Ethos Public Relations Manchester

ALMO harnesses the sun for sheltered residents

by Ethos public relations

ALMO Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) has been successful in its application to the Energy Saving Trust/Low Carbons Building Programme for six grants worth £200k.

The grants have allowed the company to install solar thermal panels to five sheltered schemes in the borough which now means that over one third of the company's sheltered accommodation will have its energy sourced from the sun.

Wendy Stewart from RBH said: "In 2004 we made the decision to look at renewable energy sources for all of our communal housing.

"Most of our sheltered accommodation stock is built to a similar design and size which made it easy for us to assess the feasibility of solar energy in this type of accommodation. This latest funding means that over five years we have successfully applied for £80k in grant funding for our sheltered accommodation."

The solar thermal panels are linked to the buildings' boilers and, on a sunny day, the panels can warm enough water for a full tank. When the tank is full the excess energy is transferred to the heating system. It is already working well in the five schemes where it is currently installed. The solar panels are complemented by the addition of new energy efficient boilers.

"The schemes where the solar panels are installed are each saving the company around £1,200 per year in energy bills," said Wendy. "Eventually we want to install these panels to all our sheltered schemes providing grant funding remains available."

RBH is leading the field in the use of alternative energy. In 2005 the company was the first social housing provider in the country to use renewable energy at seven high rise blocks in Rochdale. The KW arrays solar panels were installed on the roof of the high rise buildings and provide enough power to light all the reception, communal and landing areas in the blocks which together account for 700 homes at the Collegebank scheme.

"We are saving around £3,500 each year on previous electricity bills at Collegebank," said Wendy.

"We are really keen to commit to more renewable energy sources which are not only financially efficient for the company but also reduce our carbon footprint. However, to date renewable energy is only cost effective to our business on communal buildings but hopefully this will change in the future and we can examine methods of making individual homes more energy efficient."

RBH has used the money saved from reduced energy bills to provide residents with free energy efficient light bulbs and free power-downs.

Posted at 21^st July 2009