Three housing projects in the north and north-east are to share more than £470,000 to improve energy efficiency. This grant will help developpers and housing associations purchase the latest eco-friendly building materials like double glazing and energy efficient wall insulation.

The schemes at Skye and Raasay, Westray in Orkney and Macduff are among winners of the Scottish Government’s first Energy Efficiency Design Awards to help cut bills of people living in fuel poverty and reduce emissions.

Lochalsh and Skye Housing Association will receive £163,315 for a project covering 14 semi-detached timber-framed bungalows in Skye and Raasay. The properties are in extremely exposed areas with no gas and many of the tenants are in fuel poverty.

The housing association will install insulated membranes and internal insulating plasterboard, upgrade loft insulation and fit double glazing and draughtproofing.

It also plans to instal new air-source heat pumps and distribution systems.
The Westray Development Trust has been awarded £140,241 for a project covering nine types of properties on the island.

The residents are all owner-occupiers who are in fuel poverty.
The trust plans to insulate lofts and hot water cylinders and instal draught-proofing and ground-source heat pumps. External walls will also be treated with a new type of insulating paint. Double glazing windows will also be fitted to the homes in order to improve their insulation.

At the start of Energy Saving Week, it was also announced that two other projects – in Kirkcaldy and Fife – would share a further £203,000 as part of the scheme.

Finance Secretary John Swinney said: “We all need to take steps to cut the energy we use. With the urgent need to reduce emissions and high fuel prices, there has never been a greater need to improve the energy efficiency of our homes. Around a quarter of Scotland’s properties, particularly older buildings are classed as hard to treat and the Energy Efficiency Design Awards encourage innovation in designing energy-saving solutions for existing homes.”

“The winning projects have all demonstrated a unique approach to make the biggest impact on bills and emissions, taking into account the type and location of the building. They have found ingenuious solutions using energy efficient materials like double glazing.”
 

Author:  Thomas Davies

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