Case Studies
Across the county individuals and organisations are already taking the action that will propel us towards the vision outlined above. By sharing some of these here the aim is to encourage their sustainability, replication and escalation.
Dorset Climate Action Network (CAN) Energy Group
Energy is one of Dorset CAN’s working groups, a team of local residents considering both the saving of energy and the switch to renewables. The group is open to anyone interested in getting involved and further information can be found on their website.
Zero Carbon Dorset Webinar
Some of the case studies below were discussed in detail during an on-line webinar organised by Zero Carbon Dorset. The full video is available to view on our website.
Dorset Climate Action Network (CAN) Energy Group
Energy is one of Dorset CAN’s working groups, a team of local residents considering both the saving of energy and the switch to renewables. The group is open to anyone interested in getting involved and further information can be found on their website.
Zero Carbon Dorset Webinar
Some of the case studies below were discussed in detail during an on-line webinar organised by Zero Carbon Dorset. The full video is available to view on our website.
Slide: Solar PV House (see ‘Solar PV House – A Victorian Terraced House’ below)
Straw Bale Building
Huff and Puff Construction
Phil Christopher heads up Huff and Puff, a straw bale consultancy and design company based in Wareham. Straw bales are an agricultural by product and their use as a building material provides benefits for the local environment and economy. Straw bale insulation has a U value of 0.1, and so has mu ch better heat retention compared to the regulations (0.3) or cavity wall insulation (0.2). Since 2019 Huff and Puff Construction have been hard at work on an exciting project to deliver a new flagship straw-bale building for Hastings Borough Council – a new Visitor centre at Hastings Country Park. Phil’s story is one of those on the ZCD Webinar noted above.
Queen Elizabeth Sustainability Centre, Dorset (2009)
Developed from concepts by Dorset County Council, ARCO2, using its unique experience of straw bale construction on previous projects, produced the working drawings for this ambitious new building. The building provides 5 temporary classrooms for art and music during the construction of a new secondary school. However, rather than providing temporary buildings which would be later removed, this facility would be adapted at the end of its first phase of use to provide changing facilities for school and a cafe at ground floor with conference and meeting facilities over the first floor. The construction is based on a glue-laminated timber frame with straw bale infill and natural reclaimed lambswool insulation. It also supports a bio-diverse brown roof and includes the extensive use of wood-based products, lime-based renders and local western red cedar claddings and facias. At 710m2, this ambitious and highly innovative building represents one of, if not the largest Education Building in the UK constructed with straw bale.
House case study (2014) Claremont Road, Bridport
Claremont Road is a street of similarly built brick 1960s bungalows. John & Anna have been building a load bearing strawbale extensionto one of them, insulating the existing building by wrapping it with strawbales.
Retrofitting
Dorset Open Greener Homes show-cases how local people have improved their homes and saved money. An opportunity for interested residents to view such homes, gardens and a church took place over two weekends in Autumn 2021.
Gull View, Bridport
This house was built in the 1930s, but when John and Mary moved in they were determined to lower their carbon footprint. Insulation in the loft and an internal wall insulation have reduced heat loss, and roof ‘lanterns’ make use of natural lighting. A 25kW biomass pellet stove provides hot water and cooking, and new double glazing has sustainable oak frames.
Solar PV House - A Victorian Terraced House
One of the major obstacles for Jason with his projectwas to overcome council objections to the re-development. Once underway however the house extension project achieved a change from EPC F to a B through wall and floor insulation, passive solar gain (through large south facing windows), a large PV array, thermal store (for hot water), battery storage and efficient appliances. Use of Octopus agile electricity tariff to charge up the battery and thermal store when electricity prices at their lowest (average cost 3.66p/kWh). Jason’s story is one of those on the ZCD Webinar noted above.
Carlinford, Boscombe
Zoe’s retrofit of a flat (about £40k) was restricted by the layout of the building and options, particularly for installing renewables, were restricted. The approach to building design considered all aspects of a low carbon retrofit, including appliances, furnishing and paint. All the electrics, and plumbing were replaced. New insulated internal battened walls and ceilings were installed and the loss of space due to the thickness of the insulation was masked by painting the walls white. Electric infrared panels, which are more efficient than cheaper convector panels, were also installed as they are cheaper to run. Zoe’s story can also be heard on the ZCD Webinar.
Dorset PassivhausAn energy positive house in Dorset, built to Passivhaus standards, designed by LTS Architects with Enhabit, was completed in June 2018. A private, three-bedroom family home, equipped with a photovoltaic roof, triple glazed windows and rainwater recycling, it is an ‘energy plus’ residence, exporting more energy than it consumes. The structure is fabricated from structurally insulated panel (SIPS) and was erected in 11 days.
