Sustainable Housing Awards 2009

Sustainable social housing refurbishment project of the year (for multiple housing schemes)

Edinburgh World Heritage Site low carbon refurbishment

Who Assist Architects, Hillcrest Housing Association, Clark Contracts

What Refurbishment of two 19th century tenements to provide 17 energy efficient new flats

Where Edinburgh, Scotland

Quick eco-credentials Deserted buildings were converted to 17 new flats, highly insulated and heated by renewable energy, despite the restraints of being in a World Heritage Site

What the judges said
‘This was excellent in the face of constraints of site, building type and heritage.’
‘Good design while solving the technical challenges.’
‘This scheme took a historical building with issues and got good sustainable solutions.’

Before, they were empty tenement properties in a conservation area in Edinburgh, poorly insulated and in need of some love. Now, they have been transformed into 17 energy efficient flats, 10 of which provide specialist accommodation for vulnerable young people.

The judges were impressed by the way this project tackles the problems of refurbishing older buildings in a conservation area, as it is not just the low hanging fruit of easy eco-refurbishments that will have to be tackled if carbon emissions are to be cut by the government’s target of 80 per cent by 2050.

The homes are now heated by a ground-source heat pump and highly insulated to maximize energy efficiency. At the same time, an extensive programme of stone conservation and façade protection was carried out.

Key green features

• Ground source heat pumps provide hot water and heating, with 14 bore holes drilled 70 metres into the Edinburgh rock and Therma Robust 38 pumps installed.
• The GSHP feeds through to the under-floor heating system and three thermostats in each flat allow tenants to control energy use.
• Heat meters will monitor the efficiency of the heat pump installation and tenants’ fuel bills will also be measured to examine the real impact of the renewable energy.
• The five storey building is made of solid masonry with plasterboard lining, the inside of which has been fitted with 100mm of mineral wool, then a 50mm air gap and finally a dry lining wall insulation made of two layers of polythene bubble sheet with aluminium lining on both sides. The improvement is 3.0W/m2K to 0.22W/m2K.
• An extra 300mm of mineral wool quilt was fitted in the roof space, which upped the U-value to 0.14W/m2K. Between each flat 100mm of insulation was added to the ceilings for sound insulation and 50mm of rigid polystyrene flooring was added to prevent heat loss below the underfloor heating system.
• The original sash timber windows could not be replaced because of conservation concerns, so secondary glazing was added.
• The back of the flats weren’t subject to such strict conservation controls, so south-facing sunspaces were added. These suck up heat from the sun, which can be spread throughout the property using a heat recovery system - and provide a superb outdoor space in a city centre.
• Dual-flush toilets, low-flow showers and aerated taps were added.
• Timber is from a sustainable source, insulation materials are produced using a small amount of energy, aluminium cladding is 100 per cent recyclable, and stone and lime mortar were used for all stonework repairs. Concrete use was kept to a minimum and was mainly in the heat pump plant room.

Sustainable Smaller Social Housing Project of the Year (25 homes or fewer)

Sponsored by Tarmac

Creagan Gorm Cottages, Glenmore

Who Albyn Housing Society, John Gilbert Architects, McLeod Building Ltd

What Two semi-detached three-bed houses for social rent to key workers

Where Cairngorms National Park, Scotland

Quick eco-credentials Built from local timber, with carbon emissions at 48 per cent below building regulations, which is equivalent to level 4 under the code for sustainable homes

What the judges said
‘This is not just environmental box ticking: sensitive and interesting.’
‘You’d want to live there - it has design quality as well as locally based sustainability and innovative use of local materials.’
‘It was creating a place, it talked about real people as well as being very good to the environment.’

The judges loved this scheme because it looks gorgeous, takes a holistic approach to sustainability and involved the local community to really create a place. Nestled amid the pines of the Cairngorms National Park, these two homes will weather over time to blend beautifully with their surroundings.

