Peabody to help make UK homes greener

Peabody has been selected to test innovative low carbon building technology to help make homes more energy efficient.

The Technology Strategy Board’s Retrofit for the Future programme is investing £17 million in more than 80 projects across the UK which will retrofit new technologies in social housing homes.

The results of the projects will be shared to help show how the UK’s current housing stock could be made more energy efficient – vital to meeting the government’s CO2 reduction target of 80% by 2050.

Peabody will retrofit five properties in two locations: a terrace of four homes dating from the 1970s in Haringey and a mid-terrace Victorian home in a conservation area in Wandsworth.

All the improvements will take place with residents in occupation, with work due to begin in August 2010.

Key retrofit features will include:

• new super-efficient energy-services and renewables
• mechanical ventilation systems to recover heat and distribute it throughout the home
• extensive use of internal and external insulation.

Peabody Sustainability Manager Nic Wedlake said:

“We’re delighted to have been selected by the Technology Strategy Board to deliver these projects. This is an opportunity for us to develop complete design solutions for typical UK homes, vastly improving their energy efficiency. This will be crucial to meeting the government’s target of reducing carbon emissions by 80% within 40 years.”

David Bott, Director of Innovation Programmes, Technology Strategy Board said:

“At least 60% of the houses we’ll be living in by 2050 have already been built. So it is critical that we look at ways to dramatically improve the performance of our existing housing stock. Retrofit for the Future provides the testbeds we need to ensure the development of long term, mass solutions.”

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For more information contact Peabody Media Relations Officer Neil Young on 0207 021 4210 or neil.young@peabody.org.uk.

• Peabody was established by the philanthropic American banker George Peabody in 1862 to alleviate poverty in London. With 99 percent of our residents living within six miles of Smithfield Market, our mission for the 21st century is to make London a city of opportunity for all by providing as many people as possible with a good home, a real sense of purpose and a strong feeling of belonging. Peabody has more than 17,500 homes in London, from historic Victorian estates in the heart of the city to pioneering developments such as BedZED and Darwin Court.
  
  As well as being one of London’s oldest and largest social landlords, we are also a major regeneration agency, providing a wide range of projects to create and support thriving, sustainable communities. These projects cover employment and training, specialist housing and activities for older people, support for young people, volunteering, digital and financial inclusion, family support, and health and well-being.
   
• Peabody recently released its new Environmental Sustainability Strategy which sets out a strategy for the next three years towards achieving statutory environmental targets. Read the strategy (PDF).
   
• Peabody has been working with the Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development at De Montfort University since 2006, researching how we can refurbish our homes to deliver a 60% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2025 and zero carbon Peabody estates by 2030.
   
• On average the CO2 emitted from a Peabody home is about 3.6 tonnes a year. This compares to a national average of 6.1 tonnes a year.
   
• Peabody is a founding member of SHIFT (Sustainable Homes Index for Tomorrow) – a voluntary index and best practice group for housing associations. SHIFT is backed by the Tenant Services Authority and the Greater London Authority. In 2008 SHIFT measured our environmental performance, looking at our business activities and homes. We were awarded Silver – the highest band awarded to any housing association.