to make to help meet these standards.

The group's takeaway here was that the appetite for MEES is there…what's needed now is more clarity, since thresholds aren't fully confirmed yet and awareness levels still vary across the market.

The opportunity is to get ahead of it. Understanding what MEES will actually assess - fabric efficiency, heating efficiency, and smart readiness means customers can start planning now, rather than waiting for final thresholds to land. It was also noted that some retrofit measures don’t always create the positive effect expected on EPC ratings

Warm Homes Plan with David Smith, SEC

David explored the government's new Warm Homes Plan and what it means for social and affordable housing. The session discussed what needs to change in policy and in client/contractor interaction to deliver on that ambition. A recurring point here was that funding needs to follow residents as much as it follows properties. Engagement and lived experience matter just as much as the physical measures themselves.

The group also made a strong case for longer-term funding certainty over short lump sums. This will give contractors the confidence to build proper teams and pipelines, rather than mobilising and demobilising every time a new pot of funding lands. One idea that landed well: a "pre-funding" model, where some funding is set aside specifically for data collection before works are planned, so decisions are grounded in good information from the start.

What this means for you

A few practical steps came out of the group's own suggestions:

• Treat Carbon Delivery Plans as contractual KPIs, not a bid-stage tick-box
• Join up stock data across teams so decisions aren't made property by property
• Start scoping MEES readiness now, ahead of thresholds being finalised
• Build engagement and resident experience into Warm Homes Plan delivery, not just the physical works

Our Alliance Networks exist to keep these conversations going with the supply chain, and we're looking forward to picking them back up at our next session. If you’re a supplier on one of our Heating and Decarbonisation frameworks, and you’d like to take part in the next session please let us know! 

In the meantime, you can check out our full frameworks list here: Our frameworks | South East Consortium