The lucky key workers that get to live here will have views over Scottish mountains to the south and over ancient forest to the north. The three-bedroom homes are built from local timber and additional native trees were plated around the site. The houses meet level 4 under the code for sustainable homes on energy and have a host of water-saving facilities. This scheme isn’t just an attempt to tick boxes and get eco-kudos, but is rather a thoughtful look at who will be living in the homes and where they are, with good design and technologies added accordingly. The local economy and community have also benefited, with materials and workers coming from as near to the site as possible.

The homes are for families who have grown up in the area but who have been pushed out of the market by second home owners around the national park area.

Key green features

• Local sourcing of materials, especially Forest Stewardship Council timber mainly from Scotland. Doors and windows which could not be obtained locally so were imported from FSC-approved sources abroad.
• Only four main materials were sourced outside the UK, for quality reasons.
• Very highly insulated walls, roof and floor: carbon emissions 48 per cent below building regulations, which should vastly reduce heating needs. Roof: 400mm cellulose 0.12 W/m2K. Walls: 195mm cellulose and 60mm wood fibreboard 0.15 W/m2K. Floor: 100mm insulation 0.17 W/m2K
• Multi-fuel stove heating for main rooms.
• Oriented to gain maximum benefit from the sun for light and heat.
• Rainwater harvesting to feed toilets and washing machines, as well as creating a sustainable urban drainage system - there is a 5,000 litre storage tank for each house.
• Low flush toilets and showers.
• Two year post-occupancy evaluation planned, with airtightness testing, energy monitoring and tenant interviews.
• Waste minimisation policy with all materials from demolition of toilet and showerblock on the brownfield site removed to a local yard for separation and recycling.
• Local arboriculturalist employed to oversee the work on trees and more than 70 native species trees planted around the site.
• Scottish Natural Heritage made surveys of red squirrel populations, and their habitats were protected during the work.

Sustainable large social housing project of the year (more than 25 homes)

Sponsored by United House

Rocks Green

Who Vision Mill Architects, South Shropshire Housing Association

What 91 homes: two, three and four bedroom houses and two bedroom apartments at a construction cost of £10.6 million

Where Ludlow, Shropshire

Quick eco-credentials Homes powered by a local district heating biomass boiler, which are also Ecohomes excellent standard

What the judges said
‘What I liked about Rocks Green is that they were quite honest about the process: it wasn’t a comfortable process but it was big - setting up an ESCo, having a district heating system.’
‘There was lots of good stuff on landscaping, SUSTAINABLE DRAINAGE. Lots of aspiration and with a good outcome for the residents.’

It is crucial for the sector that organisations are honest about the lessons learned from a project, so that we don’t keep reinventing the wheel. This project impressed partly because the team spelled out how its thinking changed as the development evolved, from passive solar gain and heavy thermal mass to a timber frame and the need for a full heating system. The plan switched to a biomass boiler that will provide cheap and clean heating and hot water for residents of the 91 homes. This is the sort of scheme that social landlords across the country should replicate.

Key green features

• South Shropshire Housing Association has set up an energy services company, or ESCo, which sells the heat generated by the biomass woodchip boiler at low cost to the residents. This is expected to deliver heat demand of 615,000 KWh per year, which will save 120 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
• The woodchip comes from tree waste (sawmills and local forestry) but SSHA wants to create its own wood-chipping business to provide fuel for the district heating system, which would help with security of supply and benefit rural regeneration.
• Timber frame construction with high levels of insulation giving maximum U-values of 0.25W/m2K for the walls, 1.8 W/m2K for the windows, 0.2 W/m2K for the floors and 0.13 W/m2K for the roof.
• Before the site was developed it was grassland with little ecological value: now trees and shrubs have been planted, including 29 native species. A designated wildlife corridor has been added and sustainable draining will help channel the water into an existing stream.
• Waste minimisation was part of the tender brief and there were weekly waste management meetings and audit reports. Eighty-six per cent of waste materials were recycled.
• Average household water use predicted to be 105 litres per day. Each household is provided with a rainwater collection for use on gardens.
• Scheme included the provision of controlled pedestrian and cycle crossing over the A49, linking the new development with shops and amenities.

