Energy efficiency of housing in Nottingham

Report on the progress made on energy efficiency of housing in Nottingham and in tackling fuel poverty; followed by text of a speech to be given to the 25th Conference of National Energy Action at Nottingham University on 5th September 2006. 

Significant parts of Mapperley ward, in Mapperley Park, are very fuel inefficient. 

Report on the progress made on energy efficiency of housing in Nottingham and in tackling fuel poverty.

1. Eradicating Fuel Poverty

Public Sector – Nottingham City Homes (Arms Length Management Company):

· £70.6m has been spent by Nottingham City Council and NCH over the last 10 years to improve the energy rating of our homes.

· Average SAP energy rating figures have increased from 52.5 at April 1999 to 70.77 at April 2006 using SAP 2001 software and now is rated in the upper quartile of local authorities.

· Low energy rated homes have been selectively targeted with energy efficiency measures. The least energy efficient homes with under 40 SAP being reduced from 7.8% to 2.7% of the rented stock between April 1999 and April 2006.

April 00 April 05 April 06 No. at April 06

% under 10 SAP 0.32% 0.07% 0.06% 21

% under 20 SAP 0.95% 0.30% 0.29% 88

% under 30 SAP 3.48% 0.97% 0.99% 302

· Insulation programmes are now well advanced. Since 2000 we have completed 25,673 insulation measures thanks to the great assistance of tenants of making their homes accessible. 99.9% cavity walls now insulated, 83.3% lofts now reinsulated and 24.7% solid walls insulated. These programmes are making an annual savings on tenant fuel bills of around £2.4m per annum.

· Over £2m has been secured through Standard of Performance and Energy Efficiency Commitment scheme to supplement energy efficiency housing investment to City Council rented homes between 2000 and 2005. Partnerships with British Gas, EDF Energy, npower, Powergen, SWALEC have helped movement towards Decent Homes targets on heating and insulation.

· In 2005/6 central heating installations completed to 906 homes. Programme includes first time installations and fuel switching from solid fuel and electricity.

· Insulation completed to 552 homes in 2005/6 through funding partnership with British Gas Energy Efficiency Commitment, including external cladding and loft insulation.

· Decent Homes Standards by 2010 includes a requirement for a reasonable degree of thermal comfort, in the form of both efficient heating and effective insulation. Nottinghamhas transferred its 30,000 homes to an arms length management organization in an effort to meet this.

· Progress set against targets in “40% house” by the Environmental Change Institute

Measure

40% home expectations by 2050

Nottingham City Homes

Cavity Walls Insulated

100%

99.9%

Lofts Re-insulated

100%

83.3%

Solid Walls insulated

15%

24.69%

Low and zero carbon technologies.

An average of up to 2 technologies per home.

10.2% homes with one low or zero carbon technology through district heating

High Performance Windows

100%

23.4%

High Performance Doors

100%

Minimum SAP 51

0%

7.1% under 51 SAP

Increased demolition

14% estimate

Programme of demolitions and sales.

Private Sector :

· Mapping of “fuel poverty” in 2005 of private sector found cluster had the following features -

Solid walls and no lofts, just attic rooms

Areas occupied by primarily non-families

Low elderly populations

People with better health as single, younger persons

Often student accommodation/private rented.

· Our July 2006 survey of Nottingham home owners discovered the best every annual progress by home owners –

5.5% home energy reduction in 2005/6 to now exceed 22%

15.6% increase in loft insulation in 2005/6 to 56%.

12.6% increase in cavity wall insulation in 2005/6 to 60%.

4.5% increase in double glazing in 2005/6 to 77.5%.

27% added low energy light bulbs – 3 on average over 12 months

0.5% increase in solid wall insulation in 2005/6

1% increase in draught proofing in 2005/6

· Reduction in low SAP energy rated homes in Private Sector -

April 00 April 05 April 06 No. at April 06

% under 10 SAP 2.73% 0.49% 0.75% 104

% under 20 SAP 2.98% 1.72% 1.25% 624

% under 30 SAP 6.95% 3.43% 2.25% 1,755

· 30,512 separate energy contacts generated by the City Council in the last three years, primarily telephone and home visit. (April 2003- March 2006).

· 23% home owner energy customers assisted under EEC “Fuel Poor” generated through 100% area-wide promotional coverage.

· Multiple Energy Efficiency Commitment partnerships including Energy Saving Trust’s EEAC, Answerline, Enact Energy, Energy Support UK, Heatsavers Insulations, KHI, Miller Pattison, Mark Insulations, Novacroft, Westville Insulation utilising insulation programmes from npower, EDF Energy, Powergen, SWALEC and British Gas for home owners on benefits regardless of age and family make-up.

