Back in 2020 our council developed a strategy to develop and deliver a retrofit programme of energy efficiency work to the existing housing stock. The priority was to alleviate fuel costs for those residents who lived in our homes with the worse energy performance whilst also reducing carbon emissions.
It secured £1.6m of Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery funding from Government to help deliver this improvement and 420 properties have been refurbished and the results are in.
The work is part of a massive ongoing project to help tenants save money and tackle climate change and is being jointly funded by the council and the government, with the aim to eventually retrofit 4,000 homes. Retrofitting involves homes receiving external wall insulation, high performance cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, new double-glazed windows and doors, solar panels, smart meters and upgraded central heating systems. We can now look at difference the work has made.
Results achieved to date:
- 240 (56%) of properties achieved the highest rating (Band A)
- 11 of the above properties achieved a rating of A plus
- 169 (40%) properties achieved the 2nd highest rating (Band B)
These were among those most in need of retrofitting and presented many challenges. On average before the works began they had an average energy rating of 55, which is just on the line between band D and band E. After the retrofit the average energy rating was 90 which is at the very top of Energy rating band B with more than half achieving the band A. This represents a significant reduction in fuel costs and in related carbon emissions for the highest number of homes within the money available.
Under Labour’s leadership the Council is committed to continue the roll out gradually across all the council’s homes and a timescale is being developed. However, a boost may be available from a Government grant which is currently being sought from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
The long list of energy efficiency measures introduced:
- Removal of failed cavity wall insulation
- Removal of historic debris and rubble left behind when previous insulation was installed
- Roofs and roofline repairs and renewals
- Installation of new thermally-efficient & low-carbon cavity wall insulation
- New loft insulation
- New renewable Solar PV systems
- New highly-efficient replacement heating systems where required
- Smart heating controls fitted
- Windows and Doors replacements
- Smart meters installed
- Monitoring and management support for tenants
- New tenant energy efficiency booklets published and distributed