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ALMO becomes UK pilot for Dutch retrofit tech
A Midlands ALMO will be the first UK landlord to pilot a retrofit system which wraps homes in prefabricated panels to cut down on energy use.
Nottingham City Homes (NCH), which manages Nottingham City Council’s housing stock, is due to start work installing the panels on 10 of its homes next week.
The system is developed by Energiesprong, a Netherlands-based firm which has carried out 1,300 refurbishments and 600 new build installations in its home country.
It involves fitting super-insulating wall and roof panels to homes, as well as photovoltaic roof cassettes and air or ground source heat pumps. Gas supply is removed from the home to make it electricity-only.
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The cost of refurbishment is £75,000 per unit – though Energiesprong claims volume costs fall to £40,000 per unit.
Nick Murphy, chief executive of Nottingham City Homes, said: “While we’re delighted to be part of a UK-first pilot programme, it’s more important to us that we’re creating warmer, more energy-efficient homes, which are cheaper to run for residents.”
The landlord has signed the first delivery contract for the retrofit, with Melius Homes due to carry out the work. The deal includes an option for another 400 refurbishments in early 2018.
Moat, a housing association which helped found Energiesprong, has put a works contract for its own pilot out to tender. Both landlords received EU grant to help fund the schemes.
Jane Urquhart, cabinet member for planning, housing and heritage at Nottingham City Council, said: “We’re very excited that Nottingham is at the forefront of this revolutionary approach, which can help tackle both fuel poverty and climate change.
“Many of our residents live in fuel poverty so creating more energy-efficient homes to reduce people’s energy bills is a high priority for us.”