· Growing awareness of energy grants available to all home owners –

2002/3 38.9% aware

2003/4 47.3% aware

2004/5 43% aware

2005/6 55% aware

Construction type awareness has never been higher thanks to area by area letter based approach with 21,500 construction specific letters in 2005/6 eg cavity gables, asbestos tiled, attic rooms.

· Private Sector Poor Heating – Citywide ALL homes have been written to offering insulation,

heating upgrades etc as relevant. Progress being steadily made.

April 2002 April 2005 April 2006

No Central Heating – 7.34% 5.38% 5%

Electric Room heaters only 1.23% 1%

Gas Fires only 6.85% 4.17% 3.5%

Solid fuel fires only 0.24% 0.00% 0.25%

Oil/LPG heating 0.00% 0.25%

· £59m spent by home owners and private landlords over last 10 years to improve energy saving.

· Greater Nottingham Healthy Housing Referral Project, a partnership with Warm Front, funded through the national Health Action Zone Innovations Fund. Targets the vulnerable fuel poor in the private sector. Health professionals, Social Services staff and voluntary sector organisations are trained in the links between ill health and fuel poverty, and households are referred for EAGA Warm Front grants.

· Stock Condition Survey undertaken in April 2006 of 1,800 homes to refine existing knowledge of outstanding fuel poverty.

· Partnership with Age Concern ‘Staying Put’ helps tackle imminent risk, including the delivery energy efficiency measures for elderly private sector clients as part of its City Council grant funded Home Repairs Assistance work.

· Database of 24,000 private sector homes, including insulation levels, wall type and heating used for promotional targeting.

· In 2006 Nottingham City Council was one of 5 local authorities chosen for EDF Energy’s pilot of “New Fridges for Old” for the private sector. Aim to bring forward remaining households in fuel poverty in the private sector so that insulation measures can be promotes.

· Special schemes targeting private landlords and to promote Landlord’s Energy Saving Allowance, which is significant as Nottingham’s student population has increased that sector to 16.3% homes (19,274).

· Research into motivational factors on why home owners have insulated their homes and more particularly why not. This has shaped our marketing strategies.

Regular promotions through the local media (radio, newspaper, NCC publications), mail outs, touring displays and an internet service resulting in 7,632 separate customer generated telephone, emails and written energy contacts in 2005/06 to Housing Direct.

Clusters of Fuel Poverty over 15%

BRE 2005

2001 census

2001 census

2001

census

2001 census

2001

census

Fuel Poverty

Health not good

Students

Under 16

Over 60

Unemployed

Lenton Sands

41-48%

Under 8%

42 – 65%

0 – 15%

13 – 19%

0 – 3%

Burns Street/All Saints St

41-48%

Under 8%

20 – 42%

0 – 15%

0 – 13%

5 – 7%

Harlaxton Dr/Harrington Dr/Rolleston Dr

41-48%

Under 8%

42 – 65%

0 – 15%

0 – 13%

0 – 3%

Gloucester Avenue/Trinity Avenue

41-48%

Under 8%

42 – 65%

0 – 15%

0 – 13%

7 – 20%

Elm Bank, Mapperley Park

30-33%

Under 8%

7 - 20%

0 – 15%

13 – 19%

3 - 5%

Caulton Street/Acourt Street

30-33%

8-11%

7 – 65%

0-15% 25-38%

0 – 13%

7 – 20%

Highfields Road/City Road

30-33%

Under 8%

42 – 65%

0 – 15%

0 – 13%

0 – 3%

Berridge Road/Laurie Avenue

25-29%

8-15%

7-20%

15 – 25%

0 – 13%

5 – 20%

Wellington Street/Watkins Street

25-29%

8-11%

20 – 42%

0 – 15%

0 – 13%

7 – 20%

Langtry Grove

25-29%

8-11%

0 - 7%

20 – 25%

0 – 13%

7 – 20%

Spalding/St Cuthberts St/Devon St

25-29%

11% - 27%

0 - 7%

15 – 25%

13 – 26%

7 – 20%

Whittier Road area

25-29%

11% - 15%

7 - 20%

20 – 25%

13 – 19%

7 – 20%

Mapperley Hall Drive area

25-29%

Under 8%

0 - 7%

0 – 20%

13 – 26%

0 - 5%

Wilford Crescent E & West

25-29%

8-15%

7-20%

15 – 25%

0 – 13%

5 – 7%

Vernon Avenue/Rydal Grove

15-19%

8-11%

0-7%

15 – 20%

13 – 19%

3 - 5%

Cavendish Vale/Ramsdale Crescent

15-19%

11-15%

0-7%

0 – 15%

26 – 46%

3 - 5%

Leonard Street/Cinderhill Road

15-19%

15-27%

0-7%

25 – 38%

13 – 19%

3 - 5%

2. Sustainable Development

2.1 Utilisation of Registered Social Landlord partners to test low and zero carbon technologies -

- 250 extra homes to added to the District Heating scheme thanks to allocations from the Housing Corporation for 2006/8. Metropolitan Housing’s Canal Street development.

