SUSTAINABLE FM INNOVATION AWARD
Brent Housing Partnership WINNER
B
rent Housing Partnership’s (BHP) Brentfield Estate in the London Borough of Brent underwent an ambitious £3 million project to retrofit homes to reduce noise pollution, heat loss and create sustainable housing. The work began in September 2009 and the properties which were targeted were built around 1950 and sit beside the busy North Circular Road. They are heavily affected by pollution from the 45,000 vehicles that use the road every day.
The retrofitting programme involved installing an external insulation cladding system to 114 homes with 84 of them being fitted with Solarcentury photovoltaic (PV) solar electric tiles. This makes up a total of one third of properties on the estate. Other energy efficiency measures include loft insulation, aluminium double glazed windows and doors and providing residents with water butts to conserve water. New roofs were also installed using a Marley Ecologic Roof Tile that removes nitrogen oxide pollutants from the air and are also made from recycled material. The first priority for the work was directed at non-traditional concrete constructed homes which are poorly insulated and more likely to suffer from damp related issues.
With this project, BHP hopes to be one of the first landlords in the country to retrofit solar panels that can make residents money by exporting any excess power they generate to the National Grid. BHP also hopes to be among the first to benefit from the government’s new feed-in tariff system which incentivises small-scale, low carbon electricity generation. Ofgem warned the nation to expect 20% electricity price hikes by 2020 and warned that future supplies were in
36| SUSTAINABLE FM AWARDS 2010
jeopardy. On a positive note, however, investors in solar panels will have the added benefit of being a net provider of electricity, and are largely insulated from future price hikes that could see household bills top £2,000 a year by 2020.
Announcing the new tariff’s introduction at the beginning of February, the energy and climate change secretary Ed Milliband said the guaranteed income would be a big incentive for householders “to make the move to carbon living”. “The feed-in tariff will change the way householders and communities think about their future energy needs, making the payback for investment far shorter than in the past.”
Although Milliband announced a number of tariffs – including what the government will pay for those installing wind turbines – the one that will appeal most to the average UK householder will be for installing photovoltaic (PV) solar panels – at a typical cost of £10,000–£12,500.
Shaun Gillam, Senior Project Manager at BHP said: “We are very excited about the retrofitting programme on the Brentfield estate. It is a groundbreaking project and will hopefully lead the way for other housing providers to rethink the way we build homes and keep them energy efficient. BHP is keen to follow the success of Brentfield with other projects within Brent. It is an excellent way of investing in the future of Brent tenants and making a positive impact on the environment.”
COST EFFICIENCY? BHP’s Brentfield Estate project is an energy efficient and money saving scheme which will decrease energy bills for residents. It fits in well with the
government’s energy saving and carbon dioxide reducing targets. Furthermore, residents will have the opportunity to sell excess electricity back to the Grid which encourages them to save electricity by turning off lights and thus reducing their own carbon footprint.
With the new Brentfield scheme, each home should produce 1,062kWh a year – approximately one third of its electricity requirement. Solarcentury (the company who produced the solar panels) think this will save each household approximately £120 a year, based on the government’s proposed generation tariff of 36.5p per unit generated.
The figure also assumes that residents will, on average, consume 50 percent of the solar electricity generated and export the remainder. And it assumes a top up payment of 5p for each unit exported and energy savings of 13p per unit. Sustainable homes actually cost less for all parties, especially when you factor in life-style costs. There are general savings in monthly energy costs. By using low-maintenance materials that will last longer such as concrete as opposed to asphalt driveways or concrete roof tiles reduces or eliminates maintenance and replacement expenses.
Homes built with concrete walls and roofs also cost less to insure because they resist natural disasters such as high winds and fire. The durability and long-term cost advantages of sustainable homes increases their resale value.
HOW DOES THIS PROJECT DEMONSTRATE CO2 REDUCTION? Around one quarter of the UK’s greenhouse emissions come from heating, lighting and powering electrical appliances in homes. It is part of the
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58