Measuring property health with iOpt - Loreburn Housing Association

Loreburn Housing Association is an organisation dedicated to providing high-quality, affordable housing solutions in Scotland. Established with a mission to enhance the well-being of communities, Loreburn offers a range of services including social housing, supported living, and specialised accommodations.

They wanted to use iOpt’s sensors as a way to pilot retrofit projects, measure the health of their properties, and better inform tenants on how to take care of their homes for the good of their health, well-being, and maintenance costs. 

Watch Stuart from Loreburn discuss the project with iOpt here

The sensor roll-out

The first step when working with iOpt is to fit our sensors and get things up and running. Stuart from Loreburn Housing Association highlights how impressed he and the team were at how easy the sensors are to install into properties:

“iOpt sensors are really easy to install, quick and seamless with minimal disruption to our tenants. What’s good about the iOpt sensors is that pretty much anyone in our team can install them. iOpt provides room for the installation of the sensors. It normally takes around 30 to 40 minutes depending on the individual, but it’s pretty straightforward.”

Once the sensors are installed, the data becomes available very quickly and is updated every 15 minutes on the platform. Stuart commented on the fact this is a huge benefit for the Loreburn Housing Association team as it means they can access real-time information.

How do the sensors work?

Loreburn Housing Association is able to access data on each property with the help of the Iopt platform. This allows their team to discover whether any more immediate interventions are needed, or if any steps will need to be taken in the future. It’s also helpful to be able to measure whether any steps that have already been taken to improve things within the property are working. 

When managing multiple properties within the social housing sector, it’s important to give tenants space within their homes without the need to constantly check up on the status of the property and have potentially embarrassing conversations. With the help of iOpt’s sensors, organisations like Loreburn Housing Association can stay as hands-off as possible while still keeping on top of any issues. 

A great example of how the iOpt sensors have benefitted the organisation and its tenants is with a home that was found to be suffering from fuel poverty. Concerning temperatures were noted within a home and this allowed steps to be taken to contact the tenant and come to a solution, allowing the home’s temperature to reach safe levels which is beneficial to the tenant’s health and well-being as well as the health of the property. 

Stuart from Loreburn Housing Association commented on how this particular case helped the Loreburn team to understand the true appeal of the Iopt sensors:

“Because we were able to intervene and help the tenant and their family, this really boosted morale and got buy-in for the sensors themselves and what they’re able to do for us”.

Helping with a retrofit property project 

One key area where Loreburn Housing Association has been able to utilise iOpt’s sensors is with their retrofit project. The sensors have been used in a number of the properties under this project, and the Loreburn Housing team have found it a great advantage to have the sensors installed in the properties before and after the retrofit:

“Having Iopt sensors in the property before and after the works, we’re able to see the benefit the works have had to the property and the customer’s lives”.

What do iOpt’s sensors help to highlight?

Some of the main things that Loreburn Housing Association have been able to measure with the help of the sensors are the effectiveness of assets such as the mechanical ventilation system and heating system, and checking whether humidity levels and CO2 levels are where they should be. If any issues are highlighted, this allows early action to be taken.

Using the sensors to compare different types of properties has also been useful for Loreburn Housing Association. By applying the sensors to their silver standard as well as their standard properties Loreburn have been able to compare and contrast each type and decide on the best strategic fit for the company to move forward with. 

Giving tenants an inside perspective 

One thing that Loreburn Housing Association have found especially helpful when working with iOpt is the use of the monthly reports provided. Stuart from Loreburn highlights how showing the tenants the reports helps them get an inside look into the health and performance of the property while viewing data from a third-party source:

“With the information we gather, we can show what they’re doing, what the property is doing, and give them advice on any small changes they can do. This could be anything from reducing the temperature in the property to try and save a bit of money on energy bills, to ventilating the property so that the humidity and Co2 levels are going down”

The iOpt app is extremely beneficial when it comes to helping the tenant to feel involved in their property, giving transparency on the data that both Loreburn Housing Association, and the tenant, can see. 

If you’re interested in how iOpt can help you and your organisation, get in touch today for a friendly chat with a member of our team.