- Low Energy houses for sale with no central heating completed by Derwent Living at Bennett Street.

- Ground sourced heat pumps introduced to Citywide Bungalow Building Programme – 17 homes Westleigh Road and 10 Cherry Orchard Mount with Metropolitan Housing

- Air Sourced Heat pumps to be piloted in 76 homes at Vernon Road with MHT.

- Photovoltaics introduced to 25 homes at Green Lane with NCHA

2.2 Items within our programmes

- Solar Hot Water provided as a pilot to 26 homes at Manston Mews and 8 flats at Pleasant Court.

- St.Ann's 10 housing regeneration using local steel fabrication firms for metal gates, railings and canopies in an effort to reduce transport distances.

- Sustainable timber windows comprise the bulk of the capital programme with 8,156 timber double glazed windows replaced in 2004/5. Under 23% of the window programme are UPVC.

- Sustainable timber doors – Citywide the vast majority of Nottingham City Homes now have timber doors in the vandal resistant door. Complies with Green Charter.

- Heat recovery extractor fans introduced in shower rooms as standard in public and private sector homes by the Adaptations and Renewals Team of Housing Direct. This has energy saving benefits compared with standard extractors.

· Drought -

At St.Ann's 10 tree planting has been shifted from shallow rooted Willows to deep rooted Brazilian bean nut, rowan and ash. That was aimed to overcome problems of future dry conditions.

· Flash Flooding -

At St.Ann's 10 Sustainable Urban Drainage (SUD) introduced to allow rain water to enter the ground through permeable paving as opposed to run off.

At St.Ann's 10 special soak-aways introduced into 20 gardens, due to high density estate and steeply slowing terrain. It is being investigated if lower water rates are payable with these soak-aways as lower requirement for storm drainage.

Soak-aways also introduced to gardens at Salmon Close, Snapewood to overcome localized flash flooding risk.

· Severe Heat

City wide programme of 19,025 loft insulations have the benefits of keeping out severe heat. US Dept of Energy estimates that a third of unwanted heat comes through a poorly insulated roof. In comparison wall insulation has limited significance.

Recladding/Refenestration programmes such as Highbury Vale, Newlands and St.Ann's 10 included small opening top light windows to all rooms, with lockable open positions to allow crime free ventilation in hot weather.

· Severe Cold

City-wide programmes of insulation help to mitigate against the affects of severe cold by re-insulate freezeable areas such as loft tanks and exposed pipes to approximately 19,025 homes. The risk of floods through freezing has been dramatically reduced.

Under the loft insulation contracts pipework and tank insulation complies with BS5970 1981 “Thermal Insulation of pipework and equipment”. All pipework, stopcocks and fittings have been fully insulated. Additionally all cold water tanks and all exposed pipework and over flows insulated to the requirements of the local water supply byelaws and BS 6700.

18,835 walls with insulation achieved at 1st September 2005 to provide added protection against severe cold.

Text of a speech to be given to the 25th Conference of National Energy Action at Nottingham University on 5th September 2006.

Works with a Powerpoint presentation so some of the text might seem a bit cyrptic. 

01.

“Good afternoon.

“I’m Nottingham City Council’s portfolio holder for sustainable development and climate change. “I’ve got a slide show with lots of photos and diagrams to show what Nottingham has been doing.

“But also to say that this is a time of great opportunity to make progress on the policy issues this National Energy Action cares about.”

02. –

“Just a word on the city’s philosophy.

“We aim to get people to live, learn and work in the city.

“City living is very sustainable and a main driver for us is to tackle the issues and perceptions that deter city living.”

03.–

“Just want to run through some examples of success in terms of reputation, environment and energy.

“This is our tram.

“It’s the best in the country and saving millions of car journeys.”

04.– “We are recognised as having the best transport planning policies in the country.

“Significantly, it comes from radical political tradition in this policy area, drawn from as far back as the seventies.”

05.–

“Nottingham City Council is the eighth largest purchaser of renewable energy in the UK; the 19th largest in Europe.

“And we’re planning a 5MW turbine to serve 300 homes in the Meadows.”

06.–

“The incinerator burns nearly two-thirds of our waste – reducing land-fill; “It drives the Distributed Heating Systems serving the less well-off districts of St.Ann’s and Sneinton.

“Customers’ heating is now significantly cheaper than gas and that margin is growing.”

