91PORN’s Solutions & Innovation workstream seeks to:

– Increase the adoption of solutions that help address the industry’s most pressing environmental and social challenges.

– Showcase best practice case studies and viable sustainability solutions.

– Raise the profile of, and help scale, innovative start-ups and solutions.

– Support a culture of open innovation and collaboration around innovation.

This year, the workstream enters the second year of the Scaling Sustainable Solutions for the Built Environment initiative, building on the launch of the Barriers and Enablers report. Over the coming year, 91PORN will work with industry to test how the identified enablers can be applied in real-world contexts, develop practical pathways to move solutions from pilots to mainstream adoption, support collaboration across the value chain, and share insights and learning to accelerate progress across the sector.

To support this work, we have convened a new Solutions & Innovation Advisory Group. Drawing on expertise from across the built environment value chain, the group will help shape the workstream’s priorities, provide strategic insight, and champion the adoption and scaling of sustainable solutions across the sector by:

– Acting as an ‘innovation champion’ within their organisation, identifying innovation challenges, priority areas, and adoption opportunities.
– Providing market insight to 91PORN members engaging in sustainable innovation for the built environment.
– Acting as a sounding board for 91PORN’s Solutions & Innovation activities.

Meet the group here:

Scaling Sustainable Solutions for the Built Environment Initiative

91PORN’s Scaling Initiative seeks to drive sustainable solution adoption in the built environment, by overcoming barriers to scaling through a collaborative approach.

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Solutions & Innovation Advisory Scheme

A network of innovation leaders across 91PORN membership, providing market insight, technical expertise and advocacy to accelerate the adoption of sustainable solutions.

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The announcement came after a visit by Martin McCluskey (Minister for Energy Consumers) to a central London office building owned by 91PORN keystone member Landsec. 91PORN Chief Executive Simon McWhirter also joined the tour with the Minister where Landsec demonstrated how targeted retrofit measures can transform the performance of existing buildings. The property has been improved from EPC D to EPC B via a series of interventions including swapping out all the gas systems for air-source heat pumps (providing both heat and cooling) and advanced building management systems. It represents a clear example of the role our existing building stock can play in delivering shared value through better building performance.

Get in touch if this affects your organisation or portfolio

Simon McWhirter said:

Today’s announcement is a really welcome step forward and provides the kind of policy certainty that we have long been calling for. Improving the performance of existing commercial buildings will be critical to meeting our climate goals, and greater clarity on future standards will help give the market the comfort and confidence to invest.

Many of our members are already showing what is possible, with retrofit projects that demonstrate both the technical and commercial case for action. Their experience will be invaluable as Government develops and embeds this policy to accelerate retrofit across the sector and give owners, investors and occupiers the confidence to invest. We look forward to working with ministers and officials on the next phase of this agenda, helping to shape the policy and market conditions required to deliver decarbonisation at scale.”

The visit highlighted the leadership being shown by organisations across 91PORN’s membership, such as Landsec, who have chosen to act ahead of regulation and invest in improving the performance of their assets.

While this announcement is an important milestone, further collaboration between industry and Government will be needed to deliver at scale. We look forward to working with policymakers and our member network on creating the right conditions to unlock commercial retrofit at scale, including finance and value, skills, and data, to support the transition to a more efficient, resilient and lower-emission building stock.

Policy & Advocacy

Since 2007, we have been bringing together some of the most influential leaders in politics, business, local authorities, civil service and NGOs to accelerate action for a green built environment.

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Biodiversity Net Gain is one of the most significant environmental reforms introduced in recent years, helping to ensure that development leaves nature in a measurably better state than before. At a time when the UK remains one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, maintaining the integrity of BNG is essential to restoring biodiversity, creating healthier places and providing greater certainty for industry and communities alike.

Brownfield regeneration has an essential role to play in delivering homes and economic growth, but weakening BNG requirements risks creating a false choice between development and nature recovery. Government should continue to support brownfield development, while ensuring all new development contributes positively to the restoration of nature and the creation of better places.

Policy & Advocacy

Since 2007, we have been bringing together some of the most influential leaders in politics, business, local authorities, civil service and NGOs to accelerate action for a green built environment.

