ARCH member Warwick District Council has been successful in a
bid for £1.35million funding under the Government's Social Housing
Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) Demonstrator programme.
Following the launch of the SHDF Demonstrator programme in October
2020, £62 million in funding has been awarded to 17
local authorities across England and Scotland for 19 projects.
The SHDF Demonstrator project is an initial investment
to learn lessons and catalyse innovation in retrofitting for the
Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, for which the Government has
committed £3.8 billion of new funding.
The SHDF projects will demonstrate innovative approaches to
retrofitting social housing at scale, using a whole house approach.
The projects will retrofit over 2,300 homes to bring them up to
Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) band C or higher. Projects are
expected to complete by December 2021.
Under the successful bid submitted by Warwick District Council,
dozens of houses in the District will have permanently reduced fuel
bills, better air quality and improved energy efficiency ratings
thanks to the successful government funding bid.
A grant of over £1.35m has been awarded under the SHDF
Demonstrator programme to Warwick District Council and Oxford
Brookes University for a project which will see 50 Council homes
with low energy ratings undergo whole house energy retrofits using
some of the latest technology available.
The homes selected will have the money and energy saving
alterations made for free including; the replacement of windows
with high-performance triple glazing, under floor and loft
insulation and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery to reduce
the risk of damp and mould, and provide fresh filtered air.
Warwick District Council's Head of Housing Services,
Lisa Barker commented:
"Receipt of this funding is a tremendous boost in allowing
us to extend our ambitious programme to improve the energy
performance of our housing. This will not only benefit residents by
permanently reducing their fuel bills and make their homes warmer
in winter, but also supports the Council's ambition to combat
climate change."
Once the retrofitting work is completed, each home will be
measured for its thermal performance with energy use and indoor
environmental conditions carefully monitored. The householders will
then be advised on how to manage their energy use with the new
measures in place.
Rajat Gupta, Professor of Sustainable Architecture and
Climate Change at Oxford Brookes University, who is leading the
building performance evaluation of the scheme
commented;
"We are excited to get this project underway as it will have
a major impact on the quality of life of residents, who will enter
an era of advanced energy efficient homes. We have shown through
years of international research that energy retrofit measures can
play a key role in sustainability. This is especially important as
the UK aims for a net zero greenhouse gas emissions target by
2050."
Dr Sarah Price, Head of Building Physics at Retrofit
specialists Enhabit, who are consulting on the project
added:
"Enhabit is really excited to be part of
this innovative retrofit project, which will help to develop
strategies for reducing costs and improving efficiencies
across the Warwick District housing stock and beyond.We are looking
forward to developing the retrofit processes alongside our partners
Warwick District Council, Oxford Brookes University and Sarah
Wigglesworth Architects."
Click here for further details of the
Warwick District Council project and the homes to be improved under
the SHDF Demonstrator programme.
Details of the 17 local authorities awarded funding are
available on the BEIS website.
The SHDF Demonstrator competition is currently closed
for new applications but on 27 March 2021 the
Government announced £300 million extra funding for
green home upgrades to help lower income households cut
emissions and save money on bills. The funds will be delivered
through the Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery Scheme and
the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator. The
additional funding for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund will
build on the successful Demonstrator projects, and further details
of how Local Authorities and Housing Associations can apply will be
announced later this year.