Energy and Net Zero Conference 2024

About the conference

Reaching net zero will require significant investment, but also presents an opportunity to protect tenants and make our homes fit for the future.

Join us for SFHA’s annual Energy and Net Zero Conference where we will examine how RSLs can deliver benefits that go beyond carbon emission reductions – helping to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, support health and wellbeing, and strengthen communities.

Is this the conference for you?

The conference is for anyone involved in delivering energy and net zero for the social housing sector. It will also be of interest to fuel poverty/energy advisers and those working in housing management, tenancy sustainment and development.

About the Conference

Costs and how to book

Book your place at the conference online now! Delegate fee is £265 for SFHA members and £370 for non-members. All prices quoted are per person and are zero VAT-rated.

Book with Confidence

We want you to feel confident about booking to attend SFHA events. If the event can’t operate as an in-person conference, it may be run as a virtual event and a partial refund will be issued. Please contact Karen Devin, SFHA Events Manager, if you have any questions on mobile: 07896 477 340 or email kdevin@sfha.co.uk

About the venue

The Studio is a modern, bright venue, located in Glasgow’s city centre, offering easy access from all major transport links. It has been awarded GOLD ECOsmart accreditation rating for environmental impact. This demonstrates The Studio’s longstanding commitment to sustainability as the award is for hotels and meeting venues that demonstrate an eco-friendly approach, and it is an industry-standard accreditation.

Book two places and bring a colleague for free!

We’re offering a group discount:

buy two of the same ticket type and another colleague can attend for free. *Tickets must all be the same type and booked at the same time to receive the deal, excludes residential tickets*

Programme

09:00 to 10:00

Registration and networking

Time for delegates to register, get their badges, event information and to network with a coffee and cake!

10:15

Empowering Communities through the Just Transition

Zoe Holliday, Community Energy Scotland

With market volatility driven by geopolitical factors and key decisions taken by politicians and businesses at a remove from our everyday lives, energy policy often resembles something imposed from the top down. This session will look at energy from a different perspective. Across Scotland, local energy initiatives are placing power back in the hands of communities. By looking at how we can engage people to play an active role in the just transition, we aim to explore opportunities for taking back a sense of control and ownership over the energy we produce and use.

10:00

Welcome and opening remarks

Sally Thomas, SFHA and Josiah Lockhart, Changeworks

11:00 - 11.20 Tea/coffee and networking

11.20

Breakout sessions

Delivering tangible Social Value through retrofit

John Renwick, Communities Manager, Warmworks
Kerry Mackie, Valley Group
Alister Bell, Valley Group
Griffin Nelson, Valley Group

In this session, you’ll hear how retrofitting our homes offers an opportunity to maximise community benefits to make a lasting impact in our communities.

Energy support for all – the design and development of Tenant Energy Support

Morven Masterton and Kat Custard, Changeworks

This session will explore the collaborative development of Tenant Energy Support, a new Changeworks advice service which builds on a pilot with five SFHA members. Hear how the service was created, the impacts and learnings gained from the pilot project, and how this.

Scottish Government policy updates

Karl Reilly, Scottish Government

The Scottish Government has an ambitious strategy for lowering carbon emissions and tackling the climate emergency. As part of this just transition, a number of policies and proposals will have a direct impact on housing association priorities. This session will provide an opportunity to hear directly from Scottish Government officials on incoming policy and regulatory changes.

Social tariff and energy pricing

Frazer Scott, Energy Action Scotland
Kate Morrison, Consumer Scotland
Matthew Cole, Fuel Bank Foundation

As tenants face another winter of high energy prices, this session will explore the drivers of fuel poverty and the actions needed – both in the short and longer term – to ensure that all Scottish households are able to access affordable warmth. From the introduction of a social tariff, to other forms of targeted energy support, this session will look at how we can tackle fuel poverty in the context of a just transition.

Frazer Scott

CEO, Energy Action Scotland

Frazer is CEO at Energy Action Scotland. He is passionate about the social and environmental justice aspects of sustainable development. He has worked for over 20 years at a senior level with large multi-nationals, public bodies, local business, charities, social enterprise and community bodies

He has authored and edited innovative work on employability in a greener economy and wellbeing as a measure of social progress. He is currently serving as one of Scotland’s Energy Consumer Commissioners, a trustee of National Energy Action, a director of Aberdeen Heat and Power and chair of an Out-of-School charity for families in Stirling.

Emily Dorrian

West Dunbartonshire Council

Emily has a degree in economic and social history from Glasgow and a master's in housing from the University of Stirling. In her 11 years in the property industry, she has developed a passion for housing and the vital role it plays both in people’s lives and in communities.

Recent projects at WDC have focussed on our multi-storey properties and improving these, part of which has been installing the Connected Response controls to improve tenant experience of storage heaters and in doing so help them access, and understand, better tariffs and ultimately use their existing system better.

Joanna Long

Changeworks

As Senior Impact Evaluation Consultant at Changeworks, Joanna oversees the development and delivery of robust monitoring and evaluation for a range of internal and external projects.

This includes evidencing impact and providing actionable insights to inform delivery of current and future projects and programmes by Changeworks and external clients. Joanna leads a team of dedicated Impact Evaluation specialists committed to helping clients accelerate their transition to net zero and raising the standard of evaluation on domestic retrofit projects. As part of her role, Joanna ensures alignment of Changeworks’ impact evaluation methodology with industry standards, including PAS2035 and BS40101.

Josiah Lockhart

Changeworks

Josiah Lockhart is Chief Executive of Changeworks, Scotland’s leading charity delivering innovative and high-impact solutions for low-carbon living.

Before joining Changeworks, Josiah was CEO of social enterprise support agency FirstPort. Josiah is an expert in strategy and one of Scotland’s leading social entrepreneurs and a champion of supporting innovative and equitable solutions to tackling the climate emergency and addressing issued faced by people in our communities.

Josiah will lead Changeworks into an ambitious period of growth and expansion as part of the organisation’s 2022-25 strategy Decarbonising Scotland’s Homes.

Gillian Campbell

Existing Homes Alliance

The Existing Homes Alliance is a coalition of housing, environmental, fuel poverty, consumer and industry organisations calling for action to transform Scotland’s existing housing stock.

Gillian supports the Alliance, working across sectors and with government at all levels to shape the policy, regulatory and funding framework so that it delivers the scale of retrofit needed to ensure Scotland meets climate change and fuel poverty targets. In addition to supporting the EHA, Gillian is an independent housing consultant who has worked with local and national government, registered social landlords and national membership organisations for nearly 25 years.”

Gillian is chartered member of the Institute of Housing and a member of the Home Scotland Board.