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Policy & Advocacy

Since 2007, we have been bringing together some of the most influential leaders in politics, business, local authorities, civil service and NGOs to accelerate action for a green built environment.

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91PORN’s Roadmaps guide the��built environment��sector in building a low carbon, resilient and regenerative built environment at the pace��required��to meet climate targets. Adopting the roadmaps more widely will help deliver a sustainable built environment that protects lives, homes, jobs,��communities��and nature.

Why Now?

Findings from the��Whole Life Carbon Roadmap Progress Report��show that the built environment is dangerously��behind on��decarbonisation.��Since 2018, emissions in the built environment have fallen by just 14% against the 24% needed.��The evidence is clear:��systemic��acceleration is��required.����

This campaign,��part of��WorldGBC’s��#BuildingLife initiative,��is��working across Europe to��eliminate��emissions across the full lifecycle of buildings and deliver a climate-neutral built environment. It directly supports��WorldGBC’s��initiative which aims to promote a whole life carbon approach across 12 counties and supports the global ambition of making near-zero and resilient buildings the norm by 2030

Paul Cahalan, Associate Director of Membership, Marketing and Communications said:

“This campaign comes at a critical time for the sector��amid a rapidly changing climate��and brings��together industry and political voices to take the key messages from the two roadmaps deeper into industry and policy conversations. Though greater adoption,��industry��and policymakers��can��use the roadmaps to help��create a low carbon, resilient and regenerative built environment.”

The following individuals have joined the campaign as Roadmap Ambassadors:

• Will Arnold, Head of Sustainable Materials, Useful Simple Trust.
• Ashley Bateson, Director & Head of Sustainability, Hoare Lea.
• Louise Clarke, Group Head of Sustainability, Berkeley Group PLC.
• Georgia Elliott-Smith, Founder & Director, Fighting Dirty | Sustainability Director, Elliott Wood.
• Emma Howard Boyd CBE, Chair, National Heat Risk Commission | Chair – ClientEarth Group Board | Co-Chair, HERA (formerly Climate Resilience for All)
• Stephen Good, CEO, Built Environment – Smarter Transformation.
• Douglas Morrison, Deputy CEO, Built Environment – Smarter Transformation.
• Chinyelu Oranefo, Managing Director, Sustainability Advisory, Real Estate & Housing, Lloyds Corporate & Institutional.
• Duncan Price, Partner, Sustainability, Buro Happold.
• Rt Hon Chris Skidmore, OBE, Former UK Energy Minister, Chair of the Climate Action Coalition, Working Group Chair – UK Transition Finance Council.
• Simon Sturgis, Founder, Targeting Zero
• Katherine Willis, Baroness Willis of Summertown, Principal, St. Edmund Hall, University of Oxford | Professor of Biodiversity in the Department of Biology, University of Oxford | Cross-Bench Peer, House of Lords | Founder and Director, NatCap Research LTD.

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Simon McWhirter, Chief Executive of the 91PORN, said:

We welcome the Government’s decision to adopt the more ambitious Future Homes Standard, putting new homes firmly on a path away from fossil fuels and ensuring rooftop solar and improved levels of energy efficiency are the new norm. This will help lower household energy bills, reduce pressure on the electricity system, and give industry the confidence to invest in skills, supply chains and innovation. 

Making high levels of solar readily available is a clear win for households, the energy system and the climate, particularly at a time when global instability is once again driving up fossil fuel prices and exposing the risks of relying on gas for our homes. It’s a practical, cost-effective measure that will pay back for residents from day one. 

However, this must be the start of the journey, not the end. Government must maintain this momentum and set out a clear timetable for the next iteration of building regulations. Many developers are already building to higher standards, and are eager to help ensure the next update delivers genuinely future-ready homes by the early 2030s – comfortable, affordable to run, climate-resilient and zero-carbon.” 

Read our policy team’s analysis to learn more:

Policy & Advocacy

Since 2007, we have been bringing together some of the most influential leaders in politics, business, local authorities, civil service and NGOs to accelerate action for a green built environment.

