Women in construction: Rebecca Hart, Nottingham City Homes
Rebecca Hart is a Technical Project Manager at Nottingham City Homes, responsible for the Destination Zero project which is testing an incremental approach to whole house retrofit for social housing providers.
She shares her story, from electrical apprenticeship to managing large-scale retrofit projects — including the skills you need, the lessons she’s learned, and her advice for women considering a career in construction.
How did you get started working in construction?
I was a single parent, working jobs that weren’t going anywhere, and I thought to myself, “there’s got to be something more than this.” When my daughter was 9 months old, I was encouraged to complete a series of taster courses by the Nottinghamshire Women’s Training Scheme — a project run by women for women.
I attended thinking I was going to hate the electronics course and take up painting and decorating, but after I’d hung a roll of wallpaper, plumbed an outdoor tap, made a timber shelf, driven a 28-tonne lorry, and made a battery tester, it was obvious that I couldn’t hang wallpaper for toffee and that I loved electronics!
I went on to complete a course in electrical engineering (which I struggled with having failed GCSE maths) and got a job as a bench technician testing, inspecting and fault finding on communication systems for the rail industry.
How did you go from there to where you are today?
I wanted to work nearer to home and in the community I grew up in. At the time, a job in the council was seen as a job for life so I opted for an electrical apprenticeship at Nottingham City Homes.
From there, I went onto become a trainee technical officer, then an Electrical Technical Officer, before leading Nottingham’s Women in Construction programme. Then I joined Nottingham City Home’s energy team as the Energy Technical Officer and worked on the Energiesprong 2050 homes pilot.
Eventually I was encouraged to go for my current role as Technical Project Manager and I’ve never looked back!
Can you tell us a bit about your role now and the skills it requires?
Managing whole house retrofit is quite diverse! My day-to-day role can involve anything from site inspections, project planning and management, design queries, contract management, and stakeholder engagement.
You often don’t consider how much knowledge you pick up ‘being on the tools’ — my work in electronics and electrical installations made me curious in learning about mechanical applications and helped me to get my head around community energy systems. At first it was quite daunting, but I’ve been fortunate to have had brilliant support from people that want me to succeed — I feel very lucky.
Not only that, but my time at Nottingham City Homes has really taught me the value of long-term thinking in social housing. While a solution or product may seem like the right choice, I have to think: “is this going to be replaceable in 10 years? Will it require any additional maintenance?” It’s vital for me to use this kind of thinking with the design team to make sure we get solutions that are right for the project and right for our customers.
What I’ve really enjoyed about the Destination Zero approach so far is achieving true collaboration with the different project partners, with all of us bringing our own expertise. Without this, you won’t reach your aims.
Why is whole house retrofit important and what does the Destination Zero approach mean for social housing providers?
Whole house retrofit enables us to ensure our tenants are warm and comfortable, with cheaper-to-heat homes — as well as reduce our carbon footprint and futureproof our housing stock to achieve local and national climate targets.
But delivering it in one big package can be incredibly disruptive to tenants. It can also be more cost effective to deliver it incrementally when you’re updating existing measures — for example, not pulling out a heating system that has only just been installed.
It also means that these programmes are likely to be rolled out on a needs-first basis, ie if a heating system is coming to the end of its life it’s going to be replaced first. However, you aren’t going to be able to do that without also installing external wall insulation, because low-temperature systems work best in well-insulated homes.
So, Destination Zero is providing us with the opportunity to understand what challenges you are likely to face doing it across two or three stages, so we can mitigate risks. We’re actively gathering data on and testing what needs to be done at the same time, what can be done sequentially and so on.
Ultimately, we will be able to create a “full design” approach that fits with asset management in social housing. This will be an in-depth guide with all the construction details that outlines how to deliver whole house retrofit incrementally.
What innovations or technologies do think will make the most difference to scaling up retrofit in the next 10 years?
We need to see more offsite manufacturing solutions, especially collaborating with SMEs to innovate and develop these. But alongside this, Government investment and funding is also key to help get this off the ground. And that’s not just in terms of a fabric first approach — we also need to see more support for heating and ventilation systems.
What advice would you give to young people, especially women, thinking about seeking a job in the sector?
Work hard, be professional and confident in your abilities. If you want a progressive career in a fast-paced and vibrant industry, then this is the sector for you! There’s a perception that construction is all “bricks and sticks” but that’s just not true. There’s such a diversity of roles but I think the more innovative ones aren’t promoted as much.
So, there’s a real need for the sector to advertise opportunities in a more accessible way. For example, like taster workshops through colleges and career days — and not just for young people. We need less tokenism and more action.
What’s your call to action for the sector to scale up net-zero ambition?
I’d like the Government to understand the level of resource required by social housing providers to take on the net-zero housing challenge, and to consider grant funding in light of this. Time needs to be factored into plan these complex projects effectively to ensure successful delivery
And I’d also love to see more investment in and incentivisation for minority groups to get involved in construction. We don’t have enough available construction expertise for delivering net zero, and we’re failing to invest in the other 50% of the population (generally women!) due to unconscious bias and stereotyping.
Destination Zero is testing new approaches to whole house retrofit for social housing, led by Nottingham City Homes, Nottingham City Council & Energiesprong UK and funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Find out more.
