An innovative project that gave 20 empty older homes in Redbridge a new, greener lease of life won its third prestigious industry award last night.
Greener Homes for Redbridge was crowned Retrofit Project of the Year at the Construction News Awards 2011 in a ceremony in London. The project was recognised as an innovative and successful way to eco-retrofit older homes to reduce their carbon footprint.
This is the project’s third award following its success at the Architect’s Journal Retrofit Awards 2010 and a highly commended win at the Inside Housing Sustainable Housing Awards 2010.
The project transformed 20 Redbridge street properties with a range of water and energy saving improvements looking at what it would take to achieve reductions in carbon emissions by up to 80%. Detailed testing after the refurbishments confirmed that at least ten of the properties achieved reductions in carbon emissions ranging from 62% to 82%.
The project was delivered by East Thames Group, a social landlord and developer, working in partnership with London Borough of Redbridge, building contractor Wates Living Space, the Building Research Establishment and construction consultancy Pellings. It was funded by the Homes and Communities Agency and the London Borough of Redbridge with additional support from the National House Building Council’s ‘Foundation’, Thames Water, Essex & Suffolk Water, npower and Dimplex.
After the green improvements were made, the 20 empty homes were transformed into much needed social housing for local families, who will benefit from the lower utility bills and a warmer, more comfortable home. For the next two years the homes will be monitored to assess the actual energy and water savings achieved, and the effects of residents’ behaviour on each home’s carbon footprint. The findings will be shared with industry and government, so that lessons learnt will help shape the approach being taken to improving sustainability of older homes in an affordable way, and bringing empty homes back into use.
