National award for 'innovative' environmental work

Places for People has scooped a national award for its green environmental work, beating off stiff competition from 26 other housing groups.

The organisation has picked up the Housing Corporation's Gold Award for its environmental initiatives across the UK, including the Broughton Atterbury and Wolverton developments in Milton Keynes which feature a range of renewable technologies such as solar panels and wind turbines.

The awards recognise the housing industry's attempts to make properties environmentally friendly, with judges describing Places for People as innovative.

Sir Duncan Michael, Chairman of the judging panel said: "Congratulations to Places for People in securing this prestigious national award for its environmental work".

""We were really impressed with the huge array of action shown on all fronts and a successful and well established sustainable development strategy which supports a wide range of innovative activities around energy efficiency and affordable warmth".

David Cowans, Chief Executive of Places for People said: "This is a fantastic achievement and outlines our commitment to providing environmentally friendly homes and sustainable communities in places where people want to live and work.

"Our aim is to try to bring the use of renewable technologies into the mainstream and develop new homes that are not only energy efficient and have a limited effect on the environment, but which are also appealing to the people who live in them".

In the past year Places for People has designed and constructed hundreds of homes that are energy efficient and feature a range of renewable technologies such as solar and geothermal power.

It has launched a range of pilot projects testing renewable technologies in affordable new build and existing developments including solar panels at Sheffield in Norfolk Park; wind turbines at Wolverton and is responsible for Broughton Atterbury, one of the largest housing developments in the country to be awarded the EcoHomes excellent rating - the industry's gold standard on environmental sustainability.

Sustainable features include water butts to collect rainwater from properties for use on gardens, the use of timber from sustainable sources, provision of onsite recycling facilities and a Sustainable Urban Drainage System which helps reduce the amount of pollutants being washed into rivers.

In a first for the housing sector, the Group has also installed 50 Electrisave smart meters at Broughton Atterbury.

Initial results indicate that the smart meters have helped residents cut between 13 - 15 per cent off their electricity bills, whilst reducing their carbon dioxide emissions by 233kg per year.

That equates to a saving of between GBP60 - GBP80 per household per year.

Using a small display screen, placed anywhere in a house the new simple devices show residents at any point in time how much electricity they are using and how much it is costing in pence per hour.

It can also tell you how much harmful CO2 you are emitting.

If all 229 households at Broughton had Electrisave meters installed then a saving of 53,348kg of carbon dioxide emissions would be made each year - enough to send one person on an around the world flight ten times.

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