07. –

“On the collection of separated waste for Recycling, we’re rolling out a third bin across our housing estates;

We’re – catching up with national progress:

aiming for 27% this year”

08. – “And Nottingham has a national and international reputation on climate change.

“We are the home of British local government’s declaration to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

“The Minister signs the latest version of the Nottingham Declaration today.

“And the partnership behind the Declaration is trying to get 200 councils signed up by the end of 2006 – double the number who’d signed last year.”

09. –

“Loads happened on Climate Change in July – besides it being the hottest British July on record -

The Gov’t produced an updated Energy Review;

Ministers pressed Climate Change at LGA conference;

British Gov’t organised amongst US local gov’t – I was sent to Chicago to help out;

Blair worked with California & Clinton; and

David Miliband gave a special preview of the Al Gore movie;

There is a new momentum on climate change that we have to sustain. ”

10. –

“The next drive in Nottingham includes mobilising for the Al Gore movie – “An Inconvenient Truth”.

“The Al Gore movie is worthwhile. It is worth mobilising for.

“And Nottingham City Council is mobilising for it.”

11. –

“The Al Gore movie uses this graphic that dramatically shows the impact of the heatwave in August 2003.

“Thousands died early deaths. Probably 900 in Britain.

“We have been focussed on the problems of being cold in the winter.

“We may now need a stronger focus on coaching people to keep the heat out of homes.

“And to adapt their homes.

“Especially if we want to avoid an expansion of air conditioning.”

12. –

“There is some correlation between victims of heatwave and poverty.

“And between energy inefficiency and poverty.

“The slide shows this but isn’t particularly scientific – the white hoops I’ve used to indicate the worst of the poverty in Nottingham – and the yellow hoop to indicate a waelthy area in my ward - are crude.

“A bigger factor in fuel poverty is the age of properties.

“The large, once desirable homes, built so long ago, often without an insulation cavity in the walls, often have now often been converted to flats run by private landlords.

“Private landlords who are unaware of the financial help they can get for measures to improve insulation and unaware of the new solutions .

“Students in Nottingham are often those who are going coldest during the winter months.”

13. –

“Green architecture may well gain a new profile in the forthcoming months.

“Architecture 2030 - an American idea – says focus on buildings.

“By 2030 – on current projections - 1 sixth of stock will be demolished. 3 sixths will get refurbished. Another 3 sixths will be added. Get the standards right and 6 eighths of the stock in 2030 could be carbon neutral and the CO2 emissions will fall below the required level.

“An exciting model. Gives a sense of hope. Some chance.

“The key lesson for Nottingham drawn from this idea was that we need to train our planning officers; and the architects, surveyors & commissioners that they deal with, to be aware too.”

14.–

“And it turns out a British analysis was published last year.

“The slide shows the vision of ECI’s “40% house” report and their analysis of the housing stock.

“Feels more realistic than the American model.

“Key point for me is that it has criteria for tracking progress and that’s what City Council officers are doing.”

15. –

“Here’s a progress chart for Nottingham City Homes’ housing stock.

“It uses 40% Houses’ criteria to track progress.

“The criteria have triggered some debate – particularly over SAP51 and the scale of demolition.

“But the emphasis on not using energy in the first place is good.”

16. SAY –

“A crude summary of Nottingham’s housing energy strategy is that we’ve had

the year of “cavity insulation”; and then the year of “loft insulation”;

Its improved energy efficiency by 15%

Next – we’re looking at the year of “solid wall insulation”; and a drive on helping private landlords and students.”

17. –

“Nottingham has good examples of sustainable technology being harnessed to tackle fuel poverty.

“simple energy efficiency measures contribute the most to ‘sustainability’ by reducing CO2.

“£1.2million programmes for more deprived estates such as Broxtowe, Bells Lane and Snapewood have done a lot of good – but don’t appear to make good photos.

“Local energy generation is also good –

“This is Manton Mews in the inner city

“26 households have had solar thermal installations;

“being visited by Minister today”

18. –

“Pleasant Court - 8 flats supplied with renewable electricity through a large array of photovoltaic cell panels.”

19.–

“Some more photovoltaics.”

20.–

“MHT bungalows, Broxtowe Estate – Ground Source Heat Pumps – each bungalow has its own bore hole in the front lawn.

“I understand the Queen is into this. And a number of celebrities have now followed suit!”

21. –

“My job is to help the political processes that are keeping the momentum going.

“The market is a force for change and I understand one third of British homes may have taken measures to improve energy efficiency.

“But the market cannot do it alone.

“The Gov’t has done a lot in terms of international leadership and the policy frameworks. The advertising and repeated statements are having an impact.

“We know more can be done.

“And the momentum is with us at the moment.

“Let’s keep at it to make the difference.

“Thank you for listening.”

[DRAFT; last updated 2006-09-06]