Refurb Projects - November 2018

Gold award for Nottingham City Homes’
approach to sustainability
SUSTAINABILITY
Nottingham City Homes
(NCH) has been accredited
as a gold standard provider
of sustainable homes, in
recognition of its success in reducing
its environmental impact across its
housing stock and operations.
The accreditation body SHIFT
(Sustainable Homes Index For
Tomorrow) is run by Sustainable
Homes and is the sustainability
standard for the housing sector.
Gaining a gold accreditation means
that NCH is one of the leading
organisations for green homes in the
UK.
Over the last few years, NCH has
rolled out a raft of domestic energy
efficiency measures such as new
boilers, A-rated windows, solar
rooftops and external wall insulation
through its Greener HousiNG scheme
to tackle the city’s coldest and most
energy inefficient homes. This has all
greatly improved their
environmental performance.
Sustainable Homes also awarded
NCH the Sustainable Retrofit Project
of the Year (under 50 properties)
award at its prestigious annual awards
ceremony, which recognises the very
best sustainability projects and
achievements in the UK. This award
was for their Energiesprong pilot to
create ultra-low energy homes.
NCH, in partnership with
Nottingham City Council, is the first
housing organisation in the country
to adopt the ground-breaking
Energiesprong approach to tackle
climate change and fuel poverty
challenges arising from older
housing stock. The project has
radically improved the energy
efficiency of ten homes in Sneinton.
It upgraded the homes with new
outside walls and windows, a solar
roof, and a state of the art heating
system; making the homes warmer,
healthier and much more affordable
to heat for residents.
The construction partners for
Energiesprong in Sneinton were
Melius Homes, and the project has
been supported and part financed by
the REMOURBAN project that is
developing a pioneering model to
show how sustainability can be
integrated into the regeneration of
towns and cities across the UK.
Additional funding has also been
provided by the E=0 project, part of
the European Union’s Interreg NWE
programme.
The construction partners for
Energiesprong in Sneinton were
Melius Homes, and the project has
been supported and part financed by
the REMOURBAN project that is
developing a pioneering model to
show how sustainability can be
integrated into the regeneration of
towns and cities across the UK.
Expertise from the Horizon 2020
Transition Zero project also
supported this pilot.
Nottingham City Council and
Nottingham City Homes are
currently seeking funding for a
rollout of this scheme to 100+
homes in the city.
Councillor Sally Longford, the
City Council’s Portfolio Holder for
Energy and Environment, said: “It’s a
great achievement to have gained
both the gold standard and to have
won this award. Its testament to the
innovation and commitment that
Nottingham City Homes has shown
to ensure its homes are ready for the
zero carbon standards required
across the UK by 2050. “Many of
our residents live in fuel poverty so
creating more energy efficient
homes to reduce people’s energy
bills is a high priority for us. We’re
very excited that Nottingham is
leading the way to tackle both fuel
poverty and climate change and is
pioneering new approaches.”
Nick Murphy, Chief Executive of
Nottingham City Homes, said, “We’re
extremely proud to have achieved
the gold standard for providing
sustainable homes. As a large
housing provider, we are very aware
of our environmental impact and we
have worked hard to minimise it. As
well as meeting our environmental
responsibilities, sustainability means
reduced operational costs for us and
cheaper bills and warmer homes for
our tenants.
“Our Energisprong pilot in
Sneinton has transformed these
draughty and inefficient homes into
some of the most sustainable homes
in the country. We intend to roll
Energiesprong out to other homes
across the city in the coming
months and years to ensure that
more of our residents can benefit
from warmer homes.”
David Adams, Technical Director
of Melius Homes, the construction
partner said: “We wholeheartedly
congratulate Nottingham City
Homes on their success, to receive a
gold SHIFT accreditation is
something quite special.
Nottingham City Homes showed
great leadership by piloting the UK
first Energiesprong scheme and we
are really proud that this
collaborative project has won this
award. We’re looking forward to
working with the NCH on future
schemes to develop this model
further.”
Ron Van-Erck, Energiesprong’s
Head of International market
development, said “An Energiesprong
retrofit is about converting existing
houses into warm, desirable and
affordable places to live in, year
round. It’s a collaborative process
that involves three agents of
change: contractors, housing
providers and residents. The gold
award recognises that Nottingham
City Homes are leading from the
front by making their own housing
stock sustainable for the long term.
Together with Melius Homes, they
are true pioneers, heading a UK
movement to make homes fit for
2050. It’s a great achievement!”
www.energiesprong.eu
REFURBISHMENT PROJECTS, NOVEMBER 2018 11