Green approach to housing

Partners at Retrofit house with monitoring software - Phil Treaton (Groundwork), Barry Simons (Rochdale Council), Teresa Jennings (Groundwork), John Hall (AlternEnergy), Andy Moloney (AlternEnergy), Paul Roberts (Rochdale Council).

A project in Heywood is setting a new standard for landlords keen to adopt green technologies and sustainable approaches to domestic redevelopment.

The retrofit pilot project has transformed an old council house property into a beacon of sustainable living.

The project has been completed by Groundwork Oldham & Rochdale and renewable energy specialists, AlternEnergy, with funding from Rochdale Council and Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH).

Paul Roberts, Domestic Energy Manager at Rochdale Council, said: “There is an increasing need to look beyond basic insulation measures and traditional heating systems in order to drive down green house gas emissions and reduce fuel bills for the occupier.

“We hope that this project will demonstrate some options that both owner occupiers and landlords can consider”.

Following an energy review of the property in its original state, the most appropriate retrofit technology options were identified to achieve a ‘Grade A’ Energy Rating. Retrofit is simply a term that refers to the addition of new technology or features to older systems.

The property benefits from low energy LED lighting, an air source heat pump, solar panels and monitoring equipment to show the amount of electricity generated and used.

The new tenant is expected to save over £1,000 from annual energy bills as a result of the improvements.

The property will save 2.38 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year, which is a considerable saving as the levels have been minimised from 2.8 tonnes of CO2 per year to 0.42 tonnes per year.

Local company, AlternEnergy, supplied and installed the energy efficient technologies. Craig Hall from AlternEnergy added: “The Heywood scheme is a beacon for what can be achieved using the very latest low and renewable energy technologies available.

“This house not only cuts CO2, carbon and the cost of fuel, but also aims to offer a solution to our society’s current dependence on fossil fuels. We are very proud of what has been achieved at this property and hope this project will become the first of many in the Rochdale borough.”

In addition to the installation of new technology, the grounds of the property were fully landscaped and the garden now has a number of food growing planters. This work was completed by a team of Rochdale residents all engaged on an employment and training partnership between Groundwork Oldham & Rochdale and Rochdale Boroughwide Housing.

The new tenant of the property will also receive training and support to raise their awareness of climate change issues and learn about food growing throughout the year.

A final learning element of this project is to demonstrate the retrofit approach to local companies in Rochdale Council’s supply chain. It is hoped that this demonstration along with incentives from Government will convince more companies of the benefits of a sustainable approach to redevelopment.

Phil Treaton, Commercial Manager at Groundwork Oldham & Rochdale, added: “Groundwork has worked on retrofit projects in other parts of the country but this is the first for our Trust in the local area. We are delighted to have this opportunity to work with partners to demonstrate our vision of sustainable communities.”