£10,000 thermal monitoring programme underway

Published by Max Salsbury for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Environment

Properties in Newcastle are undergoing a £10,000 thermal monitoring programme, which will hopefully lead to a reduction in residents’ fuel bills.

The work on the Byker Wall estate is being carried out to determine the most suitable energy efficient measures for the buildings.

Funded and delivered by Wates Living Space for Your Homes Newcastle and the Byker Community Trust, the work will see Wates measure the internal and external temperatures of 20 properties over a 24-month period.

Temperature sensors are being planted in the rear of the properties, with a selection of apartments, houses and bungalows at varying latitudes evaluated at specific intervals.

Thermal imaging will be produced for each property and the logged data examined alongside historical weather statistics to determine the true performance of the dwellings.

The data will be used to shape ongoing fabric improvements, photovoltaic installations and external cladding and insulation works on the heritage-conserved estate, which will soon be under new community ownership and management.

Last summer tenants voted to transfer the ownership of 1,800 homes and other land and buildings from Newcastle City Council to Byker Community Trust, a not for profit organisation which has been set up to secure the investment that the estate deserves for the benefit of its residents.

Joanne Jamieson, Regional Managing Director of Wates Living Space, commented: “We are very pleased to be able to fund and deliver a solution to addressing the fuel poverty experienced amongst the Byker Wall estate.

“Fuel poverty is a local problem and this area’s conservation status demands a very careful and considered approach in order to preserve the buildings’ heritage and history.

“Bringing our energy expertise to the arena made perfect sense and enables us to continue our role in the area’s ongoing transformation.”

Jill Haley, Chief Officer of Byker Community Trust, said: “Wates’ research at Byker will complement ongoing efforts to tackle fuel poverty in the city and will help us in our work to ensure that Byker is an affordable place to live for local people.”

Wates Living Space has also committed an additional £10,000 towards the creation of a Byker heritage centre and has carried out construction works to transform a disused shop unit into a gallery of artifacts, photographs, drawings, stories and short films.

The Byker Lives Project will serve as an information point and aims to engage local and external interest in the estate’s history.

This follows the recently completed £2m redevelopment of Bolam Coyne by Wates. The work involved the preservation of the famous residential cluster, which had been originally designed in the 1970s by internationally renowned architect Ralph Erskine.