Regeneration: Innovative low energy design
Trent Basin - Nottingham, demonstrates a shining example of how to blend innovative low energy design, with the reality of building desirable homes in a commercially driven environment.
Blueprint, the joint venture developer between Aviva Investors and Nottingham City Council, worked on a design that delivered a high specification of fabric efficiency. This approach including economic use of hot water, ensured there was minimal wasted energy.
The 35 homes designed by Blueprint are now sold and occupied. Over the last 12 months, the owners have seen utility bills that most of us could only dream of. Typically, the average gas bill on these family homes is less than £30 per month, with some homes hovering nearer to £15 per month (Energy costs from 2019).
The aim of this project was to design and build energy efficient and commercially viable homes. The Showersave QB1-21, albeit only one element of the overall build, has contributed towards achieving the project objectives. The simplicity and cost-effectiveness of Showersave makes it an attractive technology for projects aimed at reducing energy and maintenance costs.
The Trent Basin project also boasts a 2.1 MW Tesla Community Battery, the largest community energy battery in Europe.
In bringing the Trent Basin project to market, Blueprint has demonstrated that commercially funded private housing can be delivered alongside greatly increased energy efficiency.
Benefits
- Critical for Part L 2021 compliance and route to Future Home Standard.
- Low CAPEX and competitive £ per point in SAP.
- Lower cost alternative than other technologies, including MVHR, Solar PV and Triple Glazing.
- Can be kept in-line throughout whole house pressure test to > 20 bar, therefore no need to isolate.
- Showersave is a “fit and forget” technology, therefore requires little, or no maintenance.
- Only WWHRS designed, manufactured and distributed throughout Europe by a single company.
- Proven to cut running costs of heat pumps and increase the overall efficiency of space heating and hot water production.
- Embedded Carbon independently measured at 51KgCo²e using CIBSE TM65 methodology. Carbon recovery less than 6 months.
“Our objective was to build a quality family environment, which was competitively priced to own and run.
The inclusion of Showersave has helped greatly in achieving this”
Rachel Hopwell, Blueprint