Case Study: Whitechapel Twenty Fifty

Short Description

Our objectives were clear from the start. Our aim was to deliver 80% carbon reductions in mainstream housing using established solutions that work for the people who live in them. We wanted to:

- test the mix of measures and technologies;
- identify the real world carbon saving they produce;
- test the supply chains for carbon reduction measures and technologies;
- develop a clear cost base for achieving significant carbon savings;
- create replicable solutions for mainstream housing;
- deliver savings that do not rely on the commitment of householders.

Our stakeholders included the people living in the home, front line staff, energy suppliers and others involved in the supply chain. Just as importantly we worked with a wide range of external stakeholders including the NHF, CIH, Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes. Our results will be fed into the DECC Heat and Energy consultation due shortly.

Key Elements

Main Results

Whitechapel Twenty Fifty is giving us the opportunity to look closely at the barriers that exist in creating a low carbon scheme. We will use the data from the project to create new financial models to fund schemes across the UK. We will be able to understand the contribution that existing programmes can make as well as ones that are just now being developed such as Feed In Tariffs.

We believe that the challenges are simple and straightforward and this is why we have come up with the three elements that go to making low carbon living – Place, Power and People.

Place: How homes and communities are designed and managed and how the homes help residents make positive choices about the environment. At Whitechapel we have adhered to the energy efficiency hierarchy and reduced energy demand as much as possible and ensured that the technologies we have used are ‘fit and forget’.

Power: We have decarbonised the heat and energy supply through the use of low carbon heating from ground source heat pumps and by generating zero carbon electricity to power the heat pumps and the homes.

People: The people who live in a community, how they live their lives but also the people that make those homes and communities possible. The Twenty Fifty project has done this by engaging residents in the process from day one, through the project by connecting them with the carbon choices they make on a daily basis using energy display meters.

We have balanced the retrofit between these three areas to maximise the carbon savings. By tackling low carbon homes through People, Place and Power, we have created a simple, understandable and accessible approach that delivers real change without complexity and jargon.

Lessons learned

Monitoring of the project has reflected the approach and methodology we established from the very beginning - Place, Power, People.

Place: We used the RDSAP and the production of Energy Performance Certificates and have continued to revise the RDSAP rating and EPC rating as the project has developed. What is very clear is that RDSAP does not accurately reflect high levels of carbon saving.

Power: The Ground Source Heat Pumps are being monitored on a monthly basis by taking readings from individual meters. The Solar PV panels are also being monitored on a monthly basis. In addition, we shall be monitoring the export of energy from the scheme with a view to identifying the potential for a UK Feed In Tariff mechanism.

People: A key indicator will be the customers’ quarterly electricity bills.

Customers have been tracking their consumption and CO2 emissions through the real-time display meters. From this we are developing a matrix that will include energy saved, costs and CO2 saved, electricity generated and this will be measured against house and household type.