The Heat Network Team at housing association Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) has been recognised for their excellent work at the annual Energy Awards, winning top prize for Residential Energy Project of the Year. The awards recognise progress and excellence across the rapidly evolving energy sector.
Shortlisted in three award categories, The NHG team took the top prize for its work to optimise the heating system at Baths Court, which provides 32 homes for older people in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, built over 40 years ago. The previous heating system was inefficient, with no thermostatic or in-home programming controls in the flats themselves.
Part-funded via a grant from the government’s Heat Network Efficiency Scheme, the £1.2m retrofit project was focussed on improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions, and enhancing comfort for residents.
The project’s work started with a comprehensive optimisation study, which identified potential improvements which could be achieved through the installation of heat meters and monitoring equipment, heat interface units, new radiators, pumps, thermostats and programmers and insulating pipework. In addition to providing bespoke control of temperatures for residents, the upgrade promised to reduce costs, by reducing hot water flow temperatures in the heating system.
Dan Perager, Head of Heat, Energy and Water at Notting Hill Genesis said: “Baths Court represents the common type of unmetered heating within many older supported and sheltered housing buildings. These systems usually have large boilers that provide uncontrolled heating and hot water to each home and the communal areas. Residents are typically billed for heat usage as part of their service charge. This arrangement encourages wasteful behaviour such as opening windows when the building is too hot due to the lack of control.
“Replacing stored hot water for HIUs will ensure energy losses are kept to a minimum, legionella risk is reduced, scalding risks are reduced, and residents pay for their actual consumption. This strategy and project will form part of NHG’s plan to meter all our unmetered sites and keep the most vulnerable residents safe and warm.”
The Energy Awards judging panel described the project as: “A well-evidenced, well-managed project, with some impressive figures, that shows how residential buildings can be retrofitted to deliver systems that reduce energy consumption, carbon emissions and maintenance costs, while improving the comfort of residents. This offers a replicable model for similar housing types.”
The benefits of the work at Baths Court will extend well beyond that building, as the project will now be used as a model for the replacement of similar systems across NHG’s entire portfolio.
Held at the Grosvenor House Hotel on 13 May, the Energy Awards showcased the finest innovations, campaigns and service developments. It also brought the sector together to honour excellence in the net zero transition and hosted conversations about its future.
