ENERGY THE TIME IS NOW FOR ENERGY
EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS Anthony Jarvis, investment manager of green initiatives at the First Ark Group, looks at how the public sector can significantly improve the energy efficiency of its estates and why it needs to start acting now
T
he size of the UK public sector estates is huge. Add up all of the buildings used by central and local governments, NHS, schools and social housing and there is in the region of 5.2 million – but a proportion of these are old, run down and not very energy efficient. It’s recognised that public sector estates contribute significantly to the UK’s carbon emissions, and housing in particular – which accounts for 27 per cent of CO² emissions – is one area which needs to see improvements. One housing association, Knowsley Housing Trust, is pushing itself to reduce the carbon emissions of its housing stock by at least 80 per cent by 2050. The first stage of its ambitious project saw it refurbish and improve the eco credentials of 26 bungalows, and the lessons learned from this could be applied to not only other residential properties, but to commercial and industrial properties as well.
THINK BIG
The government wants to achieve an 80 per cent reduction in CO² emissions by 2050. Although it hasn’t laid out exactly how it wants to achieve this target, it’s likely that some sectors, such as housing, may need to strive for a higher level to make up for the shortfalls of others, such as transport and agriculture. While measures like the Green Deal and the Decent Homes Standard have boosted the energy efficiency
of some properties to a certain extent, there is still some way to go before housing can satisfy the levels required in just over 35 years. Knowsley Housing Trust, part of the First Ark Group, provides homes to around 25,000 people in the Merseyside borough, Knowsley. Thanks to improvement works – including installing insulation and double glazing – to ensure properties meet the Decent Homes Standard, it had already achieved 54 per cent carbon reduction across its housing stock, helping tenants save £8.2 million as a result. However, Knowsley Housing Trust wanted to achieve more. Not only did the housing association want to prepare for any future targets the government may set the housing sector, but it also wanted to help residents reduce their energy bills and live as comfortably as possible. After successfully completing two pilot schemes, improving the insulation and air tightness of three houses in phase one and four flats and two houses in phase two, the housing association set about using the same principles and methods to improve tenant’s bungalows.
AN INNOVATIVE SOLUTION Around 60 per cent of household CO² emissions are from space
heating, and bungalows in particular are difficult to heat due to their large surface area. Because properties are often not insulated below the ground, they often lose a lot of heat through the floor. Knowsley Housing Trust wanted to find a way to insulate as far down as possible, but without causing too much disruption to the tenants. The housing association decided to retrofit the properties with Multifoil insulation – a flexible, easy to fit material which offers significant thermal benefits – and continue it below the ground level to the top of the footings, creating a thermal store between the ground floor slabs and supporting ground. Using Multifoil insula- tion and taping all joints and penetrations, as well removing all chimneys, also helped improve the air tightness of the buildings. Knowsley Housing Trust is one of the first housing associations to use Multifoil insulation in this innovative way. Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR) Units, which help to recover 80-90 per cent of the heat from controlled air changes while maintaining good indoor air quality, were also installed. Finally, solar thermal space heating was also installed in eight of the properties. By incorporating an intelligent pump station which links a solar thermal circuit with the MVHR units, the system is able to provide an element of passive space heating, as well as hot water. This further reduces the need to use the boiler and as the renewable energy is stored on site in a hot water cylinder, the system can provide background heat passively at night.
CLEAR BENEFITS
By improving the insulation and air tightness, Knowsley Housing Trust is already achieving 80 per cent carbon reduction in some of its homes and has calculated that in some properties it will be able to reduce it by over 90 per cent.
26
PUBLIC SECTOR ESTATES MANAGEMENT • MAY 2014
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