National recognition for NPH project cutting energy costs and carbon emissions for 150 older homes

A project to help tenants living in 150 older homes in Northampton reduce their fuel bills and cut carbon emissions has received national recognition.

Northamptonshire Partnership Homes (NPH) has been retrofitting a range of energy efficiency measures into homes in the Kingsthorpe and Kingsley areas of the town as part of the ‘Northampton Whole House Retrofit Project’, after receiving Government funding in early 2021.

Properties chosen to be part of the project were built in the 1920’s and 30’s. These homes are often expensive to heat and energy inefficient – with an EPC rating of either band D or below - due to the way they were built.

NPH worked with leading organisations in domestic retrofit to assess each home and took a ‘whole house approach’ to understand which measures could make the most impact, such as external wall insulation, solar panels, loft insulation, changes to ventilation and new windows and doors.

All homes had a smart thermostat installed, which is fitted with sensors that enable the team at NPH to monitor the impact of these measures checking internal air quality, temperature, and humidity levels. This helps to identify any risks such as fuel poverty, and the device has a clever function for NPH to communicate directly with the households.In addition, 15 homes also received air source heat pump heating and hot water systems, replacing gas central heating with renewable heating technology.

Earlier this month, the retrofit project was recognised as the ‘Most innovative retrofit/refurbishment scheme’ at the Housing Digital Innovation Awards 2023.

Judges praised the ‘fabric first and deep retrofit approach’ to reducing carbon emissions at ‘real scale’.

Paul Tucker, NPH’s Sustainability Manager, is delighted with the recognition and said: “West Northamptonshire Council (formerly NBC) was one of only 17 local authority areas to be awarded funding from the SHDF Demonstrator, and we’re really pleased that it’s helping to make a difference to the lives of NPH customers. The energy efficiency improvements will help to protect these households from the worst impacts of rising energy costs, saving them hundreds of pounds per year on heating bills whilst reducing the carbon footprint of the homes by up to 95% in some cases.

The recognition from Housing Digital demonstrates how NPH is committed to sustainability in housing and this project shows that changes to older homes can have a big impact, saving people money while helping the environment, by minimising the carbon footprint.”

Councillor Adam Brown, Deputy Leader of West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) and Cabinet Member for Housing, Culture and Leisure, said: "This award is well-deserved recognition of WNC and NPH’s joint work through the Northampton Whole House Retrofit Project.

“As a Council we’re committed to reducing carbon emissions and providing high quality housing which benefits both the people living in them and the environment. We’re incredibly proud that these homes are making a positive impact and we look forward to seeing the progression of future energy efficiency projects.”

The project was part-funded by the Government’s SHDF demonstrator and the Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery Phase 2 (LAD2). It was delivered with support from Wates alongside Constructive Thinking Studios, and Equans technical and energy services with no cost to the tenants.

NPH is also working with the University of Northampton to assess the impact of the retrofit on households. More details will be released later this year.

Energy modelling has predicted an average reduction in the demand for heating of up to 70% - with average heating costs for these households falling by hundreds of pounds per year at a time when energy bills have been at record highs.

Homes used in the project typically emitted 4-5 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide a year before the work was completed. After the retrofit project, the best performing homes reduced emissions by 95% - to 0.2 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Learning from this project has already been used by NPH to inform further retrofitting projects, having secured funding to retrofit over 400 homes this year, demonstrating NPH’s commitment to improving the energy efficiency of Northampton’s council housing stock.

To find out more about Northamptonshire Partnership Homes, visit www.nph.org.uk