The next phase of the award winning and pioneering Energiesprong scheme to turn hard-to-heat council houses into ultra-low energy homes got underway in Nottingham this week. With funding coming from the European Regional Development Fund grant.
Work has started to make 14 council homes in Sneinton greener and more energy-efficient. The six houses and eight bungalows on Keswick Street will benefit from improvement works that will increase energy efficiency and reduce heating and energy costs for residents.
The houses and bungalows in Sneinton will receive improvements that will not only make the homes warmer and reduce energy bills for tenants, but also improve the environmental performance of the homes, helping towards Nottingham’s ambition to become carbon neutral by 2028.
The Deep Retrofit Energy Model (DREeM) improvements are happening across the 14 properties, these include:
- A new energy-efficient heating and hot water system including installation of an air source heat pump
- Removal of existing gas boiler and gas supply
- Super insulated wall panels
- New doors and windows (where specified), including new internal window surrounds
- A new super insulated roof structure on the Bungalows
- Solar panels
- Solar battery for energy storage and distribution
Nottingham was the first place in the UK to pilot the ground-breaking whole-house retrofit approach known as Energiesprong, with 46 homes completed. It formed part of the winning submission which saw Nottingham City Council named the UK’s Climate Champions at The Guardian’s Public Services Awards 2020.
The Energiesprong approach, pioneered in the Netherlands, upgrades a home with innovative energy-saving and energy-generating measures. The end result is homes that are near net zero carbon.
Melius Homes, who were the successful contractor for the pilot and the rollout tender, will be continuing in their role as principal contractor.
NCH tenant Christian Kazadi is due to have the work done to his house and says: “I cannot wait for the transformation, my house will be warmer and hopefully it will save me money on my bills.”
Nick Murphy, Chief Executive at Nottingham City Homes, said: “These improvement works will make tenants’ homes warmer and help them to save money on their energy bills. Residents who have already benefitted from these works say they have seen a dramatic difference.
“We’re very excited to be pioneering these new approaches and transforming these older homes into some of the most sustainable homes in the country.”
Councillor Sally Longford, Notingham City Council’s Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Energy, Environment and Waste Service, commented: “This is an exciting project and a highly effective way of tackling old and cold council housing. Tenants from the first pilot have told us that it has made a huge difference to the warmth of their homes and so I’m delighted we are rolling it out to even more properties. This will not only reduce emissions and bills but also increase the warmth and well-being for residents. Homes, and especially older homes, account for a large proportion of carbon emissions so tackling this helps us towards our ambitious target of becoming carbon neutral by 2028.”
Robert Lambe, Managing Director at Melius Homes, said: “We are very pleased to be continuing to apply the lessons we’ve learnt through the earlier phases of this innovative project to deliver the much needed transformation to more homes in Nottingham.
“Using modern methods of construction to improve these homes not only minimises the impact of the works on the residents and local community it delivers assured high quality, low energy outcomes.”
