More award-winning ultra-low energy homes for Nottingham - Renewable Energy Installer
The next phase of a pioneering scheme to turn hard-to-heat council houses in Nottingham into ultra-low energy homes got underway today.
As part of the Nottingham City Homes and the council’s Engergiesprong initiative, more houses in Sneinton are receiving improvements tackling some of NCH’s older housing stock that is hard to heat and lifting residents out of fuel poverty. As well as being warmer, the environmental performance of the homes will be greatly improved by reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality.
The project will be rolled out to 138 properties throughout the city, managed on the council’s behalf by Nottingham City Homes, with further phases also being planned. The aim is to not only make the houses warmer and reduce energy bills for tenants, but also improve the environmental performance of the homes, helping towards Nottingham’s ambition to become carbon neutral by 2028. It formed part of the winning submission which saw Nottingham City Council named the UK’s Climate Champions at The Guardian’s Public Services Awards 2020.
The Energiesprong approach, pioneered in the Netherlands, upgrades a home with innovative energy-saving and energy-generating measures, including new highly insulated outside walls and windows, a solar roof, and a state-of-the-art heating system. The result is homes that are almost net zero carbon. This phase of the scheme is being funded through a European Regional Development Fund grant of £5m.
An NCH tenant from the initial pilot, Ms Esther Lutzuver, said: “These homes were really cold before and I dreaded winters. Before the energy efficiency works, I was planning on moving as the cold was just getting too much. Last winter was so much better, me and my family found the house to be really warm and my energy bills have not got more expensive, in fact I’m paying less.”
 Nottingham City Homes Chief Executive, Nick Murphy, said: “It’s important that we insulate our homes and make them more energy efficient for the future. As well as helping fight climate change this will tackle fuel poverty, making our homes warmer and cheaper to run. It’s a great start to 2020 to be rolling out the Energiesprong approach to more homes. The first pilot homes look fantastic and have really lifted the local area; this rollout will really add to the regeneration of neighbourhoods across the city.”