Pilot Case 2: Cardiff (UK)

Cardiff Council has selected a 1950’s residential semi-detached property for the Cardiff pilot site. The property is a Council owned, system built, concrete cast insitu construction, locally known as ‘Wimpey no-fines concrete’.

A significant proportion of residential housing in the UK is of cavity wall construction and these properties can be retro-fitted to improve their thermal value efficiency by installing cavity wall insulation. Wimpey no-fines construction type however consists of a solid concrete external wall, and therefore the most appropriate retro-fit method to improve property thermal efficiency in a predominantly cool, wet north European climate, is external cladding. The selected property also has a south facing end gable which could potentially accommodate energy generating technology.

The properties are a D rated energy performance (Energy Performance Certificate) and are gas central heated. There is currently no renewable energy provision. The property has Council tenants in both of the semi-detached houses who are willing to be involved in the Plug n Harvest project. One property has a retired couple as tenants and the second a large family. This is representative of social housing tenancies in the UK.

Wimpey no-fines residential properties were built in the UK primarily for social housing between the 1930’s and 1970’s and there are over 300,000 of this property type in the UK. In Wales, the Welsh Government provides funding (ARBED) for local authority areas to retrofit housing energy efficiency schemes. These schemes consist of a variety of energy efficiency measures which may include external wall insulation. Welsh Government are being consulted as an external stakeholder to the Plug n Harvest project to assess whether the project can contribute to future ARBED retro-fit specifications in Wales.