Case study: Newlon Housing Trust

Newlon Housing residents and Global Action Plan

Newlon Housing Trust is a charitable housing association founded in Hackney that provides decent, affordable homes for local people. The key driver for this energy saving project was to aid people who are at risk of fuel poverty.

Background

The programme is run in association with Newlon Fusion. The Newlon housing community regeneration organisation provided residents with the advice and support to implement an energy saving scheme within their homes.

It highlighted the importance of reducing energy to not only save money but also reduce the environmental impact of the residents’ day to day lives.

Action

Newlon housing resident’s group of 30 participants spent 6 months working to reduce their individual energy bills. Actions taken included:

Personalised action plans for each resident to help reduce energy bills and lower the environmental impact of their day to day lives
Five workshops to discuss saving energy, share hints and tips on how to become more energy efficient and create a plan to move forward in the following month
Energy saving initiatives for the participants including shower timers, smart meters and radiator panels
A competition which resulted in prizes for the residents with the greatest commitment to the programme or biggest energy saving

I will continue to be an energy saver – saving the planet and money gives me a buzz. George Beckwith, a Tower Hamlets resident

Successes

All participants agreed that the project helped them change their habits to save energy. It was estimated on average that each resident reduced their emissions by up to 8%.

One particular resident from Tower Hamlets reduced her bill by 78kWh’s a month which equates to an enormous saving of £232 a year.

The efforts of just one resident, with the support of Global Action Plan, made a reduction of just less than half a tonne of carbon or 36,500 party balloons worth of carbon dioxide.