Get a whole year of cutting-edge eco-building news for just £24.00 pa.
Built upon 30 years of experience, this fabulous new medium will feature inspiring and in-depth articles on eco-building projects from across the spectrum and from all over the UK, most of which are written by the very people that designed or built them. Perfect for architects, builders, developers, self builders and anyone interested in keeping right up-to-date with green building trends and friends.
For subscription options:
please go here
|
|
|
Green tower block refurb wins a prize |
|
 
|
|
|
|
17 Oct 2014, 8:47 PM
|
The winners of the 2014 Sustainable Housing Awards have been revealed to a packed audience at a glitzy yet environmentally-friendly ceremony today in London. Hundreds of attendees enjoyed the event hosted by explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
|
Prizes were awarded to a number of projects in several different categories. The full list of winners is available on organiser Inside Housing's website.
The winner of the Sustainable larger housing retrofit project of the year (more than 25 homes) was Austin House – given a green refurbishment by Walsall Housing Group (whg), based in the West Midlands. The judges said: ‘We really liked this entry. The fact that there was 92% resident satisfaction reflects the quality of the scheme. And the works look great too.’
A full ground source heat pump solution was designed for the tower block in Walsall. Walsall Housing Group, has been committed to installing major renewable solutions to save carbon and money for their tenants and were keen to install a new major technology into their property in Walsall. This innovative design delivers100% of tenants space heating and DHW demands for all 65 flats. The installation incorporated a full external insulation upgrade to the tower block along with vertical facia mounted PV off-setting the electrical requirements for the ground source heat pumps. This maximizes the carbon and energy saving potential for the property and all the tenants.
All of the flats benefited from a new low temperature radiator wet system installed to replace the current night storage heaters. A ground array of 32 bore holes have been drilled around the block to a depth of 140m to deliver sustainable long term heating. The area will be returned to landscaped garden and car parks on completion with no long term impact on the site. The heat pumps supplied by Dimplex offer highly efficient space heating and domestic hot water for all the flats.
Each flat has its own individual supply of space heating and hot water with no individual hot water cylinders saving additional space as well as reducing energy costs by an estimated 50% . Each flat has an easy to use control and individual billing with meters in each property. The heat pumps, hot water storage and all controls are contained within a bespoke packaged plant room ensuring no loss of space or storage for the tenants.
The ground source heat pump system offers low maintenance, reliable heating and hot water with no external impact on the building and will be compliant to take advantage of the governments Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) available now for commercial ground source heat pumps systems.
This is the first tower block heated exclusively by ground source heat pumps in the UK.
|
|
|
|
