Retrofit and Replicate, the Eco Refurbishment project delivered in partnership with Hyde Group and ECD Architects has made it a hat trick with two new awards at this month's National Home Improvement Council 2009 ceremony.
These prestigious awards come hot on the heels of the Inside Housing Sustainable Housing Award for Low Energy Housing Project of the Year, making it a hat trick for the project and the team that delivered it. The NHIC awards were presented by The Rt Hon John Healey, MP and Minister of State for Housing & Planning at an award event staged in London.
The 'retro-fit and replicate' project on the Hyde Housing Association's 1930s-built property at Court Farm Road in South East London is a benchmark exercise to establish and monitor the most effective overall package of retrofit measures necessary to achieve in excess of 80% CO2 emission reductions in an existing property.
It enables Hyde and others to make more efficient and effective choices about how best to apply energy saving as part of large-scale retrofit programmes. It's also of significant benefit to developing a national policy in this respect as well as framing the approach to retrofit of individuals and other organisations.
The priorities were to minimise heat losses from the building's fabric, install an easily replicable efficient form of space and water heating, reduce the energy requirements for lighting, and utilise the most appropriate renewable forms of micro-generation to reduce CO2 emissions associated with the house.
Work so far indicates that the houses' energy consumption has reduced to 85% representing an annual energy saving cost to the householder of around £600 at current energy prices.
So not only will the resultant information influence Hyde's future refurbishment plans and financial investment in its housing stock, but it will also be made widely available to the public.
The Big Green Home Award - Sponsored by British Gas:
This Award is for the project which demonstrated the widest range of energy efficiency products, measures and micro generation technologies to be retro fitted maximising cost payback and CO2 savings.
The George Plucknett Award:
This Award is presented at the judge's discretion if they fell that one of the submissions stand out above and beyond all others. It goes to the organisation that has completed a project that most closely fulfils the NHIC's objectives and is chosen from the winners and finalists from all categories, therefore representing an outstanding level of achievement.
If you would like to discuss this of any other project please contact us on info.media@mearsgroup.co.uk and quoting reference MPR00016.