Kensington and Chelsea Council has announced Treadgold House on the Lancaster West Estate will use the Energiesprong whole house retrofit approach on its first council-owned housing block to go carbon-neutral.
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Energiesprong UK have worked together to secure £1.5m of funding through the Mustbe0 project, funded by the Interreg NWE Programme through the European Regional Development Fund.
Creating warmer, more affordable homes
The block of 38 homes will receive a range of energy efficiency improvements including:
- non-combustible wall, floor, and roof insulation
- triple glazed windows, solar PV panels and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery
- the removal of gas to be replaced with heat pumps; and
- comprehensive internal refurbishment.
As well as reducing the energy demand of the building, this work will mean residents benefit from warmer, more affordable homes with a reduced need for repairs and maintenance, better air quality and reduced noise from outside.
United Living South Limited has been awarded the contract of £6.85m to design and build this whole house deep retrofit refurbishment for Treadgold House, following a competitive tendering exercise.
Placing residents at the heart of retrofit
There’s been extensive engagement and co-design with the residents of Treadgold House since early 2018 on this project. A resident vote established the top ten improvements they would like to see for their homes and communal areas. In November 2020, 87% of households voted on whether they supported being a part of the Mustbe0 project and 96% voted to support this approach.
Ian Hutchcroft, Director of Energiesprong UK, said: “With flats representing 21% of UK homes, we will only achieve our climate ambitions by decarbonising this housing type too. Yet currently, the supply chains are not developed enough to deliver retrofit in a cost-effective way.
Alongside our other housing partners, RBKC is helping change this by using the Energiesprong approach to kickstart the market for these homes, and creating homes where people love to live.”
James Caspell, Director of Lancaster West Neighbourhood Team, which provides housing management services to Lancaster West commented: “The scale of the challenge facing the housing sector requires innovative, creative thinking. Working with Energiesprong has helped us to identify the art of the possible in delivering truly net zero housing by 2030.
“We will continue to put resident engagement at the heart of this refurbishment and it allows us to understand what residents want and need from the homes they live in. We’re hoping that once the work is complete, this block will set the standard for other housing estates across not just Kensington and Chelsea, but the whole of the UK.”
