A new study by the
LSE on the social impact of a major energy efficiency upgrade to Wilmcote
House, a social housing block in Portsmouth.
Wilmcote House in
Portsmouth is the one of the most ambitious refurbishments of its kind. It is
the largest social housing block to have been refurbished to the highly
ambitious EnerPHit standard, the retrofit equivalent of Passivhaus, with
residents in situ.
Built in 1968, the
building was heated by old, inefficient and expensive electric storage heaters
with residents typically on key meters. Many residents were experiencing
fuel poverty, under-heating their homes well below World Health Organisation (WHO)
recommendations.
Portsmouth City
Council decided to refurbish the block. This involved the super-insulation of
Wilmcote House using ROCKWOOL products, roof replacement, installation of
triple glazed windows, extension of the living areas, and more
ROCKWOOL UK
commissioned the LSE to undertake a study of the social impact of the works,
which have now been published in Retrofit to the Rescue. Key findings of
the research include:
- The refurbishment has
resulted in a marked improvement in the quality of life for residents,
with improved thermal performance of the flats alongside better interior
design and exterior appearance.
- At the outset, all
interviewees had high expectations; their bills would go down, their homes
would be warmer and the block would look nicer. Despite delays, all three
expectations have been met.
- Portsmouth City Council has a
good reputation with tenants and undertook meaningful engagement with the
tenants throughout the retrofit process. The final design of the flats
benefitted from resident feedback, which resulted in changes to the design
of the kitchen and living room.
- The overall cost of the
scheme was cheaper and less disruptive than the alternative of demolition
and rebuilding.
Alongside the LSE
study, the University of Southampton has been monitoring the thermal
performance of the flats. The results emerging from this research are
extremely encouraging.
They found that
during the extremely low temperatures of winter of 2017-18, known as ‘The Beast
from the East’, over 60% of the residents interviewed used their heating system
less than once a month and nearly 40% never used their heating at all. Despite
this, internal temperatures in virtually all flats remained well above WHO
thresholds for human comfort.
Thermal upgrades to
housing often result in either warmer, healthier living conditions or energy
savings, but not both. The ambitious EnerPHiT standard pursued in the upgrade
of Wilmcote House has enabled residents both to heat their homes to healthy levels
whilst also delivering reductions in energy usage and thereby provides a
successful model for how to fuel poverty and carbon reduction targets.