Energy Saving Initiative of the Year

Anchor Trust, The Energy Team

Quick eco-credentials

An energy efficiency competition inspired hundreds of tenants to change their behaviour, saving tonnes of carbon dioxide

What the judges said
‘This was my favourite because it is bottom-up, was trying to enter into dialogue, stimulate a competitive spirit. It isn’t just about bolt-on goodies, it was thinking about day to day things that make a difference.’
‘This talked about real people. It was almost self-funding because of the pay-back, which is fantastic.’

Anchor Trust provides care and housing for older people, mainly in sheltered housing schemes. An energy team was set up to help reduce the impact of higher fuel prices and it ran an inspiring competition to generate energy saving ideas.

Over the year, tenants worked to cut energy and waste, and increase community involvement and recycling. The competition winner, Willowbank in Cambridge, bagged £30,000 to spend on renewable energy and chose to install solar panels.

The judges liked the engagement with older people, who are often a hard-to reach group for environmental initiatives; the fact that it was driven by tenants; and the feeling that behaviour has changed for good.

Key green features

• The scheme set up so residents would feel ownership, and to encourage them to think of their own initiatives.
• Support came from the top, with hints and tips in the Anchor newsletter, briefings for area and team managers and specialist booklets for each team that entered the competition.
• More than 30 schemes entered, with 900 tenants taking part. Aside from the winning entry, other schemes saved 12,788Kwh or £24,366 worth of gas and 7,961 Kwh or £50,950 worth of electricity.
• Willowbank, the winning scheme, produced regular energy newsletters written by a tenant and invited the council’s energy officer to the scheme to give advice. It also created recycling points on all floors for tenants with mobility problems; sold unwanted items at jumble sales; set up a car sharing scheme; and installed energy saving light bulbs.
• Willowbank saved 13,231Kwh or £25,138 worth of gas and 117 or £756 worth of electricity over the scheme, which reduced carbon dioxide by 19.27 tonnes.

Residents say that the competition has changed their behaviour. Everything from composting to large-scale recycling has sprung up across the various schemes as a result of increased awareness.

Community Involvement/ Engagement Award

Sponsored by Breyer Group

Summerfield eco neighbourhood project

Who Urban Living, Family Housing Association, Birmingham Council, Be Birmingham, Summerfield Residents Association

What Largest eco-neighbourhood in the UK

Where Summerfield, Ladywood

Quick eco-credentials Inspired by residents’ concerns about energy efficiency and rising fuel bills, Birmingham Sandwell market renewal pathfinder Urban Living decided to create a £2.3 million programme to make the area green. The community work also helped tackle anti-social behaviour

What the judges said
‘Engaging the whole community with deep buy-in: it seems to have not only transformed the area but the local mindset, with truly great results. There is an educational legacy.’

Key green features

• Solar panels and low-energy heating in 329 homes, with smartmeters in 50 homes.
• Eco-showhomes with 1,700 visitors touring the area. Eco-packs were also sent to 500 households
• The project worked with children from six local schools to create a ‘green’ website, radio station and energy advice DVDs.
• 75 per cent of residents say the scheme has changed their attitudes to energy.
• Best practice lessons are being used in other neighbourhoods.

The Transformation Award

Townhead Transformation

Who Glasgow Housing Association, Glasgow Council, Gorbals Art Project

What transformation of a run-down housing estate into a community with public art and landscaping at a cost of £815,000

Where Townhead, Glasgow

Quick eco-credentials With local homes being refurbished, the council wanted to do something to transform the public realm, so worked with the community to create outdoor spaces that are good for the environment and local people

What the judges said
‘Inspiring. This is a very difficult thing to get right - getting people onside and including everyone. As well as homes, they have created a place, which is powerful.’

Key green features

• All artwork was designed in partnership with local young people, playspaces were designed in consultation with both young and older residents.
• Biodiversity was increased and lots of new trees were planted.
• Rather than being thrown away, the 1960s concrete street sculptures will be covered in bright, hardwearing materials and reused.

Low energy social housing project of the year

Retrofit and Replicate House

Who Hyde Group, ECD Architects, Mears Group

What A 1930s terraced house that Hyde have refurbished with the aim of reducing its carbon emissions by 80 per cent.

