At Fusion21, our public sector procurement frameworks evolve to meet the needs and shifting priorities of the sector, helping housing providers connect with approved suppliers who are also incentivised to be on top of the latest solutions.
Procurement should not be treated as the final administrative step once a technical solution has already been selected. Used early, it can help providers understand where technology may help, test market capacity, aggregate demand, shape specifications and build robust relationships with quality suppliers- making it a critical strategic partner in delivering better long-term outcomes.
This gives the market greater confidence to invest in skills, capacity and innovation, while helping public investment deliver social and environmental value alongside commercial benefits.
Overheating may once have been treated as a short-term resident issue, but it now needs to be considered a longer-term risk— and early procurement planning will be key to making sure the right solutions are available when they are needed.
Learning from past decisions
Fusion21 can help support you, sharing good practice and helping enable early engagement with suppliers.
Housing investment choices can shape asset performance for decades. They are long-term decisions and need to be seen as such. This is why taking a whole-home approach – and a whole life view- is essential, as it can help avoid unintended consequences from siloed interventions.
Installing an air conditioning system might seem like an effective shorter-term solution to excess heat, over a 75-year period it might need replacing three times, which is almost certainly not in the business plan. Whereas designing in more passive cooling solutions – better design, external shading, natural ventilation, reflective roofs, more trees and green spaces – can be a more sensible long-term approach.
Future-proofing through smarter investment
Decarbonisation has a role to play in how we manage the impact of climate change, both in terms of the possibilities that heat pumps offer for controlling heat and cooling, but also when it comes to offsetting future energy demands.
Renewable energy generation’ s role in asset management is always evolving and opportunities for maximising its potential are being discovered – as seen with emerging solutions like solar car park canopies that both generate energy as well as offering shade in summer months and can provide a financially attractive solution.
These are all options that move beyond lowest-cost decision making or short-term thinking, both of which can create issues in the longer term.
This summer’ s heatwaves should have acted as a wake-up call for housing providers to start planning how to future-proof their stock through smart investment choices, rather than jumping straight into quick fixes.
The organisations best placed to respond will be those that treat climate resilience, decarbonisation and procurement as connected strategic issues. Procurement with purpose can help providers secure the right technical outcomes while also strengthening supply chains, supporting innovation and delivering lasting social, economic and environmental value.
Fusion21’ s frameworks can help you to access national specialist expertise as well as innovative thinking and future-focused solutions based on the very latest market insights, enabling you to make asset investment decisions for the long-term, providing resilience, compliance, and value for money.
This includes our Heating and Renewables Framework, which, alongside traditional heating installations covers innovative technologies dedicated to sustainable heating solutions- including ground source and air source heating- and quality assurance audits.
All these measures mean better outcomes for residents, who will have resilient homes that can offer thermal comfort, whatever the season.
Find out more about Fusion21’ s procurement solutions supporting housing, health, blue light, NHS and wider public sectors, visit fusion21. co. uk / frameworks or call 0845 308 2321 housingexecutive. co. uk 77