Nottingham Energiesprong Project Update
Fantastic that Melius Homes have transformed 136 occupied properties (in Sneinton and Radford) into desirable, warm, and affordable homes and are now working on the final phase.
Key innovations:
First #Energiesprong project in the UK.
Retrofit is undertaken in 12 days while people carry on living in their homes.
Contractor assures performance through monitoring.
Advanced #offsiteconstruction #mmc factory, creating local employment and training opportunities.
The scheme comprises 1960s non-traditional concrete cross wall homes, including terraces of three-storey houses, low-rise flats, and bungalows. While the homes are well located and had an established community, they were cold and draughty with an inefficient design, particularly the houses with an unheated garage under the living room and an under croft below the kitchen.
The solution was a tenant-focused, highly-efficient whole house retrofit delivering super insulated, low maintenance near ‘net zero operational energy’ homes. The retrofit has also transformed the neighbourhoods with brighter finishes and increased passive surveillance from converted garages and first floor Juliet balconies to some houses.
The design team, led by Studio Partington, involved residents in developing the design brief during the competitive tender process. The community came together to establish a ‘wish list’ and choose the colour of their own window surrounds. The solution provider was able to include small items which make a big difference to residents’ lives, such as light tubes making stairs brighter, outside taps for watering, and doorbells.
Delivered benefits:
Fabric first: full external insulation; triple glazing; improved air tightness; reduced thermal bridging.
Energy supplied efficiently using heat pumps (gas removed) and solar panels to minimise grid imported electricity, getting down to around 1,500kWh/year (per home).
Measured performance from the pilot shows average space heating consumption of 58 kWh/m2/yr (within 2% of target value).
Measured solar PV production is, on average, 35 kWh/m2/yr (per home).
All surveyed tenants said they were comfortable or very comfortable in their retrofitted homes (October 2021).
Social value up to £4,500 a year per home (measured by HACT).
Total embodied carbon was calculated as 26t CO2e compared with circa 120t CO2e for demolition and rebuild.