Where South-east London

Quick eco-credentials Internal and external, loft and underfloor insulation was installed. Doors and windows were triple glazed, a gas condensing boiler added and hot water and heating will be supplied by solar panels. The plan worked, at a cost of £80,000 and a reduction of 83 per cent. The house will be monitored for two years.

What the judges said
‘A rigorous approach to energy reduction, with proper monitoring that should produce useful results which can be fed into other projects. Plus, they have thought about liveability and indoor air quality issues.’

Waste Initiative of the year

ENVAC system

Who PRP, Quintain Estates & Developments, London Borough of Brent

What The first UK development to use the ENVAC system, which sucks rubbish from each floor of the block, through a vacuum system to a single collection station

Where Forum House, Wembley

Quick eco-credentials Waste is sucked at 50mph from up to 2km away to a central collection point. Recycling figures are double the Brent average at 41.1 per cent, waste collection costs are down 80 per cent and vehicle movements and emissions have been reduced.

What the judges said
‘I would love to see many more of these going into new projects. This improves waste segregation, is less intrusive for residents, there is less carbon dioxide because of decreased transport and revenue costs are reduced too.’

Sustainability innovation award

HotROCs

Who Good Energy

Quick eco-credentials By setting up the UK’s first renewable heat incentive, which aims to boost the uptake of solar thermal by paying 4.5p per unit generated, this energy company is ahead of the government policy and will be using the data gathered to inform national planning for a feed-in tariff.

What the judges said
‘What a brilliant idea. Going out on its own this is great, it is a good reading of the landscape.’

Social Housing Provider of the Year

Innovative Approach to Green Homes Award

Sponsored by EPS

Radian Housing Association

Quick eco-credentials

Radian’s approach to green development is steady and practical, with excellent results: the first wide-scale green refurbishment with 76 per cent reductions in carbon emissions, numerous homes built to level 4 of the code for sustainable homes, with the higher levels in planning permission at the moment - and lots of data collection and lessons learned along the way.

What the judges said
‘I particularly liked the post-occupancy monitoring to make sure innovations work: also the Generation Homes Commitment, which is not a bolt-on but right at the heart of what Radian is trying to do.’

Green social housing champion of the year

Sponsored by Sitex Orbis

Richard Baines

Quick eco-credentials
Mr Baines is director of sustainable development at Black Country Housing and has been a pioneer of on green building for two decades. He helped define fuel poverty, trialled many of the early eco-technologies, and installed one of the first combined heat and power systems, all with very little money.

What the judges said
‘He is a bit of a star, with long-term involvement in the sector, pushing the boundaries and being creative with limited funding.’

Social Housing Provider of the Year

Corporate Sustainability Award

Sponsored by National House building council

Gentoo Group

Quick eco-credentials Gentoo’s sustainable actions are wide ranging and impressive, from involving the staff as green champions to increasing recycling by 1,178 per cent. It is working to reduce its carbon emissions by 12.5 per cent by 2010.

What the judges said
‘Combines passion with precision. The way that, in a short time, an organisation of this size has been transformed to focus on these non-traditional issues is very impressive.’

Sustainable Social Housing Contractor of the Year

Sponsored by Profile 22

Wates Living Space

Quick eco-credentials Wates Living Space has ambitious targets that are well underway, including reducing year-on-year carbon emissions by 10 per cent year and sending zero waste to landfill.

What the judges said
‘Wates is one cycle ahead of everyone else. It is a jolly good example, a pace-setter that shows a big company can do it and be successful. it is really trying to grapple with sustainability across the board and taking a long-term approach that will hopefully drive the rest of the industry.’

Sustainable Social Housing Construction Consultancy of the Year

Sponsored by axis

Ingleton Wood

Quick eco-credentials
An architects’ practice that is aiming to become a zero carbon company, with ISO 14001 accreditation and year-on-year reduction target for each member of staff. Ingleton Wood’s offices are green and its designs are sustainable.

What the judges said
‘There is strong corporate commitment and lots of evidence of action both on its own and in its projects.’

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