To support our ambitious target of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2030, we have delivered a large scale retrofit programme to our housing stock, which will continue to grow each year.
The council owns around 5,700 properties in the borough and some of our homes aren’t as energy efficient as they could be and are responsible for 12,000 tonnes of carbon emissions every year.
With the rise in energy bills and general cost of living, we know it is not easy for people to heat their homes. To tackle fuel poverty and climate change, we are carrying out a programme of retrofit works over the coming years to make our homes more energy and thermally efficient.
Almost all of our 5,700 properties will require some sort of retrofit improvements, but we will be starting with our least energy efficient properties first.
Some of the retrofit improvements that we will be undertaking are:
- Insulation – loft, cavity wall, internal, external and floor.
- Heat pumps – ground source and air source
- Solar PV panels in conjunction with heat pumps
- Communal LED lighting upgrades
Benefits of the Retrofit Works
Improving the energy efficiency of our homes will make a big difference to our tenants, now and in the future.
Some of these include:
- Homes will be warm and comfortable to live in
- The energy that is needed to heat a home will be reduced.
- Carbon emissions from each home will be reduced.
Our contractors
- Aran Insulation Ltd are our insulation contractor. They carry out a wide variety of insulation upgrades to our homes including loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and extractor fan installations.
- Kensa Contracting Ltd are our ground source heat pump (GSHP) contractor. They are helping us to decarbonise our stock by installing GSHP’s to some of our blocks.
- Carbon 3 Ltd are our renewables contractor. They install a number of different renewable technologies to our homes such as air source heat pumps, Solar PV panels and battery storage.
Current and Completed Projects
- 16 Flats at Merston Court in Higham received improved heating and hot water with the installation of ground source heat pumps
- 4 properties have received a variety of retrofit measures such as heat pumps, Solar PV and insulation that have resulted in them becoming net zero.
- An ongoing programme of loft and cavity wall insulation is being delivered by Aran Insulation with around 250 properties receiving insulation measures to date.
- Completed installation of LED lighting in 8 blocks, equating to 413 new LED fittings.