Solatube lights up Hyde Housing eco home

Monday, 3 August 2009

The Hyde Group is a leading provider of affordable housing, owning or managing over 40,000 homes, operating predominantly in London and the South East of England. They provide housing, regeneration and related services to over 120,000 people in London, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire.

In a recent project dubbed “Retrofit & Replicate”, (designed to embody the government’s targets for an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions) the Hyde Group took one of its dwellings, of a three bedroom house in Mottingham, South East London in need of refurbishment, and renovated it using the latest products designed to increase its energy efficiency.

A Solatube 290 DS Daylighting System was selected to provide natural lighting to the first-floor landing - an area that would otherwise need to be lit with electric lighting. Other technology used included improved insulation, high-performance windows, solar thermal panels and photovoltaics.
It is estimated that the new technology could reduce the residents’ fuel bills by as much as 65%, which equates to approximately £600 annually, a figure set to rise even higher as fuel costs continue to spiral. 

Susie Ward, Sustainability Co-Ordinator for the Hyde Group commented: “The Solatube looks great and is one of my favourite parts of the house actually – it received a lot of comments during the launch week” 

Experts believe retrofitting existing homes could save up to 15 times more carbon by 2050, than that achieved through proposed demolition and new build. This will have a major impact on the UK’s efforts to reduce carbon output.

Dr Starkey, who chairs the Communities and Local Government Select Committee looking into Existing Buildings and Climate Change, was impressed by the innovative new project.

She said: “In 2004, the UK's 26 million homes emitted 41.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide: this represented more than a quarter of the UK's emissions (27%). Much more needs to be done to encourage energy saving in our homes, which is why I am pleased to see The Hyde Group and its partners taking a lead in the critical work to make our existing homes more energy efficient.

“Projects like this will help lead the way for both social housing and the private rented sector and ensure that tackling climate change in existing homes remains high on the housing agenda.”

Once occupied, the eco home will be closely monitored over two years and successful technologies will then be considered for replicating in Hyde’s stock investment programme across its 40,000 homes.

The project was managed for Hyde by the Mears Group - the UK’s leading social housing repairs and maintenance provider. 

Paul Kellaway for the Mears Group commented: “We featured the Solatube on our sustainability stand at the CIH Housing Conference in Harrogate this month, along with a variety of other technologies and systems employed in the trial home. There was an extremely high level of interest in the product and I’m sure that it is something that we will be using a lot more in the future”