Case study detail
SCHEME: Hornsey Park Road Group Repair Scheme
Contributed by:
Sustainable Development Commission
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Group repair scheme on an urban neighbourhood focusing on ensuring structural stability whilst improving external visual impact of homes as well as reducing carbon emissions. Homes are late 19th century terraced and semi-detached. Area based approach.
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Overview
Between 2000 and 2004, Haringey Council in North London conducted a Group Repair Scheme in the Hornsey Park Renewal area. The Scheme aimed at improving both the private sector –including registered social landlord owned- and local-authority housing within the area while taking into account sustainability concerns.
Most of the dwellings along Hornsey Park Road are late 19th century terraced, semi detached houses or conversion flats. The houses included in the scheme have been rectified or renewed to ensure structural stability and compliance to building standards. Structural repairs were carried out along with more general improvements such as new external doors, gates, paving, garden walls, and guttering. In addition to an extended future lifespan, the refurbishment work aimed at a positive architectural and visual impact.
As many of the old non-condensing boilers of those homes also needed to be replaced, Haringey Council has had the opportunity to encourage several sustainability measures and to help meet its renewable energy and CO2 reduction targets.
The different settings installed allow an estimated reduction of 1.5t of annual CO2 emissions per unit, while an average of 70% of the hot water needs of the residents who received the improved systems are met by the new solar water heating.
Sustainability features:
This Group Repair Scheme thus included a number of sustainable refurbishment initiatives:
- 250 mm of fibreglass quilt insulation were used on roofs
- Existing windows were replaced by double-glazing
- 10 of the Group Repair Scheme houses were selected for the installation of solar water heating systems, with associated insulation of hot water cylinder and water pipes and, in some case, new condensing boilers.
A pilot study of solar water heating systems in period flats and houses has been carried out on the basis of those last 10 houses. Since it was intended to assess the effectiveness and popularity of the systems with different household types, the selected 10 houses reflected a cross-section of homes (one occupied by a young family, one by an older family, one by an elderly couple, etc.).
Results:
Coupled with more efficient water cylinders and new insulated water pipes, evacuated solar panels adapted to fix to the buildings’ slate roofs allowed households to meet up to 70% of their annual hot water needs.
Meters gave results in terms of energy saved, and the feedback from the residents involved in the pilot was encouraging - all residents have expressed satisfaction with the systems and confirmed that their gas bill was reduced.
The super-insulated storage cylinders and water pipes were alone estimated to reduce overall energy bills by 15%. Replacing the old gas boilers with new super-efficient condensing boilers saved a further 39% average. On the whole, the solar heating systems allowed an estimated saving per household of £74 per year.
- CO2 savings are estimated to amount to 1.5 tonnes per year per house.
Group Repair benefits:
The Hornsey Park Road Pilot is a good example of the benefits of group sustainable refurbishments at a street or neighbourhood scale. It showed how a common initiative could be launched and sustained in a neighbourhood and could lead to significant and large-scale changes.
As a result of the scheme’s success, Haringey Council teamed up with EAGA (Energy Action Grant Agency) to conduct further refurbishments in the same way in the other areas targeted for group repair, such as the Black Boy Lane area.
Contacts:
Derek Pearce,
Team Leader,
Haringey Council,
639 High Road,
London
N17 8BD
E-mail: derek.pearce@haringey.gov.uk
Key features
energy
materials
regeneration
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