Residents at the Reed Mere estate in Immingham and the Willows estate in Grimsby are set to benefit from lower energy bills and more comfortable homes thanks to external wall insulation (EWI) funded by the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) and Lincolnshire Housing Partnership (LHP).
The project will be managed and delivered by energy and solutions provider E.ON, and Gateshead-based Thrift Energy, an experienced installer of energy saving retrofit improvements.
Installations have begun in Immingham as phase one starts on site, with up to 291 Reed Mere estate properties scheduled for completion by the end of March 2024. The EWI improvements for up to 733 properties across both estates will be completed by the end of March 2025.
The project marks a commitment from LHP to help tackle fuel poverty amongst residents by reducing the amount of heating they require. The EWI installation will help to prevent heat loss through the walls of each property, driving down bills for residents. All properties will also receive ventilation upgrades, further increasing the comfort of the home whilst reducing risks associated with poor air quality, damp, and mould growth. In addition to providing a warmer and more energy-efficient living environment, the improvements will also reduce carbon emissions, and all work will be carried out by Thrift Energy’s experienced team while residents remain able to stay in their homes.
Daniel Wyer, Corporate Head of Asset Management at Lincolnshire Housing Partnership, said: “The SHDF was made available to improve social housing properties currently below Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating ‘C’ to bring homes up to that standard. We were successful in securing a share of the up to £800m allocated by the Government to support the installation of energy performance measures in social homes in England and are now working with E.ON and Thrift Energy to improve up to 733 local homes.
“The improvements will not only help reduce bills for our residents; they will also help enhance health and wellbeing by enabling residents to use their heating when they need to and enjoy a warmer, more comfortable home. The project will also provide aesthetic improvements, giving the estates a fresh look.”
The Reed Mere and Willows projects are two of more than 30 sites that E.ON will deliver for social housing clients across the UK until 2025 supporting SHDF programs, as E.ON continues to be the market leader for green funding delivery with a demonstrable track record for successful programme delivery.
Sarah Farmer, Director of Residential Solutions at E.ON UK, said: “We are committed to helping people cut their energy use and costs while also taking action to tackle the climate crisis. Insulation is fundamental in helping improve the fabric of our nation’s homes, enabling people to stay warm and well while also helping to bring down energy use and bills. This project has been a real team effort and we are excited to begin the process of transforming hundreds of local homes.”
EWI involves wrapping each property’s exterior walls in a layer of insulation, which improves thermal performance by increasing airtightness and reducing heat loss. Working on behalf of E.ON, Thrift Energy — a finalist in the National Energy Efficiency Awards Insulation & Fabric Installer category with more than a decade’s experience of EWI projects — has an experienced team starting the project.
Thrift Energy’s Commercial Director, Josh Raffo, commented: “We have installed EWI improvements for 588 properties in the past year alone, many of them on behalf of E.ON, as part of the first phase of SHDF, but this is by far the largest project we have been involved with.
“Our teams will work closely with LHP and E.ON to ensure that residents are fully aware of the programme and the timetable for work on their property, as well as providing information on EWI, how it is installed and what it will mean for their home. We will provide a complete service, including all scaffolding, installation and finishes, ensuring residents benefit from a home that is warmer, cheaper to run and looks great.”
In the past two years, E.ON has successfully delivered more than 80 energy improvement projects, installing over 11,000 energy efficiency measures into homes, including nine successful phase one SHDF programmes. According to figures from the Energy Saving Trust, this activity has led to a reduction of more than 12,000 tonnes of CO2 for households nationally, supporting the UK Net Zero target on decarbonising homes.
Header image shows from left to right: Karl Meyer, Project Surveyor at LHP, Daniel Wyer, Corporate Head of Asset Management at LHP, Murray MacDonald, Chief Executive Officer at LHP, Josh Raffo, Commercial Director at Thrift Energy, Mark Richards, Construction Manager at E.ON, and Michael Purse, Site Manager at E.ON.
