Family Housing Social Case Study
Customer: Family Housing Association
Location: Birmingham
Application: Solar Thermal Systems
Number of Properties: 72
Customer Background
Innovative environmental sustainability projects are now a priority for Family Housing. As a result they have seen a number of improvements over the last few years, following an £11m regeneration programme undertaken with Birmingham City Council. In partnership with Eaga's private home owners were able to feel the benefit of a £2.3m eco neighbourhood project, the largest renewable energy project of its kind in the UK. These installations were fitted completely free of charge for owner occupiers in the area, depending on certain eligibility criteria, with the aim of reducing fuel poverty.
Why Solar Technology?
The idea for the eco project evolved after local residents raised concerns to Family Housing on energy efficiency and the negative impact of rising fuel bills. Family then identified opportunities for accessing new renewable technologies and decided that as well as reducing carbon emissions and promoting environmental sustainability, solar thermal hot water systems would significantly reduce fuel poverty for certain Birmingham residents.
Installation Details
Depending on the size of house and number of occupants, Eaga installed either 2.75m2 or 4.12m2 flat plate roof integrated solar collectors. Roof integration offers many advantages over above-roof mounting including neater installation, no pipework on the roof, reduced weight load on the roof and improved weathering durability. The original hot water cylinders were replaced with twin coil hot types which provide the best balance between solar energy performance and hot water availability. In many cases, the customers also benefited from replacement boilers under another Eaga managed initiative known as the Birmingham Energy Efficiency Programme (BEEP).
Results
The solar thermal hot water systems have the potential significantly to reduce fuel bills by delivering an estimated 60% of each household’s hot water per annum. A year after installatin, Eaga personally visited a large number of customers and they were all delighted with their systems. An independent customer satisfaction assessment was carried out by Sheffield Hallam University.