The house is organised into two distinct halves; one for living and the other sleeping. The ‘sleeping’ block, essentially private and inward looking by design, is housed within a masonry shell and holds all the bedrooms and bathrooms. Strategically placed windows respond to the internal requirements of the rooms while also maintaining privacy.
To meet Passivhaus standards, a fabric first approach was adopted using very low U-values for the entire external envelope. Enhabit carried out thermal modelling to ensure solar gain was introduced in the winter and eliminated in summer. The extensive PV and solar thermal array ensures very little energy is required from the grid, and excess PV energy is delivered to the thermal store.
The use of wastewater heat recovery to preheat the cold-water supply also reduces energy demand. There is a substantial amount of winter heat produced through solar gain with the large south facing windows. The balconies and external shading prevents this glazing overheating the house in the summer. Ventilation to the whole house is provided via a mechanically ventilated heat recovery (MVHR) system giving continuous fresh air with minimal heat loss. The Solar Edge energy monitoring system provides all the information on these systems throughout the year for the owner.
The project was designed using a timber structure and SIPS panels with blown insulation (derived from renewable vegetable oil) to Passivhaus standards. The embodied carbon of the entire structure was therefore considered almost neutral or very low.
Bridport Renewal Corridor
The emerging vision for the Bridport Renewal Corridor[1] is for an innovative, sustainable, and high quality “renewal” that is easily accessible by narrow gauge train, by cycle, by hoof and on foot. One in which local communities, landowners and businesses can thrive sustainably, in a zero-carbon way that enhances biodiversity, wellbeing, and reduces our environmental footprint whilst honouring the outstanding natural beauty of the landscape. Central to this is the development of new housing built Emerging Principles Inspired by VeloCity and applied to the Bridport Renewal Corridor:
• People over cars creating new movement networks
• Compact not sprawl, keeping the special character of our village
• Opportunity over decline unlocking land for new places to live and work
• Connected not isolated linking villages with shared resources, to benefit everyone
• Resilient not fragile promoting sustainable environments, health, and well-being
Housing will be affordable, use less energy and so be lower carbon dwellings with integrated transport infrastructure to provide access to facilities without a car.
Low Carbon Dorset
Low Carbon Dorset is a five-year programme of activities to help stimulate growth in Dorset’s low carbon economy and reduce the county’s footprint. Low Carbon Dorset provides FREE technical advice and financial support to local Business, Community and Public Sector organisations to deliver carbon reduction projects in Dorset. Low Carbon Grants are available for up to 40% of project costs, between £5,000 and £250,000, depending on the project and organisation. A range of case studies can be seen on their website. These include:
Marshall Village Hall
Charlton Marshall had a very busy, but very old village hall. Housed in a wooden building built in the mid 1930’s, it was expensive to run, and not fit for purpose. So, they decided as a village to build a new low carbon one. The new hall will have LED lighting throughout, better-than-needed insulation, an 8kW air-source heat pump to provide most of the heating, and a 6kW array of Solar PV Panels. These energy efficiency measures will far exceed building regulations, and its carbon footprint is 30% smaller than the hall it will replace.
Harlees Fish & Chips - Energy Efficiency and Solar PV Project
Harlees is a family run fish and chips business with seven locations across Dorset and Wiltshire. Low Carbon Dorset highlighted the shop’s three biggest energy demands, their frying range, refrigeration and lighting.
When a fryer needed replacing at their Verwood shop, Harlees decided to use this opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint. Instead of replacing like-for-like, Harlees invested in a high efficiency replacement fryer. A grant from Low Carbon Dorset covering 25% of the costs of replacing the fryer allowed Harlees to invest in a more advanced high efficiency fryer which would have previously been beyond their budget. The new Kiremko fryer is expected to be 25% more efficient than the fryer it has replaced and will use around 30% less gas. It will also be more efficient than cheaper modern fryers on the market. By making this switch, rather than either continuing with their old fryer or buying a less expensive new one, Harlees will be saving an estimated eight tonnes of CO2e every year and can expect around £1.4K off their annual gas bill.
What’s more, they also installed as much solar PV as their roof space would allow (6kWp) to help tackle the emissions from their lighting and refrigeration. Combined these measures are expected to save around 11 tonnes of CO2e, and over £2K in energy bills, each year. Dr Kaylee Herbert, Director – Harlees Fish & Chips said ‘This project with Low Carbon Dorset has not only provided us with funding for our project, but also knowledge, ideas and inspiration to make future improvements across the business to reduce our carbon use. The onsite visit was really beneficial, highlighting areas that could be easily improved to reduce carbon use across the business.”
