Pioneers reduce housing energy needs and CO2 emissions

Council leaders, housing companies and Japanese technologists have formally launched a 600-home smart heat project.

This ground-breaking project aims to reduce energy demand and cut carbon emissions in council houses.

Mike Kelly, chief executive of Bury Council, and Hugh Broadbent, chair of Six Town Housing, joined other partners from Manchester, Wigan and Japan at a launch of the scheme. The council and Six Town will be working on upgrading 200 houses as part of Phase 2 of the project in 2015.

The project, a partnership between the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Japan’s New Energy Development Organisation (NEDO), will see energy demand in participating homes reduced and also trial the balancing of energy demand and supply by creating what is being dubbed a ‘smart community trial’.

Using advanced IT alongside the installed air source heat pumps and advanced user control panels, the project will aggregate energy demand and deliver capacity back to the energy grid when needed, while keeping homes comfortable for residents. The partners are aiming to flatten out the ‘peaks and troughs’ often seen in local energy demand while also helping switch homes from gas-fired or electric heating to renewable sourced heating.

At the heart of the project lies highly energy efficient air source heat pump technology which acts like an air conditioning unit in reverse; the heat pump compresses and condenses heat from outside a building to produce space and water heating inside, with a radically reduced carbon footprint.

Greater Manchester has a target to reduce CO2 emissions by 48% by 2020 (compared to the 1990 level). Currently domestic homes are responsible for more than a third (36%) of Greater Manchester's CO2 emissions.

The NEDO partnership project is being seen as a pilot which, if successful, has the potential to show the way forward for a similar retrofit programme for many more homes across the city region.

Hugh Broadbent, chair of Six Town Housing, said: “We all know traditional means of heating homes are not sustainable in the long term. We are pleased to be part of this pilot which offers the prospect of keeping our tenants warm and comfortable while cutting their energy bills and our carbon emissions which is an important strategic goal for us and the council.”

Councillor Susan Southworth, cabinet member for a sustainable borough, said: “I am pleased that, once again, Bury is at the forefront in looking to the future with initiatives such as this. Reducing fuel poverty among our most disadvantaged tenants, while at the same time cutting contributions to greenhouse gases, forms part of Bury Council's commitment to being a 'green' borough. Where Bury leads we hope others will follow.”

ENDS

Press release issued: 19 November 2014.