Isos is innovating to cut carbon

Adopting the latest methods of refurbishing houses could put Isos Housing Group right at the heart of the UK's efforts to cut greenhouse gases.

Isos has won a contract from the Government's Technology Strategy Board (TSB) to come up with an in-depth scheme to refit one of its houses with energy efficient technology as part of the £16m 'Retrofit for the Future' scheme.

The scheme, personally backed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, aims to make a big contribution to the UK's commitment to cut CO2 emissions by 80% over the next 40 years.

With social housing making up 4.5m of the UK's 25m homes, improving the carbon output from them could make a very substantial contribution to the nation's target - as well as any resulting installation work providing jobs for contractors.

The Isos project, aimed at transforming a NomadE5 terraced house in North Shields into a model of energy efficiency, is one of 190 nationwide (13 in the North East) which the TSB will assess to decide which ones to support with funding for full 'retrofits'.

If chosen, the NomadE5 house would then be one of around 100 homes nationwide which would receive a retrofit and become models of how such work would be done in the future.

Kari Best, business support manager for Isos, has found there are almost 400,000 terraced houses in the North East which could potentially benefit from the same kind of retrofit as the Isos 'guinea pig' house in North Shields.

Isos alone owns and manages 564 terraced homes of this type.

The experts employed by Isos - energy efficiency specialists Envirohomes and North Energy Associates, and academics from Northumbria University - will recommend a combination of up-to-the-minute insulation and sustainable energy technology.

While work is still going on to decide what would work best on the end terrace, measures being considered include:
- a combined heat and power (CHP) boiler
- energy efficient lighting
- triple glazed windows
- making the building air tight, to eliminate heat loss
- the use of 'A++' rated, energy efficient white goods for the kitchen

Kari said: "We are really pleased to be chosen as part of this prestigious competition, and our team will be working hard to come up with a 'Retrofit' plan which can save as much energy - and carbon dioxide emissions - as possible.
"Many of our residents live on small incomes so anything we can do to reduce their bills is very valuable to them.
"We are also keen to minimise our environmental footprint as an organisation, and this scheme helps us to do that."

A key part of the Retrofit for the Future scheme is Isos establishing a team of experts who the organisation can work with as and when other funding becomes available.

Iain Gray, chief executive of the Technology Strategy Board, said: "Housing in the UK accounts for 27% of carbon emissions and more than 60% of the houses that we will be living in by 2050 have already been built. To meet the UK's target of an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, we must dramatically improve the performance of our existing housing stock.
"The social housing sector includes over 4.5m homes and the challenge is to come up with innovative and well tested solutions so that when these buildings are refurbished, they are done so in a sustainable manner that is sure to make significant cuts in carbon emissions. "

The initial feasibility contracts are worth up to £20,000 and subsequent build contracts up to £150,000.

The competition is being run through the Technology Strategy Board's Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), a procurement scheme to encourage small businesses to engage with government departments.