Bournemouth University: A Greener Campus
BU has cut carbon emissions by 45% between 2010-20. This has been achieved by a strong focus on energy management, installing energy conservation measures, achieving high sustainability standards for new buildings and encouraging staff and students to help save energy in the workplace. The reduction in emissions is also due to installing on site renewable energy generation (see Power Up chapter) and the decarbonisation of the grid.
BU is one of few universities to hold both ISO14001 and ISO50001 certifications for their environment and energy management system. These independently audited management systems provide a robust framework for continual improvement in driving down energy, carbon emissions and costs. All new builds have achieved BREEAM 'Excellent' (the sustainability standard for new builds); and EPC A rating, delivering world class facilities that are energy efficient through air tightness, insulation and more efficient equipment. Existing infrastructure, such as pumps and boilers, have been systematically replaced by more energy efficient equipment. The building management system ensures close monitoring and control on energy use whilst delivering comfortable internal environmental conditions. A Green Rewards staff scheme encourages greener choices and lifestyles and is designed to encourage a reduction in carbon emissions at home and in the workplace.
BU's new carbon plan, the CECAP acknowledges they will need to continue to focus on energy use to achieve the net zero target by 2030/31.
Dorset Green Living Project
For those without access to project funding the Dorset Green Living Project offers a community-led approach to reducing energy demand and making the transition to a greener lifestyle. Sustainable Dorset were originally awarded nearly £10,000 by the National Lottery Community Fund to support the project, the aim of which is to engage groups of neighbours to work together to reduce their carbon footprint whilst saving money on their bills and building stronger local communities.
Ridgewater Energy
Ridgewater Energy, based near Wimborne, provides expert advice and assistance to home owners, landlords and private tenants in assessing and sourcing funding and quotations for insulation, heating and renewable energy upgrades in the South of England.
The company is owned and managed by the directors Peter Bywater and Alan Plumridge, who have been working together in the energy efficiency field since 1997, when they worked on the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES) as assessors. From 2000 they both joined Energy Action Grants Agency (EAGA) to work on the Warmfront Grant Scheme.
Peter worked at Dorset Energy Advice Centre from 2005-2015, and whilst there he ran several Insulation Projects with landlords, including the multi award-winning Bournemouth Landlord Project which worked with over 1000 landlords and assisted 13,000 tenants. Peter and the team ensured both the landlords and tenants understood the benefits of improving the insulation of their properties. The scheme was also taken up in Southampton, Poole, Weymouth, Exeter and then across Dorset. There were over 50 projects across the energy and sustainability spectrum which were delivered by Dorset Energy Advice Centre during this period.
Ridgewater Energy deliver a number of local and national energy improvement schemes, including Healthy Homes Dorset which is funded by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, Dorset Council and Public Health Dorset. The scheme is designed to help Dorset residents to keep warm and healthy in their homes by providing access to free energy advice and funding for energy saving measures, such as cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, heating measures and enabling works. They work with a network of local, trusted installers who can assist with various energy efficiency and heating measures. As a landlord or tenant, you can find out more about what advice and funding is available by going to their website.
Ridgewater have also been working alongside DWP Housing for many years, and assisting them and their tenants, many of whom are on low incomes. More recently they have been helping upgrade their property portfolio’s EPC ratings and carrying out new EPC’s on their 3500 properties to ascertain and plan what funding might be accessible and assessing those works, ready to make the necessary energy efficiency, heating and renewable energy upgrades.
Argyll Road, Bournemouth
This property had very old, failed fibre cavity wall insulation, Ridgewater sourced ECO funding to remove the old insulation, after which DWP Housing carried out extensive remedial works to ensure the bricks, pointing and guttering were in good repair, ready for the new improved poly-bead insulation to be fitted. They also upgraded the electric heating in these bedsits and studio flats from on-peak panel heaters to High Heat Retention Dimplex Quantum storage heaters, and this has seen an average 35-45% reduction in energy bills and/or tenants reporting improved comfort. The tenants were also offered a LEAP visit to get additional assistance with LED bulbs and energy advice. The EPC ratings on all 11 flats is now at a ‘C’ which means that DWP Housing will continue to be compliant with the Minimum Energy Efficiency standards for at least the next 10-15 years, at the same time reducing the tenants’ bills, achieving more affordable warmth, reducing carbon emissions and reducing maintenance associated with condensation and damp.
Ridgewater have also carried out similar projects for DWP in properties in Ashley Road and Palmerston Road, Bournemouth replacing the cavity wall insulation and, in some cases assisting them with an application to the Warm Homes Fund, where an assisted gas connection and meters were installed and a new full gas central heating boiler and radiators.
