Nottingham City Council is working with Nottingham City Homes to connect four low-rise apartment blocks in Sneinton to the District Heating network.

As part of the city’s ongoing Greener HousiNG programme, 94 households in Bryon, Keswick, Morley and Haywood Courts will be receiving energy efficiency measures, including a connection to the city’s energy-from-waste, low carbon, heat network. Other measures include external wall insulation, new roof with solar system, battery storage, new A-rated windows and doors plus internal improvements to make living spaces larger and turning bedsits into one bedroomed flats. The apartments will be warmer than before but have lower bills and all their energy needs will be fully met from low carbon sources.

In a bid to future proof the network part of the works will be to pilot the concept of low temperature district heating which could enable Nottingham to roll out this low carbon energy source to many more domestic properties in the future, at a much lower cost. The network operates by distributing hot water over an extensive pipe network; this pilot will enable the network for The Courts to operate with a much lower temperature without any drop in heating and hot water performance for the households.

Resident John Hiley, who lives in Bryon Court which is the first of the four blocks to be regenerated said “I’m really pleased that my home is receiving these works to not only improve how it looks but to make it much cheaper to heat. Part of my flat will also be made bigger which is really welcomed. So far the works have been managed really well there is noise in the day but it is too be expected, from looking at the final designs and it will all be worthwhile.”

Nottingham City Homes Chief Executive, Nick Murphy, said: “The Greener HousiNG programme is dedicated to finding the most efficient and reliable solutions, to help us future proof our housing stock and tackle issues such as fuel poverty. As an added bonus the external improvements will greatly improve the look and feel of the area.”

Councillor Sally Longford, the City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Energy and Environment, said: “The district heating network is a great asset to Nottingham and we welcome the opportunity to trial innovative solutions to enable it to serve more people with affordable, low carbon heating. Nottingham had the first network of this kind in the country and it’s great to see that we are leading the way to develop this technology to be even more efficient and greener”.

These homes are the final scheme to be delivered as part of the EU funded REMOURBAN project which has provided funding to make 400 homes in Sneinton significantly more energy efficient leading to cheaper household bills and lower carbon emissions. Many of the homes have received external wall insulation, which has also improved the external appearance of the homes adding to the regeneration of the local area.