Green energy forum welcomes housing association expert on board

Housing expert Bill Taylor of Fusion21 will take to the stage at the Green Power Forum conference to be held at Liverpool John Moores Art and Design Academy next month.

The 2010 conference, on 14 October, is specifically targeting professionals responsible for making homes, buildings and communities’ greener. This year’s event is particularly relevant to housing associations and will include a session which focuses on the challenges of retrofitting solutions to existing housing stock.

Taylor has worked in affordable housing for almost 30 years specialising in regeneration, social business and asset management and has a particular interest in environmental retrofit. He said: “One of the biggest challenges facing housing associations over the next decade will be to retrofit its existing stock to meet the joint challenges of carbon reduction requirements and fuel poverty.

“We have an absolute duty to deliver it in the most efficient way possible, keeping control of procurement costs, and at the same time using the spend to address the skills gap that exists at the moment.

“The previous government outlined its targets in the Warm Homes, Greener Homes Strategy. Housing associations are waiting to find out from the new Government what lies ahead in the future. My presentation will address these issues and will discuss the funding streams which are available to housing associations. ”

Within his role at Fusion21, Taylor has worked alongside the consortium of local authorities and social landlords which co-ordinated a bid as part of the ‘REECH’ consortium to secure funding for retrofit. This should see hundreds of properties receiving 50 per cent funding for retrofit solutions. The work done as part of this process has already helped to secure an estimated £8 million of funding for the Liverpool City Region.

Green Power Forum chairman Mark McManus and managing director of Stiebel Eltron (a manufacturer of heat pump technology),” said: “We are delighted to welcome Bill on board for the 2010 conference.”

“Last year’s event was attended by a large number of representatives from housing associations. These delegates understand that their organisations need to make large changes to their housing stock to make their estates sustainable. The Green Power Forum will provide an opportunity for housing associations to find out how they can best achieve this and the funding which is available to enable them to achieve their targets.”

Amongst those expected to attend the conference include architects, consultants, developers, engineers, energy managers, facilities managers and representatives from local authorities and housing associations. Attendance at the conference contributes towards six hours of Continual Professional Development (CPD) – one sixth of the annual training requirement.