industry news
Nottingham City Council software deal to tackle fuel poverty by monitoring solar PVs
EkkoSense, the energy management specialists, has won a tender from Nottingham City Council to supply a monitoring system for over 3,000 solar panel installations. This will help to ensure households get the maximum amount of free electricity from the system, reducing their energy bills and tackling fuel poverty issues. Nottingham City Council has an extensive
solar panel programme across its council houses, managed by Nottingham City Homes, and EkkoSense’s web-based monitoring system will check each of the council’s solar installations daily, providing all of the information needed to claim income generated by the solar panels along with detailed performance data analysis. Monitoring solar panel installations in this
way identifies any repair or maintenance requirements almost immediately. This allows
Nottingham City Homes and EkkoSense to respond very quickly to any problems, often before the resident even knows anything is wrong. Dean Boyle, EkkoSense CEO, said: “It is
fantastic to win the council tender to supply our innovative cloud-based software dashboard to monitor their stock of solar PV installations.” Councillor Alan Clark, Portfolio Holder for
Energy and Sustainability said: “Nottingham is a leading city in the UK in terms of energy and low carbon businesses. With over 400 business involved in the low carbon sector, its own energy supply company and the largest district heating scheme in the country it’s an ideal start up location for energy related companies to develop and grow.”
The EkkoSense solution incorporates
monitoring and metering solutions for both the roll-out of the City Council’s 3,000 PV panel installations as well as converting its existing portfolio of 1,000 homes with PV panels.
“Monitoring solar panel installations in this way identifies any repair or maintenance requirements almost immediately. This allows Nottingham City Homes and EkkoSense to respond very quickly to any problems”
Cut the grass and garden plants to deter burglaries
A timely reminder that effective property security is about more than just closed doors and windows has been issued by specialist company VPS. Cut the grass and cut the crime is the simple and inexpensive message for landlords and tenants alike. Spring weather encourages rapid growth in
lawns and plants with neglected gardens advertising themselves to thieves, inviting them to see if the property is empty. With 57,000 empty properties in London and over 600,000 vacant homes across the whole of England, there are plenty to choose from. VPS has highlighted the role that grounds
maintenance plays in security. Unkempt lawns, hedges or grounds surrounding such properties
can attract unwanted attention, particularly for properties that are temporarily vacant. A specialist property management and site
security services company, VPS has issued a reminder to landlords and facilities managers that unmaintained, uncared-for environments is a security risk. “Securing a property that is temporarily
vacant is not just about locks, alarms, and CCTV” commented Gavin Pringle, managing director of VPS. “If lawns or grounds around a property are neglected, particularly with the Spring growth, then it attracts fly-tippers, vandals, opportunistic thieves, or even arsonists.” Over 60 fires a day occur in the UK in or by an
empty property, and every 40 seconds an illegal fly-tip takes place. The problem affects private and social landlords, homeowners and buy-to- let investors. Earlier this year VPS created five new service
areas including Grounds Services, comprising a team with 35 years’ experience in maintaining properties’ immediate environment, including clearing away rubbish, cleaning up graffiti and cutting the grass. “It is not just part & parcel of managing a
good security strategy, but keeping grounds maintained and looked-after will also help find new tenants or buyers far more easily than a neglected, run down exterior,” Gavin Pringle added.
www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMM May 2016 | 15
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