£10m Competition - Retrofitting for the Future
There is a £10M competition for retrofitting existing social housing stock (many thanks to Matthew for the heads-up).
For those who don't have time to read the link, here's a quick summary (no guarantees this is all 100% correct!):
- The aim of the fund is to produce at least 50 exemplar retrofit houses
- Each project must be a whole-house retrofit which dramatically decreases energy consumption
- The houses must be owned by a social landlord
- In this competition the Technology Strategy Board is offering 100% funding for each proposal.
- Competitive bids will be judged on innovation and potential for impact as well as projected build cost. The contract will include costs for the design phase as well as the build phase, to enable innovative solutions to be developed and trialled. It will also cover in-use performance evaluation.
They also talk about "current technology not being sufficient" so I think they are looking for projects utilising high-tech, experimental approaches. Not sure though.
I suppose the key question for us is: is there any role for Peckham Power to play in this? I'd propose that we definitely talk about this with Jessica (Southwark Energy Team). Also, Russell, this fund sounds like it was virtually designed with Parity Projects in mind! Is there any way in which Peckham Power could help you?
From a personal perspective (being a video guy and all) I'd be very, VERY eager to get involved with videoing the design and construction of some of these retrofit projects.
Many thanks,
Jack
#1
Could this be a good project for Southwark Council to get behind as an exemplar for the borough along the lines (but maybe just focussing on the retro-fit) of the recetn eco Victorian house in Camden?
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23632821-details/Victorian+house+given+330,000+eco+makeover/article.do
M
#2
Hmm. It's a great house and a good project, but frankly, I'm a bit fed up with this sort of stuff - it's not that knowing WHAT to do is the problem, it's how to get the money and political/cultural/practical will to do this, and just knowing the practicalities of the conversion. I really don't feel that yet another beautiful examplar is helpful, by itself. We need to focus on getting this stuff rolled out asap... and I think we need to do that via our social networks, and breaking the whole process down into manageable chunks - like Jack's floor insulation work this week... so that people can make an effective start on the long process of making their homes low carbon rather than just being unable to do anything because they don't know where to start. i.e. ideally, we need a project management document for the low carbon conversion for each building....
as well as engaging with wider political and funding opportunities of course!
Anna
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