Residents living in Shiremoor, North Tyneside are set to save more than £19,000 collectively on their energy bills and reduce their carbon emissions by over 100 tonnes in the next year, thanks to a package of ‘green’ refurbishments by Kier North Tyneside. The scheme to improve the energy efficiency of social housing involves large-scale refurbishments to almost 50 homes in the area with a view to rolling the project out across the remaining properties in North Tyneside. The work is being carried out on prefabricated concrete homes, known as ‘Orlits’. The project includes cladding the buildings with traditional looking brick slips backed by three inch insulation board, installing new windows and doors, and replacing roofs where necessary.

The improvements, which will insulate the buildings and eliminate damp, are set to save every household approximately £400 on their annual fuel bills in addition to reducing their carbon emissions by around 2.1 tonnes.

Commenting on the scheme, operations manager, Charles Rayner, said: “The refurbishments will make a real difference to the lives of residents currently living in Orlit homes. Not only are the environmental benefits of the scheme encouraging, but the refurbishments will translate into real financial savings for tenants. With a fresh new look for their homes, we hope the works will also boost tenants’ sense of pride in their communities.”

Orlit houses are pre-cast concrete frame structures connected with high alumina cement joints and externally clad with two inch reinforced concrete hollow blocks. North Tyneside Council owns 163 Orlit homes across Shiremoor and North Shields. The work being carried out in Shiremoor, which is part of the Decent Homes programme to bring Orlit-type housing up to date, is due to be completed in August 2010.

Rayner added: “All work will be carried out with consideration to environmental requirements in the management of waste and recycling materials. The materials themselves will be purchased with consideration to their environmental long-term sustainability.”

Kier North Tyneside was awarded the contract to maintain 16,000 homes and more than 400 buildings, including 80 schools, on behalf of North Tyneside Council in September 2009. The company's employees have already carried out improvement works on over 1,500 properties bringing them up to the government’s Decent Homes standard.