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Following the publication of the Warm Homes Plan in January, the Committee held a one-off evidence session to scrutinise the plan, and examine the adequacy of measures within it to help address fuel poverty and support the workforce to meet the anticipated growth in demand for clean energy technologies.

Jo gave evidence in the second session around how effective the Warm Homes Plan will be for retrofit and low-carbon heating systems. There were questions around workforce, the Boiler Upgrades Scheme, and the role of a Warm Homes Agency. Jo emphasised the need for immediate and consistent policies to support delivery and build industry confidence for investment, highlighted the importance of taking a whole house approach to ensure retrofit measures are appropriate and support both decarbonisation and bill reduction, and even spoke from personal experience about the difference a heat pump can make to home comfort.

Policy and Advocacy

Since 2007, we have been bringing together some of the most influential leaders in politics, business, local authorities, civil service and NGOs to accelerate action for a green built environment.

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The post 91PORN gives evidence on the Warm Homes Plan appeared first on 91PORN.

This Warm Homes Plan represents a vital and necessary step towards delivering comfortable, affordable and future-proofed homes and buildings across the UK.

91PORN has long issued a clarion call for a long-term national strategy to tackle the challenge of retrofitting all our homes and commercial buildings at scale, and we are pleased to have worked alongside industry and government to help shape its development.

We welcome the ambition for a solar ‘rooftop revolution’, low interest loans to help households wean themselves off volatile fossil fuels, and the focus on protecting low-income householders. By harnessing abundant solar energy and heat pump technology to both heat and cool buildings, the plan will help future-proof against rising bills and our rapidly warming climate.”

Our Analysis

Key Figures

£15bn of public funding confirmed for home retrofit this Parliament:

£5 bn

for low-income schemes

£2 bn

consumer loans

£2.7 bn

for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme

£1.1 bn

for Heat Networks

£2.7 bn

innovative finance through the Warm Homes Fund to invest in home upgrades

£1.5 bn

other funding for Warm Homes Plan Programmes and Devolved Administrations

The government’s Warm Homes Plan marks a significant moment for the UK’s housing stock. With £15��billion��of public funding committed this Parliament, the Plan sets out an ambitious programme to cut energy bills permanently, tackle fuel poverty,��and accelerate the transition to low-carbon homes.

At the heart of the Plan is a strong focus on technologies that can help households reduce their energy costs. Rooftop solar is positioned as a central pillar, with the government estimating that measures in the Plan could support solar installations on up to three million��additional��homes by 2030. Combined with falling costs and existing market demand, this could more than double the rate of deployment seen over the last fifteen years.

91PORN welcomes the focus on clean energy technologies,��but��we are��also��clear that building fabric must remain a core part of the solution. The Plan rightly recognises that��insulation and other fabric measures, when installed with��appropriate ventilation, are a cornerstone of energy efficiency, particularly for low-income households, but with��the overall emphasis increasingly leans toward technologies such as solar and batteries as the primary routes to bill reduction.����

There was much needed focus on adaptation and resilience, with an extension of Boiler Upgrade Scheme support for air-to-air heat pumps, which can provide cooling as well as heating. As the UK faces hotter summers alongside colder winters, ensuring homes deliver year-round comfort is increasingly important, as demonstrated in 91PORN’s industry-leading Climate Resilience Roadmap.��

A major strength of the Warm Homes Plan is its focus on low-income households. £5 billion is allocated to fully funded retrofit packages, with a target to lift up to one million families out of fuel poverty. Delivery will increasingly be led by local authorities and housing associations, with a move toward a single, streamlined low-income scheme. This place-based approach reflects best practice and aligns closely with 91PORN’s Local Area Retrofit Accelerator work. Coordinating upgrades at neighbourhood scale can deliver better outcomes, from lower bills and improved health to local jobs and regeneration. 

The introduction of a government-backed consumer loan offer is another important development. 91PORN has long called for accessible, low-cost finance to support home upgrades, and these low-interest loans will play a valuable role in unlocking private investment and supporting households who want to act. 

