Cavity wall insulation for 5,000 council flats wins housing award
Published 6 July 2010
Five thousand flats in Southwark will be insulated to help reduce energy costs for council tenants and carbon dioxide emissions.
Five thousand flats in Southwark will be insulated to help reduce energy costs for council tenants and carbon dioxide emissions.
Southwark Council has begun retrofitting insulation into the cavity walls of flats in blocks of 5 storeys and above in the borough to reduce heat loss. The £4.35m project is funded by the Homes and Communities Agency's Social Housing Energy Saving Programme.
It aims to achieve 5,300 tonnes of carbon dioxide savings per year and will assist the council in meeting its target to reduce borough-wide carbon dioxide emissions by 8.5% by 2011.
The project won the Association of Rented Council Housing (ARCH) Green Efficiencies Award 2010.
Councillor Barrie Hargrove, cabinet member for transport, environment and recycling at Southwark Council, said: "Our aim is to make Southwark's housing greener and more sustainable. This project will also contribute towards lower fuel bills and help reduce the risk of fuel poverty in the borough, because council tenants represent some of the lowest income households in Southwark. I am delighted that the project has won the prestigious Green Efficiencies Award and I congratulate all the staff who worked very hard to win this award."
Marlene Price chair of the Association of Rented Council Housing (ARCH) said: "ARCH commends Southwark as the Green Efficiency Award winner for its initiative to insulation wall cavities. A lot of council buildings are high rise and have cavities that they try to insulate to make homes warmer and improve fuel efficiency. This generally means putting scaffolding up, which makes the area look unsightly and is costly. This innovation means this council was able to fill the cavity in the high rise without the need for lots of scaffolding."
