Masterclass - Making Retrofit Happen at Scale: Inside the Transform-ER Early Alliance Model

Why This Matters

Meeting the UK's target of retrofitting one million homes per year by 2030 is not a delivery challenge in the conventional sense. The technologies exist, the policy direction is set, and willing organisations exist across housing, construction, finance and manufacturing. The barrier is systemic: the procurement models, contracting structures, data infrastructure, and supply chain relationships that currently govern retrofit are not built for volume. Individual projects succeed; the system does not scale. 

Transform-ER was established to address this directly. Funded by Innovate UK, a consortium of 13 organisations spent two years designing and testing a new operating model for retrofit, one that integrates data, standardised technical solutions, alliance contracting, and off-balance-sheet finance into a single coherent framework. This masterclass presents the outputs of that work and introduces the Transform-ER Early Alliance Model as a vehicle for social housing providers ready to move from fragmented delivery to programme-level impact. 

What the Masterclass Will Cover

• How Transform-ER uses drone surveying, AI analysis, and property archetype tools to build large-volume pipelines before any site access or resident engagement is required 

• How kits of parts, pre-costed and PAS-compliant, eliminate bespoke design costs and give landlords cost and outcome certainty earlier in the programme cycle 

• Why conventional procurement is a structural barrier to retrofit at scale, and how alliance contracting resolves the information loss, adversarial risk transfer, and lowest-price selection that prevent quality delivery 

• How insurance-backed alliancing works in practice, including open-book costing, shared risk allowances, gain-pain incentive mechanisms, and third-party outcome assurance 

• How Bow Tie Construction and UltraPanel integrated M&E and external wall insulation into a single kit of parts, delivering a whole-house retrofit from EPC D to a strong EPC A in four weeks without resident decant 

• What Transform-ER CIC is, a community interest company operating as system integrator, and how social housing providers can engage with the model 

• How continuous learning is embedded in the Transform-ER framework so that knowledge from each programme feeds back into future delivery rather than being lost when projects close 

Who the Masterclass Is For

This session is designed for asset managers, sustainability leads, development directors, and procurement leads in social housing organisations who are building, reviewing, or scaling retrofit programmes. It is directly relevant to those responsible for making the business case for retrofit investment and for managing the supply chain relationships that determine whether programmes deliver at cost and on schedule. 

It will also be of value to contractors, manufacturers, and consultants operating in the retrofit supply chain who want to understand how a system integrator model operates and what engaging with an alliance-based procurement structure involves. Those advising housing providers on decarbonisation strategy, including local authority officers and specialist consultants, will find a grounded account of what is currently operational rather than theoretical. 

Who It’s Not For

This session does not provide an introduction to retrofit technologies, EPC ratings, or low-carbon heating systems. It assumes a working knowledge of the retrofit sector and focuses on system design, procurement architecture, and operational delivery rather than technical product specification. 

It is not a policy review and does not analyse government funding mechanisms in detail. While the funding context is acknowledged, the session is focused on what organisations can do within current conditions. Those seeking introductory guidance on retrofit or a review of available grant programmes will need to look elsewhere.

What Attendees Will Leave With

• A clear understanding of how demand aggregation, drone surveying, and archetype tools reduce data risk and survey cost before procurement begins 

• A practical grasp of how kits of parts work, what distinguishes them from bespoke design, and why they are central to cost certainty at volume 

• An understanding of the specific procurement failures that prevent retrofit from scaling and how alliance contracting structures address them at source 

• A working knowledge of insurance-backed alliancing, including how open-book costs, shared risk allowances, and gain-pain incentives operate in practice 

• Confidence to assess whether a Transform-ER system integrator model is relevant to their organisation's retrofit programme and how to begin a conversation with the consortium 

• A concrete example of what industrialised retrofit looks like on site, including sequencing, programme management, and the practical impact on residents 

Retrofit at scale is not about doing more of what already works. It is about changing the system so that what works in individual projects becomes the default at volume. 

Speaker Credibility

The masterclass is presented by founding directors and partners of Transform-ER CIC, drawn from across the 13-organisation consortium that built the model over two years with Innovate UK funding. Speakers include practitioners from Kin, Bow Tie Construction, and IPI Initiatives, with direct experience in retrofit design, off-site manufacturing, alliance contracting, and live programme delivery. 

The session is hosted by Jenny Danson of the Healthy Homes Hub. 

Logistics

• Format: Pre-recorded virtual masterclass, available on demand via the Healthy Homes Hub website 

• Host: Healthy Homes Hub, in partnership with Transform-ER CIC 

Call to Action

If your organisation is planning, reviewing, or scaling a retrofit programme, this session provides a grounded account of what it takes to move from fragmented project delivery to an industrialised system. The Transform-ER model is operational, the case study is real, and the organisations involved are open to engagement. 

Watch the recording at your convenience via the Healthy Homes Hub website and access your CPD accreditation for participation. 

Watch the full Making Retrofit Happen at Scale: Inside the Transform-ER Early Alliance Model Masterclass here.

Listen to the full Making Retrofit Happen at Scale: Inside the Transform-ER Early Alliance Model Masterclass on Spotify.

CPD Accreditation

Keeping pace with the ever evolving social housing landscape has never been more critical. Staying up to date is not optional, it is essential. Our masterclass series offers a flexible, accessible way to enhance your professional knowledge.

You can access this recording at a time to suit your schedule and watching this session and completing this form will provide you with CPD accreditation.