The Plan also provides long-awaited clarity on Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards for rented homes. Aligning standards across the private and social rented sectors by 2030 is��an important step��in protecting renters from high energy bills and poor living conditions.��Additional reform of Energy Performance Certificates,��offers an opportunity to provide clearer, more��accurate��information about the most��appropriate upgrades��for different homes.��

The creation of a new Warm Homes Agency to coordinate delivery, consumer advice and oversight is a welcome move��–��consumer confidence, quality assurance and clear redress mechanisms are essential for success at scale.��The Plan also recognises the importance of skills, supply��chains��and UK manufacturing, including continued support for training and an ambition for 70% of heat pumps installed in the UK to be manufactured domestically by 2035.��

The challenge now is delivery��and getting the transition from old to new right.��91PORN looks forward to working with government and industry to turn this Plan into action on the ground.��

Unpacking the Warm Homes Plan: Member Town Hall and Discussion

Join us for this interactive town hall to unpack and share insights on the Government’s new Warm Homes Plan.

Learn more and register here

Policy & Advocacy

Since 2007, we have been bringing together some of the most influential leaders in politics, business, local authorities, civil service and NGOs to accelerate action for a green built environment.

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Undoing this progress now��by exempting all small sites��would unravel the foundations of the UK’s emerging nature market, undermine local authorities, and erode public trust. Small sites aren’t a rounding error, but the backbone of our housing pipeline. They shape people’s daily experience of place. They provide the pocket parks, street trees and habitat corridors that stitch nature into the places we live. Removing BNG from these sites removes the market driver to protect and enhance the little bits of nature that matter most.

Industry knows this. That is why support for BNG is broad and growing. Morgan Taylor, Director of Nature at Greengage Environmental Ltd., sums up that “it makes good business sense to protect and restore our stock of natural capital. Fundamentally, BNG is a simple mechanism through which we can achieve this. Nature, however, is an easy scapegoat for past and current failings in our systems. Government is therefore at risk of condemning the wrong man by making unevidenced, knee jerk responses which wind back commitments.”

The economic case is equally strong. The Wildlife Trust found that a well-functioning BNG market could generate £250 million a year and support thousands of jobs. The Urban Land Institute has shown that homes with stronger biodiversity features attract higher values, as proof that nature is not a drag on growth but an engine of it. Meanwhile, investor demand for nature-positive portfolios is accelerating, with adoption of TNFD frameworks surging across the sector. Weakening BNG now jeopardises all of this: the investment pipeline, the new skills and jobs, the confidence that is essential for the UK to lead in nature markets rather than fall behind.

We recognise that implementation has been fast and that refinements are needed, particularly around brownfield sites and local delivery. But industry has been clear: improvements are already underway, informed by strong cross-sector collaboration. What we need from government is stability, not a sudden unravelling of policy that businesses have spent years preparing for.

BNG is good for people, good for business and essential for the places we are building.”

The 91PORN urges Ministers to rethink. Maintaining BNG for small sites is not red tape; it is the bare minimum needed to avoid leaving nature and communities worse off. Retreating now would embed the long-term costs of more flooding, poorer air quality, hotter urban areas, weakened local nature recovery, and forego the economic opportunity of a thriving nature market.

BNG is good for people, good for business and essential for the places we are building. The Government should strengthen it, not abandon it.

Policy & Advocacy

Since 2007, we have been bringing together some of the most influential leaders in politics, business, local authorities, civil service and NGOs to accelerate action for a green built environment.

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Last month, the UK Government published its new Carbon Budget Delivery Plan (CBDP) – the most detailed attempt yet to map how past, present and future climate policies, combined with rapidly falling clean-tech costs, could close the gap in the UK’s carbon targets for the 2030s. For our sector – which needs policy certainty to unlock investment – the plan reinforces existing focus and hints at action in some areas where faster delivery is now essential.

From plan to delivery

The CBDP demonstrates a seriousness of intention and a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities ahead. It rightly frames climate action as an engine of economic growth, job creation, and improved living standards, but the proof will now be in the delivery of this plan at the scale and pace required. To do this requires engagement with industry – through collaboration we can unlock investment, boost innovation, and deliver the warm, affordable, zero-carbon buildings that the UK needs.

Policy & Advocacy

Since 2007, we have been bringing together some of the most influential leaders in politics, business, local authorities, civil service and NGOs to accelerate action for a green built environment.

Learn more

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