After attending our decarbonisation round table and witnessing the ingenuity of SMEs in this space, Alison Skillen at RISE explains why they need wider support and promotion in the sector.
In October 2025 I attended the Building Insights LIVE round table discussion on decarbonising social housing, and it left me with a renewed sense of what’s possible in this sector. What struck me most was that this wasn’t another debate about policy frameworks or funding gaps (as important as those are) but rather the sheer ingenuity of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) working in this space. These companies are developing some genuinely clever solutions, yet many are struggling to get their innovations in front of the people who need them most. I wanted to share what I learned, because I think there are some real lessons here for all of us trying to make retrofit work at scale.
The SME paradox
Here’s the thing about SMEs in the retrofit sector: they’re often the ones pushing boundaries of new retrofit technologies with a range of innovations including thermal imaging, AI-driven diagnostics, thermal batteries, shower heat recovery systems, and advanced monitoring technologies. They’re nimble, they’re innovative, and they’re not weighed down by legacy systems. But – and this is a significant but – many of them simply don’t understand how to navigate the complex world of social housing delivery.
The procurement landscape for local authorities is often complex. Multiple frameworks, lengthy tender processes, and compliance requirements; for a small company with limited resources, trying to pitch directly to a local authority can feel impossibly difficult. The preferred route for some, it turns out, is to position themselves as part of a larger delivery solution, working alongside Tier 1 or Tier 2 contractors who already have those relationships and understand the procurement dance.
But here’s the catch: you need to know this is how the market works. Far too many SMEs don’t. This is where a service like RISE (Retrofit information, support & expertise) comes in – helping SME suppliers to understand the full retrofit landscape, and supporting them as they take steps, either towards procurement directly with the social housing providers, or towards engagement with the larger, established contractors. It was reassuring to hear at the round table that this focus on breaking down the procurement barriers for SME suppliers is exactly what the sector is looking for.
The devil’s in the detail – or rather, the EPC points
One of the most enlightening discussions centred on shower heat recovery systems. Now, I’ll admit, when I first heard about these, I thought “nice idea, but does it really make a meaningful difference?” Turns out, I was asking the wrong question.
These systems can add two to three EPC points to a property. That might not sound significant, but consider this: homes often sit frustratingly close to the threshold of the next EPC band. A property might be languishing at the top end of a band, and those two or three points become incredibly valuable. They could be the difference between meeting scheme eligibility criteria or missing out entirely.
But there’s something even more significant at play here. We know that the real decarbonisation gains come from tackling space heating and hot water, far more than from upgrading to energy-efficient appliances. Hot water decarbonisation is particularly tricky – it’s one of those challenges that doesn’t have obvious, easy answers. So when you find a product that genuinely makes an impact in this area, it matters. It’s not just valuable from an EPC perspective; it’s valuable because it delivers measurable decarbonisation where we actually need it.
When innovation doesn’t translate to retrofit
Not every innovative solution is suited to every context, though, and the discussion on underfloor heating in retrofit projects proved to be a perfect example of this.
In new builds paired with heat pumps, underfloor heating makes perfect sense. It’s efficient, it works beautifully with lower flow temperatures, and residents move into homes where it’s already installed.
Retrofit is an entirely different beast. The costs can be prohibitive. You’re disrupting residents significantly – in many cases requiring temporary decanting. And even if you manage to navigate all of that, resident acceptance tends to be low. People are understandably reluctant to have their homes significantly disrupted for a heating system upgrade, even if you explain the long-term benefits.
The reality is that even if underfloor heating improves the performance of a heating system marginally, that benefit may be outweighed by the cost, disruption, and resistance from residents. It’s a stark reminder that technical performance isn’t everything – the human and practical factors matter just as much, if not more, in retrofit scenarios.
The quiet revolution in monitoring & data
Perhaps the most exciting developments aren’t in new heating systems or insulation products, but in something less glamorous: monitoring and
digital technologies.
Think about thermal performance monitoring, advanced airtightness testing, and pulse technology. These tools allow us to understand buildings far more accurately than we could before. Instead of making educated guesses about heat loss or system sizing, we can gather actual data about how a building performs and what it genuinely needs.
This has enormous implications. If you’re planning to install a heat pump down the line, having accurate monitoring equipment in place now means you can size that system properly based on real demand, not theoretical calculations. That reduces risk, prevents oversizing (or undersizing), and ultimately leads to better outcomes.
Airtightness is another area where technology is making a real difference. Ventilation is absolutely critical when you improve a building’s fabric – get it wrong, and you risk condensation, damp, and unhappy residents. We used to rely solely on blower door testing, which is effective but can be expensive and logistically challenging at scale. Now, pulse technology offers alternative approaches to demonstrate airtightness and inform ventilation strategies.
The beauty of these monitoring technologies is that they’re relatively cost-effective and scalable. If we can deploy them more widely, we start to de-risk entire retrofit portfolios. We move to knowing that measures will definitely be effective, because we have the data to prove it.
Bridging the knowledge gap
All of this brings me back to where I started: knowledge sharing. The SMEs developing these solutions often don’t realise the full value of what they’re offering in the context of social housing schemes. They don’t realise that two EPC points can be transformational, or how to position their products within a larger delivery framework. Meanwhile, housing professionals and larger contractors aren’t always aware of the innovative solutions available. We tend to stick with what we know, what we’ve specified before.
There’s a clear need for more structured knowledge exchange. We need platforms where SMEs can showcase innovative products – not just the ones that made it to this particular roundtable, but the full range of solutions being developed. We need to help smaller companies understand the procurement landscape and how to navigate it effectively. We need to accelerate the adoption curve by sharing what works (and what doesn’t) more openly.
Moving the conversation forward
What I appreciated most about this roundtable was how engaging and practical it felt. We were digging into specific solutions, understanding their real-world applications, and thinking about how to connect innovation with delivery.
The retrofit sector is at an interesting inflection point. We have ambitious targets, increasing pressure to deliver, and a growing ecosystem of innovative companies developing real solutions. What we need now is to connect these dots more effectively – to help SMEs understand the market they’re trying to serve, to help housing providers discover the innovations that could transform their retrofit programmes, and to create feedback loops that drive continuous improvement.
The solutions are out there. We must continue to find them, share them, and then scale them up. Based on what I saw at the round table, I’m optimistic that we’re moving in the right direction.
Alison Skillen is project director at RISE