About
CEN CEN
has extensive experience in the design and implementation
of sustainable energy solutions for housing associations
and has worked with CHP, solar thermal, photovoltaics,
biomass heating, ground source heating and wind technologies.
CEN
works with social housing providers to access funding
from a range of utility and government funding streams,
allowing you to maximise the impact of limited budgets.
CEN also offers interest free loans and Energy Supply
Contracts.
For
further details please contact Catherine McNab on: 020
8683 8653
Solar Panels Bring
250yr Old Listed Mansion Right Up To Date
Kenward House is a residential
rehabilitation project set in a 250 year old grade
II listed mansion within 17 acres of countryside. CEN
assisted with arranging the installation and securing £38,000
of funding for a 5kWpeak array of photovoltaics and
an extensive amount of evacuated tube solar thermal
panels for hot water. Please take a look at the picture:
you may think, well I can't see the technology and
I can only see a beautiful building..........that is
exactly the point!!!
CEN gave housing providers
delegates an insight into the extensive potential
of urban wind turbines at this half day seminar. The
day began with presentations on the current policy
position within the UK, the range of turbines available
and the installation support available from organisations
like CEN. The group then had a tour of
a number of wind installations including roof mounted
from 0.4kW - 2.5kW and a stand alone 2.5kW turbine.
If you would like to discuss
the opportunities for wind turbines at your organisation
please contact Catherine McNab at: catherine@cen.org.uk.
CEN
is providing a package of support to assist the Town
and Country Housing Group in achieving its social and
environmental objectives. Similar to many responsible
housing providers, Town and Country Housing Group is
dedicated to continuing to improve its energy performance,
investing in its existing stock and tackling the often
challenging, inefficient, older properties.
CEN
site surveys of 14 sheltered housing sites have already
highlighted exciting opportunities for a range of different
sustainable energy technologies. Following the
assessments and analysis CEN is working with the estates
managers to prioritise measures in-line with existing
maintenance programmes, then will help obtain grant
funding and manage contractors.
A workshop for
board and senior managers will be used to increase
knowledge of sustainable energy and agree commitment
and direction in respect to the organisations sustainable
energy development.
CEN is making
sustainable energy cost-effective by supporting a range
of housing providers with technology appraisals, installation
support, training programmes and estate wide technology
prioritisation. To discuss sustainable energy opportunities
for your organisation please contact Catherine McNab
at CEN: 020 8683 6653 catherine@cen.org.uk
With assistance
from CEN, East Kent Hospital Trust are installing 2
CHP units in Ashford. The two 13kW EC Power units are
predicted to save 24,000kg of carbon dioxide a year,
providing the baseload heat demand of the site and
a considerable contribution to their electricity load.
CEN works closely with a number of CHP suppliers and installers, including EC Power, to support organisations
in the implementation of mini CHP. To discuss CHP opportunities
for your organisation or if you would like to visit
a CHP installation contact Justin Carrell at CEN: Justin@cen.org.uk
020 8683 6806 .
CEN
Assists with biomass boiler and PV array at St Peters
Church in Lewisham
CEN’s
Renewable Energy Action For London (REAL) team helped
co-ordinate the installation of 80 kW biomass boiler
and 3.96 kW peak photovoltaic (PV) array at St Peters
Church in Lewisham. Funding was 100% secured through
government grants, EDF Energy and the Church of England.
Our calculations show that the church can expect to
save approximately 83,000kg of carbon dioxide a year – as
well as hundreds of pounds on fuel bills. For more
info see here. To discuss biomass opportunities for
your organisation or if you would like to visit a biomass
installation contact Tom Vosper at CEN 020 8683 6661.
Greenwich Council attended
CEN’s seminar on achieving renewable energy planning
policy requirements in June. CEN has discussed further
support it can provide to integrate renewable energy
and CHP into Greenwich’s social housing stock.
CEN is also proving support with two PV installations.
Quotations have been gained through CEN’s solar
installer scheme and CEN is currently completing grant
applications for the two social housing sites
5kWp systems.
CEN recently held a seminar in conjunction with Switch2 to discuss district and community heating. The event was attended by around 40 people mainly from housing associations and local authorities and was held at the Barkantine Heat & Power scheme, one of London’s larger district heating schemes. Presentations were given by the Energy Savings Trust, Switch2, the London Climate Change Agency, Baxi Technologies and the Barkantine Heat & Power Company/EDF. For more info see here.
Two innovative social
housing schemes have received the highest award from
Building for Life - the gold standard. The Building
for Life standard is the national standard for design
quality in housing and neighbourhoods. It is backed
by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), the government and the housing industry. One
of the developments is the first entirely social housing
scheme to be put up for an award.
Developers now seeking to build on any
public land controlled by English Partnerships must
demonstrate their designs will meet the Building for
Life standard. The gold standard is awarded to Angell
Town in Brixton and Selwyn Street, a Pathfinder programme
in Oldham. For more information see here.
Improved
living conditions for social tenants and vulnerable
households in England
Housing conditions and
energy efficiency standards have substantially improved
since 1996, especially in social housing, according
to the 2004 English House Condition Survey and 2003
Regional Report, both published on 20th September.
The Department of Communities and Local Government
(DCLG) survey shows a substantial improvement in heating
and insulation standards over this period, with a halving
of the overall incidence of social housing failing
the decent home’s ‘thermal
comfort’ criterion
(from 45 per cent to 22 per cent of social housing).
The survey monitors the Government’s key housing
target to bring all social housing into a decent condition
and to progressively increase the proportion of vulnerable
households living in decent homes in the private housing
sector.
Of note, the substantial improvement
in the heating and insulation standards of social housing
is reflected in the overall energy efficiency rating
of the sector which now averages 58.5, some 8 points
higher and therefore more efficient than the private
sector (under the Standard Assessment Procedure or
SAP for rating the energy efficiency of homes). However,
there are still disparities to be addressed. The poorest
households remain the most likely to live in non-decent
homes (37 per cent of the poorest fifth), while 24
per cent of ethnic minority households live in poor
quality environments. The 2004 Annual Report and the
2003 Regional Report are produced by the DCLG and are
available on the DCLG web
site.
Uk homes should beat
Scandinavian eco-standards - Yvette Cooper
New UK homes should be built to Scandinavian
standards and better them within ten years, Housing
and Planning Minister Yvette Cooper said on 13th September.
Speaking after a visit to environmentally friendly
and sustainably designed housing developments in the
Netherlands and Scandinavia with stakeholders from
the house building, regeneration and environmental
sectors, the minister said developers need to increase
standards to meet the challenges of climate change.
She wants to use ideas and techniques already being
developed and adopted in other European countries to
deliver substantial cuts in carbon emissions from new
homes. She is also challenging UK companies to plan
and innovate now to beat designs and standards from
Scandinavia and the Netherlands within ten years.
The Government is already driving up environmental
standards through tough building regulations and planning
requirements and incentives for voluntary measures
like wind turbines and insulation. New buildings are
now 40 per cent more energy efficient than those built
before 2002. All local authorities can now require
on-site micro-renewable technology (e.g. wind turbines,
heat pumps) for large developments.
In the future there are plans for: new water efficiency
standards for new and existing homes; new planning
policy - PPS3 - that will further enshrine sustainable
building policies; new planning laws that will make
it easier for people to install environmental energy
measures like wind turbines and solar panels; introducing
a tougher Code for Sustainable Homes which will set
minimum standards for energy and water efficiency and
a energy performance certificates will, from next June,
give home buyers a rating for the environmental efficiency
of their home
