Housing association removes gas from all tower blocks
North East housing association Gentoo Group has completed the removal of domestic gas appliances from all 23 of its high-rise tower blocks.
The 29,000-home housing association announced last week that its four tower blocks in Sunderland city centre were the last of its high-rises to have their gas supply removed as part of a wider investment programme during which gas was removed from seven others in the last year.
As part of its Core 364 project, gas boilers were removed and replaced with a ground-source open-loop heating system when the gas supply was removed from these other towers in Roker and Monkwearmouth.
Gentoo anticipates that the project will lead to a saving of more than 377,000 tonnes of carbon per year across the seven towers.
It said the removal of gas and gas appliances has improved the safety of the towers, which are home to hundreds of tenants, significantly. Gentoo predicts those living in the towers will benefit from reduced utility bills by using an alternative source to gas to heat their homes.
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Marc Edwards, associate director for property investment at Gentoo, said: “Gentoo is committed to providing safe and affordable housing for its tenants and I’m really pleased to be able to say we no longer have domestic gas appliances in any of our tower blocks.
“The removal of gas and gas appliances has significantly improved the building safety and reduces the amount of carbon produced, contributing to Sunderland City Council’s ambition to be carbon neutral by 2030.”
The move by Gentoo to remove gas from its tower blocks coincides with a new fund launched by the government to help fund low-carbon heat-network technologies.
The £270m fund is the successor to the government’s Heat Networks Investment Project (HNIP), which has provided more than £165m of funding for schemes across England and Wales since 2018.
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