Gravesham Borough Council and RJ Barwick Ltd have secured funding from BEIS to take an innovative approach to tackling the challenges of deploying heat pumps in non-traditional homes.
There are 1 million non-traditional homes in the UK with poor energy performance, which present a challenge to the energy-efficiency measures that typically precede a heat pump installation.
The project is funded by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) through Stream 2 of the Heat Pump Ready (HPR) Programme. The Heat Pump Ready Programme forms part of the £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP), which aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies and processes through the 2020s and 2030s.
As a key solution for decarbonising homes, heat pumps will be critical for meeting the UK’s legally binding commitment to achieve net zero by 2050. The Heat Pump Ready Programme will support the development of innovative solutions across the heat pump sector.
The Energiesprong deep retrofit model has been used on other non-traditional housing in the UK to transform leaky, hard-to-heat homes into comfortable, warm places to live. Pictured: An Energiesprong retrofit scheme in Coulsdon, London led by Sutton Housing Partnership.
An unprecedented energy crisis combined with looming climate targets means retrofitting the UK’s social housing stock to be net-zero, warm and more affordable is more urgent than ever.
With inherent design complexities, non-traditional homes are often overlooked in favour of other ‘easier’ archetypes when it comes to retrofitting with energy-efficiency measures including heat pumps.
Titled ‘Archetypal Heat Pump Retrofit for 175,000 Non-Trads’, the new project will be led by Gravesham Borough Council with retrofit expert RJ Barwick Ltd. We will be providing support as the project uses the innovative Energiesprong approach to deep retrofit to develop optimum standardised whole house retrofit solutions for four of the most challenging and/or common non-traditional home archetypes across sites in Gravesham.
Using the housing stock of Gravesham Borough Council for these pilots, new solutions will be tested with lessons learned for future schemes. There is a consistency of non-traditional archetypes across the local area, presenting an opportunity for other Kent landlords to join the pilot in the future.
Cllr Jenny Wallace, Gravesham Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing Services, said: “We are one of the few councils to retain our own council housing stock, and while this has many, many positives, it does present us with a challenge when it comes to achieving our target of becoming a net zero borough by 2030.
“We are already trialling a number of innovative approaches to retro-fitting the least energy efficient of our homes with energy saving equipment, including ground source heat pumps, and this project will help accelerate that process.
“Not only will it help us meet our climate change commitments, just as importantly it will help our residents save money on fuel bills at a time when that has never been more important.”
Richard Barwick, Managing Director of RJ Barwick, says: “With spiralling energy bills, those who live in homes of non-traditional construction with poor energy performance risk being left in fuel poverty while other ‘easier’ homes are retrofitted first.”
He adds: “By testing new approaches using the housing stock of Gravesham Borough Council, we’re helping develop solutions for these trickier homes with lessons that can be shared and replicated widely – within Kent and beyond.”
The Heat Pump Ready Programme supports the development of innovative solutions across the heat pump sector. This project has been funded under Stream 2, which will support the development of tools, technology and processes to overcome specific barriers to domestic heat pump deployment.
Energiesprong is a Dutch-developed revolutionary whole house refurbishment and funding approach for achieving net-zero homes.
It is designed to unlock zero carbon retrofit at scale, paid for by energy and maintenance savings and delivered by a new high-tech industry with guaranteed actual performance, comfort and costs long term – resulting in warm, affordable, desirable homes for life.
Homes are fully insulated using offsite manufactured wall and roof panels in conjunction with pre-assembled ‘energy pods’ providing low-carbon, high efficiency heating, hot water and renewable energy production.
RJ Barwick Ltd is a construction firm specialising in management of new build, upgrade and retrofit projects for housing associations and local authorities. Its currently contracted to Energiesprong to support the delivery of Whole House Retrofit (WHR) initiatives in the London Borough of Sutton. It’s also working with social landlords in Kent to develop new and innovative approaches to energy efficiency on post-war housing, especially non-traditional.
Energiesprong is a revolutionary whole house refurbishment and funding approach for achieving net-zero homes. Developed in the Netherlands, 5000 homes have already been retrofitted to net-zero energy with 20,000 homes in the pipeline. Energiesprong UK is scaling this approach in the UK with 165 homes delivered and a further ~1,500 contracted.
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
This funding has been made available from the government’s £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP) which provides funding for low-carbon technologies and systems. Decreasing the costs of decarbonisation, the NZIP will help enable the UK to end its contribution to climate change.
Funded through the NZIP, the Heat Pump Ready Programme supports the development of innovative solutions across the heat pump sector. Heat pumps are a key solution for decarbonising homes and will be critical for meeting the UK’s commitment to achieve Net Zero by 2050.
Heat Pump Ready is being delivered in 3 Streams:
Stream 1: To design and demonstrate innovative, optimised solutions and methodologies which deliver more cost-effective and high-density deployment of domestic heat pumps.
Stream 2: To support the development of tools, technology and processes to overcome specific barriers to domestic heat pump deployment in the UK.
Stream 3: To facilitate learning and collaboration within and outside the programme, undertaking research and evaluation activities, and disseminating knowledge, evidence, and lessons to key heat pump stakeholders.
More information on the Heat Pump Ready Programme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/heat-pump-ready-programme