With the completion of all possible loft and cavity wall extraction and re-insulation works happening by the end of 2021, the next chapter will see properties with rooms in the roof or flats in the roof space receive insulation upgrades, along with suitable properties with suspended timber floors receiving underfloor insulation. There are also other retrofit works which will be considered for Solar PV and Air Source Heat Pumps using part- funded routes. The aim is to raise all EPC’s to at least a ‘C’ in the next 2 years.
Lush Cosmetics
As part of Poole-based Lush Cosmetics company structure, Cosmetic Warriors Ltd was recently created to oversee all aspects of their research and development, from product development to shop design, from packaging to manufacturing processes. Unit 1 Witney Road in Poole, Dorset became their first major property acquisition and hub dedicated to this business purpose.
After acquiring Unit 1 in September 2017, the team were tasked with transforming this traditional engineering warehouse into a future-thinking, environmentally friendly hub to support the R&D activities in Lush. Many of those R&D activities are also eco-friendly initiatives themselves, so it made sense that they would be nested in an inspirational building that could embody and reflect the values of the Lush brand in every space.
The vision for the project was summarised in two aspects:
- an innovative, inspirational and low-impact building that communicates our ethics;
- a functional space for research and development of products and processes that can also support us in lowering our environmental footprint.
Lush, have a long-term goal of “leaving the world Lusher than we found it”. Ultimately, they would like to have a net positive benefit on the planet, giving back more than they take. Part of this goal is their commitment to responding to the climate emergency with a strategy that includes electrification of their energy supplies, reducing energy waste and a commitment to purchasing renewable electricity. This project contributes to all of those targets.
Further Information
Passivhaus
Passivhaus buildings[1] provide a high level of occupant comfort while using very little energy for heating and cooling. They are built with meticulous attention to detail and rigorous design and construction according to principles developed by the Passivhaus Institute in Germany and can be certified through an exacting quality assurance process.
Zero Carbon Homes
Exeter
As Oliver Wainwright’s article in The Guardian on 6th March this year makes clear, Passivhaus are fast becoming mainstream with around 30,000 projects in the pipeline.
Commenting on how “after scrapping Labour’s zero-carbon homes target in 2015, the Conservative government has finally developed a future homes standard, which will mandate all new homes to be “zero-carbon-ready” – although not until 2025 at the earliest.” He then points out that “it has been the landlords with a long-term interest in the wellbeing of their tenants, and the longevity of their building stock, who are forging ahead with low-energy housing. Exeter city council, for example, has been quietly building zero-carbon homes for the last decade, with more than 200 council houses built so far to the exacting Passivhaus low-energy standard, and 1,000 more in the pipeline”.
Norwich
Goldsmith Street, a development of 105 brick properties on the outskirts of Norwich city centre, was the first social housing project to be awarded the Stirling architecture prize. The judges hailed the development, owned wholly by the city council, as a “modest masterpiece”, saying it represented “high- quality architecture in its purest, most environmentally and socially conscious form”.
Architects Mikhail Riches describe the development as ‘the largest Passivhaus scheme in the UK’ and residents will benefit from them being ‘designed to be as airtight as possible, with a mechanical heat and ventilation system that circulates air through the rooms’ with heating bills expected to be about £150 a year.
Bristol
268 ‘sustainable homes’, 55% of which are for social housing and shared ownership, are to be built on former school land, with all the new homes connected to air source heat pumps. As part of the Joint Venture, during construction, Vistry Partnerships and Goram Homes will be running a Skills Academy – “an innovative training programme that has been designed to create opportunities for local people to gain work experience and vocational qualifications, including NVQs and CSCS cards – a crucial first step into the industry”.
These are great examples which Dorset and BCP Councils could follow; helping not only to address issues around energy saving but also going someway to addressing some of our local housing issues. We note as this report was being finalised that BCP Council has released plans for investing £10m in low carbon, social housing developments. This is welcome and we will review the detailed plans with interest.
LETI
LETI is a network of over 1000 built environment professionals working together to put the UK on the path to a zero-carbon future. The voluntary group is made up of developers, engineers, housing associations, architects, planners, academics, sustainability professionals, contractors and facilities managers, with support and input provided by the GLA, Local Authorities and other organisation.
Established in 2017 as the London Energy Transformation Initiative they have recently published a Climate Emergency Retrofit Guide, available for free via the link in the reference.
Further guides and videos are on their website covering a wide range of related subjects for individuals and policy makers including embodied carbon, net carbon buildings and proposals for energy policy.
