Green Forum tackles energy efficiency

21 February 2012

A new Green Forum has been set up to look at how housing in Leeds can be made more energy efficient.

Leeds Federated Housing Association has brought together staff and tenants in the Forum to consider new equipment that could be installed or upgrade works that could be carried out across its homes in Leeds, Wakefield and North Yorkshire, to make them warmer and reduce energy use.

Leeds Fed Energy Efficiency Officer Tim Weeks said:

“We already work with residents giving advice on how to reduce their usage and this will continue. Now we want to make sure the buildings themselves are as efficient as possible so residents can feel the full benefits of lower bills and warmer homes.”

The Forum was set up after an energy summit held by Leeds Fed in December which invited residents to discuss what more the housing association could do to save energy used across its homes.

They were asked to rate their priorities and they put greatest importance on a ‘whole house’ approach including measures such as solid wall insulation, carrying out more energy advice visits and exploring alternative heating systems.

Tim is hoping to set up a pilot scheme to retrofit Leeds Fed’s solid wall properties – which make up around a quarter of its housing stock – with external insulation.

The Forum has been visiting examples of retrofitted and new build properties with super efficiency measures to see what innovations are currently available.

They visited a new development of 91 homes in Castleford, all built to sustainability code six – the highest level achievable – which used biomass boiler systems, rain water harvesting, a high level of insulation and solar panels.

They are also planning further visits to a fully retrofitted house in York to see how these innovations can be used on older properties and an estate that has had external insulation fitted.

“We wanted to show Forum members what can be done and they were able to see all the innovations in use and talk to some of the residents about the difference they have made to their homes,” said Tim.

“It was really useful to see what is out there and it is helping us decide what is achievable and what could work for us at Leeds Fed.”