'Homes as Energy Systems' project needs four homes in Rochdale for zero carbon retrofit

'Homes as Energy Systems' is a European Regional Development Fund funded project in Greater Manchester that seeks to demonstrate how all homes could be transformed to become of the UKs energy system rather than a perpetual drain on it.

By combining energy generation and storage technologies with insulation and other energy efficiency measures to reduce energy demand, we can cleverly generate household income to help to pay for the improvement works.

Part of the project is to see how near we can get typical Greater Manchester homes to zero net energy, so the homes use the same amount of energy in a year as is generated ‘on site’ from technologies like Solar PV.

For this part of the project we will be setting an average budget of £50,000 per home and invite qualifying teams (designers, coordinators, contractors) to see how far they can get to the goal for this money.

The aim of this part of the project is to prove that our homes can do their part in moving the country to a zero-carbon economy in twenty years. This work will also make our homes more comfortable, affordable, healthy and show a way towards making sure that everyone can afford to heat their home.

While it will be up to the designer/contractor teams to propose the detailed solutions, they will most likely include internal and/or external wall insulation, underfloor and roof insulation, some new windows and doors, PV solar panels and battery storage. Other measures may include new heating systems and heat recovery ventilation.

Half of the work will be paid for by European funding. Funding for the other half is being provided by RetrofitWorks, using funds from five local authorities.

The local authorities providing the finance to RetrofitWorks will want this money back, terms of which are still being finalised.

Currently the funding covers:

• 4 in Rochdale
• 4 in Salford
• 5 in Manchester
• 3 in Stockport
• 4 houses elsewhere in Greater Manchester to be decided

A spokesperson for Homes as Energy Systems said: “We can work on any type of dwelling except for flats, because these need to be treated as a block.

“We need to show how widely applicable this kind of work can be so a cross-section of house types with a cross-section of occupants will be chosen.

“We want to be able to showcase terraces up to detached houses, small to large, from over 100 years old to ones built up to the 1970s, to compare outcomes for families and smaller households, from those that don’t struggle with their energy bills to those that very much do.”

Register here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CWK2MMT