Bio Cities
Bio Cities is a concept and a component part of the Unlocking Sustainable Cities “Manifesto for Real Change” by Paul Chatterton[1]. While focused on addressing the rift between the natural and urban worlds and focusing on “radical emerging approach to urban nature including urban rewilding, permaculture, biomimicry, biophilia, urban agriculture, continuous productive urban landscapes.” it sets the context for how buildings should form part of this ‘blue-green infrastructure’.
[1] Unlocking Sustainable Cities, Paul Chatterton (2019)
Really Green Buildings
Other than when discussing straw bale building above, or in the Bridport case study, we haven’t focused much on the benefits of holistically planning new buildings using the Bio Cities concept, and elements of this can often seem quite futuristic. However, in many places around the world ideas of vertical forests and green walls has been gathering pace.
This short video shows how these two towers in Milan house 3 hectares of forest with 800 trees, 15,000 perennials, and 5,000 shrubs, moderating the temperature and sequestering 30 tonnes of carbon a year. What’s more it helps ease air and noise pollution and provides a micro-habitat for insects.
Centre for Alternative Technology Webinars
The three webinars below are all available on the CAT website and can be viewed at any time.
Zero Energy Affordable HomesWhy reduce energy when you can eliminate it! Affordable, zero-energy homes for growing families, can be built as demonstrated by these houses in Örebro, Sweden which “utilize passive building principles and photovoltaic panels to generate as much energy as they use each year. Stockholm-based Street Monkey Architects designed the zero-energy homes to be well insulated and nearly airtight, with ventilation systems that retain as much heat as possible.”
As Duncan Neilson describes in the Dwell article “The homes are almost completely powered by rooftop solar panels, and on-site batteries store unused energy that can be sold back to the grid. Additionally, the buildings’ energy consumption is measured on an ongoing basis to adjust for power needs. Each two-story, 1,600-square-foot structure is composed of six factory-built modules that arrived on-site with finished interiors. Once erected, the facades were connected together to smooth over transitional moments between the homes.” The solar panels are angled to ensure maximum exposure to the sun.
Green Building Council Net Zero Carbon
The GBC mission is to radically improve the sustainability of the built environment, by transforming the way it is planned, designed, constructed, maintained and operated.
GBC developed a framework to achieve net zero carbon buildings in both construction and operation (in-use energy consumption), whilst beginning to provide direction for addressing whole life carbon in the industry. As a freely available resource, the framework is intended to be used by building developers, designers, owners, occupiers and policy makers to inform the development of building tools, policies and practices.
Insulate Britain
Insulate Britain have made headlines for their disruptive activity on the UK’s road network. Their demands (which have been less well discussed) for the UK Government to fully fund the insulation of all social housing in Britain, and to produce a national plan to fully fund the full low-energy and low-carbon whole-house retrofit of all homes in Britain as an immediate step towards dealing with the climate & ecological emergency, is consistent with the data we have explored in preparing this report.
ChangeNOW Resource Hub
ChangeNOW, held in Paris, claims to have been the “World’s Largest Event for the Planet” with more than 1,000 sustainability solutions and 500 speakers at their 2020 event. With subsequent activity being taken on-line there is now a wealth of information available to view on their website and virtual exhibition. Registration is required to participate but is available free of charge if only viewing material. The following two videos explore some of the areas we have touched on above.
Green Building Council Net Zero Carbon
The GBC mission is to radically improve the sustainability of the built environment, by transforming the way it is planned, designed, constructed, maintained and operated.
GBC developed a framework to achieve net zero carbon buildings in both construction and operation (in-use energy consumption), whilst beginning to provide direction for addressing whole life carbon in the industry. As a freely available resource, the framework is intended to be used by building developers, designers, owners, occupiers and policy makers to inform the development of building tools, policies and practices.
Insulate Britain
Insulate Britain have made headlines for their disruptive activity on the UK’s road network. Their demands (which have been less well discussed) for the UK Government to fully fund the insulation of all social housing in Britain, and to produce a national plan to fully fund the full low-energy and low-carbon whole-house retrofit of all homes in Britain as an immediate step towards dealing with the climate & ecological emergency, is consistent with the data we have explored in preparing this report.
ChangeNOW Resource Hub
ChangeNOW, held in Paris, claims to have been the “World’s Largest Event for the Planet” with more than 1,000 sustainability solutions and 500 speakers at their 2020 event. With subsequent activity being taken on-line there is now a wealth of information available to view on their website and virtual exhibition. Registration is required to participate but is available free of charge if only viewing material. The following two videos explore some of the areas we have touched on above.
