Newcastle upon Tyne City Council

Staying ahead of the energy efficiency curve

When the first combination boilers were developed they met with a fair degree of suspicion within the heat system industry. Indeed a number of myths were quickly established about their supposed tendency to cause radiator noise and the ability of condensing models to maintain optimum efficiency. But like any new technology it only takes a few farsighted people to champion its cause in the early days for that development to become established as a benchmark standard.

By example, Newcastle upon Tyne City Council was amongst the first to install Worcester Bosch’s pioneering combination boilers in the mid-eighties. When you consider that at the time local authorities in the north east were typically fitting more conventional heat systems such as back boilers, Newcastle upon Tyne City Council’s decision seems even more progressive.

Long term value

Mike Wright, Worcester Bosch technical specification manager for the north east says: “Newcastle has been committed to staying ahead of the technology curve for some time. The Council has not waited for the new building regulations, due to come into force in April 2005, to force the issue, and instead has been fitting energy efficiency appliances for the last two years. By the same token, it recognises the value of products that will give returns in the long term through less maintenance and to the tenant through reduced heating costs.” The Energy Savings Trust, estimate that £1 billion would have been saved from UK domestic heating bills this winter if simple energy efficient measures had been adopted.

Over the last three years Worcester Bosch has provided a minimum of 1500 boilers into a mix of traditional brick built houses including two to three bed terraced and semi-detached houses and two to three bed flats and maisonettes. The majority of these were the latest Greenstar 30HE Plus condensing combis, in addition to a number of conventional boilers, including the 24 and 28 CDi fitted in the councils multi-storey blocks in which condensing boilers cannot typically be fitted.

Arms length management

Currently, Newcastle upon Tyne City Council is in the process of upgrading the heat systems of all of its housing stock as part of an ongoing refurbishment programme in line with the Government’s commitment to bring all council housing up to the Decent Homes Standard by 2010; as set out in Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future.

To achieve this it has set up ‘Your Homes Newcastle’, an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) to take forward the housing management responsibility for the Council’s 34,000 homes. During the next five years Newcastle upon Tyne City Council hopes to see over a 100 boilers installed per week. Alan Cowgill, design engineer, City Design Department, Newcastle upon Tyne City Council says: “When we select manufacturers they have to meet a set criteria including: local engineer on call; design simplicity and a realistic warranty. Worcester Bosch has met and exceeded all of these easily. We anticipate strengthening our partnership over the next five years to provide even more boilers annually.”

The benefits of partnerships

As the leading provider of installer training in the UK Worcester Bosch is well positioned to offer formal partners the training support they need to ensure each heat system installation is both speedy yet thorough. Although it has provided Newcastle upon Tyne City Council with training support for some time, that commitment is set to step up a gear. Worcester Bosch is currently in the process of setting up a training program over the next 12 months for Newcastle’s two strategic installation partners, H Malone in Gosforth, and the public works department. The training will take place both at Worcester Bosch’s training Academy in Worcester, within the City Council Area and some on-site. The training combines theory and hands-on practice and focuses on overcoming the more common installation errors, the latest on energy efficiency, as well as maintenance and trouble-shooting.

Attention to detail

Point d of section L1 of the new building regulation states: ‘Sufficient information should be made available so that occupiers can operate and maintain the services in such a manner as to use no more energy than is reasonable in the circumstances’. This becomes especially important in communicating the benefits of new technology, which may be unfamiliar to some people especially the elderly. Worcester Bosch has made it a priority to ensure all formal partnerships benefit from the creation of a laminated one page ‘Easy Use Guide’ of purely pictorial instructions to meet the bespoke needs each local authority tenant demographic. These guides are developed by working closely with both the contractor and the tenant liaison staff - often through many versions - until the precise needs of each local authority is met. For Newcastle upon Tyne City Council this will especially mean providing elderly tenants, with a reference point in discussion with work department telephone staff, if they ever have the need to call for assistance.