Embedding EDI in retrofit: The key to creating energy-efficient homes at scale – With Joyce Aftab, RISE Social Value Lead
Introduction
The UK’s retrofit mission is to create cheaper-to-heat, warmer and healthier homes for residents. Yet the workforce delivering retrofit doesn’t currently reflect the communities it serves.
Data from the Chartered Institute of Buildings (CIOB), highlights the scale of the gap: women make up just 15% of the construction workforce (and only 2% working on site), with only 6% from ethnic minority backgrounds and 6% identifying as disabled. This compares to 51%, 17% and 22% respectively across the wider population, according to the National Housing Federation.
Underrepresentation can restrict the successful delivery of retrofit programmes. Particularly in social housing retrofit projects, you can often be working with diverse communities, vulnerable residents or people with complex needs. When the workforce designing and delivering retrofit programmes do not reflect those communities, it can lead to misunderstanding, poor communication and a breakdown of trust.
Barriers to inclusion exist at every level.
Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is not consistently embedded across organisations or supply chains.
Leadership remains dominated by majority groups (white, male), which can reinforce unconscious bias and limit the adoption of inclusive practices. This often trickles down to the worksite, where a persistent masculine culture results in a negative reputation and ultimately deters women, disabled people and ethnic minority workers from applying for roles.
Evidence also points to widespread discrimination against some communities, with 60% of LGBTQ+ workers experiencing derogatory language and a significant proportion feeling unable to be open at work. Meanwhile restricted facilities on site, including lack of women’s PPE, also make workplaces less accessible.
Without visible role models and inclusive workplaces, it will continue to be difficult to attract and retain diverse talent.
The retrofit sector urgently needs to expand its workforce to meet demand. This means that working on representation is an opportunity for the supply chain to build capacity and resilience, making the sector more capable of delivering retrofit at scale and achieving ambitious targets.
Targeted apprenticeships, partnerships with local colleges and community organisations and sharing best practice will give contractors the confidence to invest in a broader workforce. However flexible training routes are currently limited, which restrict entry for career changers, people with disabilities and anyone with caring responsibilities.
Consistently embedding EDI in procurement could drive meaningful change for the industry.
Procurement has a critical role to play, yet EDI is still rarely embedded meaningfully in contractor selection. You can change this by:
- Including questions about suppliers’ EDI strategy and approach in tenders and assign appropriate weighting to them in the evaluation process.
- Asking contractors to sign up to EDI commitments as part of the contract award process.
- Agreeing appropriate and realistic KPIs.
- Engaging with existing procurement frameworks which champion EDI.
Shifting priorities in procurement to put more of a focus on EDI offers an incentive for the supply chain, which will drive meaningful change for the sector.
Currently, underrepresentation in the workforce ultimately leads to poorer outcomes for residents.
The Warm Homes schemes are designed to prioritise low-income households and those at highest risk of fuel poverty. However, resident refusals remain a significant challenge. In many cases, this can be linked to:
- Confusion around technical measures
- Language barriers
- Cultural differences
- Lack of trust in delivery organisations
Any alterations to people’s homes can feel intrusive. Without clear communication and long-term engagement, residents may feel that retrofit is being forced upon them rather than something that will benefit them.
A one-size-fits-all engagement approach often overlooks identity, trust, language barriers and household diversity, so it doesn’t work for households that may include people with disabilities, residents with previous negative experiences of institutions, or asylum seekers that may have escaped traumatic situations and displacement. This can lead to hesitation and mistrust.
Before any retrofit project begins, we must understand the makeup of the communities we’re working in.
Accurate resident data can help you to tailor engagement strategies and identify anyone who needs extra support. It can help you to target hard-to-reach groups, employ translators where required and ensure that you’re meeting the needs of different communities.
Effective resident engagement approaches include:
- Using simple language – use RISE’s guide to retrofit terminology alternative to support with this – accessible formats and translated materials where needed.
- Providing face-to-face engagement, open homes and practical demonstrations.
- Starting engagement early in the planning stage, through to post-installation support.
- Appointing a Resident Liaison Officer as a consistent point of contact.
Design decisions also need to consider accessibility. Measures such as external wall insulation can reduce the width of pathways, impacting on wheelchair users.
To promote EDI and ensure there is no discrimination, policies have been created to govern all sectors in England, including construction and housing sectors. This includes the Equality Act 2010, Public Sector Equality Duty 2011, Equality Framework for Local Government and The Resident Involvement and Empowerment Standard.
EDI in retrofit is often treated as a compliance requirement. In reality, it is essential to scaling up delivery.
Inclusive programmes:
- Reduce access refusals
- Improve resident satisfaction and trust
- Support correct use of installed measures
- Enhance health and wellbeing outcomes
- Strengthen supply chain capability
- Help attract a broader workforce
Embedding EDI across governance, procurement, workforce development and resident engagement is not an optional add-on. It is central to delivering retrofit at the scale and quality required.
Because inclusive retrofit is not just fairer – it works better.
Support from RISE
Toolkits
Embedding EDI in Housing Retrofit: Improve EDI in your retrofit projects by considering best practices in the workplace, resident engagement, procurement and supply chain, and project selection processes.
Bespoke Resident Engagement in Retrofit: Craft a bespoke engagement plan for a diverse audience.
Masterclasses
EDI opportunities in retrofit: This March there will be a collection of Masterclasses focused on what EDI means in retrofit and how to create social value through your project. Register now for any events in the collection to help you to drive change in the sector.
Effective resident engagement: In any retrofit project it is critical to build trust with residents and ensure they feel comfortable throughout the process, allow access for install, and feel confident using the new technology. For hard-to-reach audiences, engagement needs to be tailored to meet their needs. Attend these Masterclasses to build on your knowledge of accessible engagement and create a strategy that works.