Details of the successful schemes for the second round of funding from the Homes and Communities Agency's (HCA) low carbon infrastructure initiative, totalling £8.80 million, have been announced.
The initiativeis a partnership with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and Communities and Local Government (CLG). It will provide funding for schemes across the country to benefit from new and existing low carbon energy plants by creating the infrastructure needed to link them up.
The successful bidders for the second round of the initiative, are:
[KF] Eco homes built to high environmental standards will cost tenants just £80 a year in energy bills, according to housing association Saxon Weald.
The six new homes in Billinghurst, West Sussex, generate their own electricity from solar panels and harvest rainwater under their patios for use in flushing the toilets, to reduce the amount of water used.
The surplus energy created when the sun shines will be sold back to the grid, while ground source heat pumps drilled 85 metres down into the ground provide heating and hot water for the three-bedroom homes.
The homes were built to Level 5 of the Government's code for sustainable homes - second only in environmental measures to the "exemplar" Level 6 - because of concerns about fuel poverty, energy costs and the environment.
The homes cost £160,000 each to construct, around 13% more than it would have cost to build them to Level 3 of the code, the building standards all new-build social housing has to meet.
The homes are among the first in the country built to the higher standards, which require the houses to produce no emissions from heating, hot water, ventilation and lighting and reduce each person's water use to 80 litres a day - well below the national average of 150 litres.
The eco-friendly measures benefit the houses' occupants, whose energy bills are estimated to be just £83.44 a year.
Energy Bills Reduced to £80 Per Year
Over 58% of properties in England have walls that cannot be insulated by the low cost measure of cavity wall insulation and therefore do not qualify for Warm Front.
National Energy Action (NEA) has, over the last three years, worked with a number of insulation companies and installers to develop a range of lightweight insulation systems that can be applied to homes of both solid and non- traditional construction.
The work that NEA has carried out has led to two new factory- made external wall insulation products being introduced into the UK home insulation market.
The lightweight insulation is ideally suited for a particular niche market of fuel poverty that is those eligible for Warm Front who live in park homes.
On average, 63% of park home residents are older people and the homes tend to be found in rural areas. Because they are usually off the gas network, Park Home residents often have to rely on the most expensive heating fuels, like bottled gas. Also, their homes are often poorly insulated.
On average, park home owners spend 20% of their income on fuel to keep warm and many are at risk of hypothermia. External wall insulation on park homes can reduce fuel usage by over 50% and would take large numbers of owners out of fuel poverty.
A park home insulated with ParaClad
Having demonstrated the potential in these innovations through last year's work, NEA now seek to role out the products on a wider basis. Trialing them through the Warm Front system, in a similar way to that achieved for air source heat pumps and solar thermal, will enable systematic data collection and real help to a great number of people.
NEA will work with the Warm Front operations team at eaga, local authorities, manufacturers and park home residents, to identify clusters (mini Warm Zone or CEEF schemes) of park home owners and residents who are eligible for the Warm Front suite of measures and who require external wall insulation and loft insulation.
In addition, NEA and eaga will need to identify existing Warm Front approved installers who can provide the skills and experience to provide this service to clients in park homes.
For this pilot, it is important to use products that will provide a system that is lightweight, in the range of 8 kilogramme/square metre, as some existing products will cause structural movement of the home due to the chassis not being designed to support the weight of the applied system.
NEA will train Warm Front surveyors and liaise with local authorities to ensure that those qualifying for Warm Front in park homes in need are identified.
In addition 100 residents will be monitored for fuel usage and improvements to their social wellbeing. NEA will liaise with park home owners associations and publications to promote savings made by insulation to the able- to- pay market.
Black Country Housing Group is to build four bungalows incorporating a remarkable level of "green" design and construction.
The four properties in Hamstead near Great Barr, West Bromwich will be built to Level 5 of the Code for Sustainable Homes - the highest level achievable without estate-wide generation of heat or power.
The four bungalows will have their roofs covered in Sedum, a water-retaining plant that soaks up storm water and provides insulation.
The homes will also have electricity generated by solar panels, with any surplus able to be sold back to the National Grid.
Rain water will be harvested - a sunshade will prevent overheating in summer and each bungalow will have a composter.
There will be a fenced patio area at the back of each property for privacy, while the majority of the garden area will be a communal space.
Construction of the bungalows will begin at the end of the summer and the properties let by BCHG to the elderly.
According to the Government's advisory body on domestic energy use, owners of poorly insulated homes should not be allowed to sell or rent them until they have invested in energy efficiency measures,
The Energy Saving Trust said that the 5.5 million homes in the lowest two bands for energy performance - more than a fifth of all homes - should also be subject to higher council tax bills and additional stamp duty. It believes that tough measures will be needed to achieve the Government's target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from home heating by 29% by 2020 and to "almost zero" by 2050.
The Trust estimates that 85% of the homes in bands F and G could be made fit to sell for less than £5,000. However, owners of the remaining 15% face paying as much as £10,000 to upgrade their homes to a new minimum standard.
Since last October, all homes offered for sale or rent have had to have an energy performance certificate, which ranks them in one of seven bands, from A to G. The Trust is advising the Government to make it illegal, from 2015, to offer for sale homes rated lower than Band E. There would be exceptions for listed buildings if the owners could prove that energy efficiency measures would damage their historic character.
The Government said in its low carbon White Paper that existing measures, which focus on giving advice and offering grants towards the cost of insulation, might not be sufficient to achieve reductions in energy use.
There are very few A-rated homes, which feature triple glazing, heavily insulated walls and ceilings and solar panels for heating water. F-rated homes include Victorian terraced properties with single-glazed sash windows and boilers at least ten years old. G-rated homes tend to be detached and have no loft insulation.
Sanctuary Group was shortlisted in the Energy Saving Initiative of the Year category of the Sustainable Housing Awards 2009. The awards focus on the best 'green' social housing projects that have been established by organisations throughout the UK.
Worcester-based Sanctuary has launched a number of initiatives to help the Group tackle climate change. One of these is a dedicated website which keeps staff, residents and other interested parties informed of the work the Group is carrying out.
Introduced in 2006, the Energy Website details Sanctuary's work in evaluating renewable technologies, methods of improving energy efficiency and reducing Carbon emissions to ensure the Group's focus on best practice.
The site also provides information on energy saving measures, including filling freezers to their full capacity and using only energy saving light bulbs. It also demonstrates examples of projects the Group is involved in to help combat climate change.
Residents have also been taking part in interactive workshops to help the Group formulate a long-term sustainability strategy. The aim of this new strategy is to help find ways to improve resource efficiency and ensure cost savings for the organisation, tenants and stakeholders.
The winners for each category will be announced at an 'eco' awards ceremony at London's Hilton Hotel on Friday, 23rd October 2009.