What Sustainable Residences Mean to Residence Managers A Providers' Perspective

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What Sustainable Residences Mean to Residence
Managers - A Providers' Perspective

• Martin Blakey
• Chief Executive
• Unipol Student Homes

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Introduction

• Not any expert but want to do our bit
• About 2 years ago brain stormed abut what
  students wanted after
• always on broadband internet
• en suite facilities
• 24 hour services and security
• sustainability

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Student Attitudes
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Student Attitudes

• In January 2007 UCAS released information from
  the Future Leaders Survey 2006-2007 (54,240 young
  people aged 17-21) which revealed that
  sustainability should be built into all
  University courses dealing with
• architecture - 74
• social studies 64
• education 63
• engineering 61

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The Challenge

• Unipol houses 2,500 students in very variable
  stock
• smaller houses
• small to large complexes
• constructed between 1840-2004.
• There are two challenges
• i) how can we make our existing stock more
  sustainable?
• ii) what can we take into account in the future
  in terms of design?

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The Challenge

• As a housing provider we have two focuses
• the tenants - how they behave and use a building
  efficiently
• the building itself - what we can do as a
  supplier
• there is clearly an operational tension between
  these two focuses which manifests itself in the
  question
• should we focus on education and persuasion to
  improve sustainability or should we compel?

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The Challenge

• Put briefly
• should we persuade our tenants to use energy more
  responsibly or should we turn down the heating?

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What is Special About Residential Developments

• Residential accommodation is special
• It is view by many of its occupants as "home"
  (and it certainly should be)
• Good property management increases a sense of
  "ownership"
• Ownership is increased by providing good quality
  and relevant information and also providing an
  element of freedom for tenants
• Only aspects of an "estates strategy" approach,
  will be relevant to residential accommodation and
  experience has shown that unwelcome compulsion
  (in say turning down heating) will be resisted
  (by buying small convector heaters and being
  dissatisfied by the heating provided)

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The Unipol Approach - The Tenants

• Unipol has always believed that tenants
• should pay for the energy they use
• be given proper information about energy costs
  and consumption
• This stems from our links in the mid 1990's with
  NSBO based in the Scandinavian countries who
  discovered that rents inclusive of energy were
  perceived as "free energy" by students and
  consumption was twice as high
• Inclusive rents (aside from pushing up the
  headline rent level) give the impression that
  energy is free - the worst possible start to a
  young student who, one day, will find this is not
  true
• Once again, HEIs have an important pathfinder
  role to play in raising energy awareness with
  their tenants so that they are better prepared
  for lie in the future

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The Unipol Approach - The Tenants

• Energy billing and awareness is achieved
• i) in off street properties tenants take on the
  utility bills directly with suppliers (and choose
  who they want to supply them)
• ii) in larger developments they pay an adjustable
  energy supplement

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The Unipol Approach - The TenantsAdjustable
Energy Supplements

• A student pays a fixed supplement, currently
  either 5 or 6 a week (with their rent) to cover
  the energy used in their flat. This is set at the
  upper end of likely energy consumption
• Any additional costs over the supplement, at the
  end of the year, are deducted from the deposit
  (effectively billed on to the student) and any
  surplus is repaid
• This provides an incentive, and disincentive, for
  careful energy usage

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The Unipol Approach - The TenantsAdjustable
Energy Supplements

• In order to make this work it is necessary to
  have
• tenant education about how the system works
• monitorable energy usage per flat (probably the
  smallest practical unit of consumption
  monitorable, reflected in the contractual terms)
• provide ongoing information to tenants about how
  much energy they are using in terms of their
  supplement
• provide assistance and peer help to reduce excess
  consumption.
• This ongoing information is very important. After
  the first readings in early December energy usage
  almost always drops

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The Unipol Approach - The TenantsAdjustable
Energy Supplements

• This system has been in use since 1992
• Our current energy supplement is 5.00-6.00
  (depending on the building) compared with
  8.00-10.00 energy usage of larger suppliers.
  Our average cost is 4.50 per person per week
  over 43 weeks.
• It is possible, in newer and fully insulated
  homes to achieve 3.50 a week, and many of our
  longer term family tenants do.

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The Unipol Approach - The Tenants

• Recycling now at all main sites but only limited
  use of in kitchen recycling

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The Unipol Approach - The Building

• The tenant system has meant that we have always
  fitted the infrastructure to measuring energy
  within each flat wherever possible
• Generally, we have gas powered wet systems as the
  most efficient - normally localised Combi boiler
  systems with no separate hot water system
• Locally controllable heating (part of increasing
  ownership) with local thermostats and TRVs on
  radiators or individual timers and thermostats on
  electric panel heaters
• Again simple instructions for use are important
  as is "frost-setting" information or turning off
  room heating when tenants leave
• At Christmas and when tenants hand their keys in
  a check is made to turn off the room heating

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The Unipol Approach - The Building

• Internal corridors are generally unheated unless
  a cold spot exists
• Communal areas (except lounges and foyers) are
  normally unheated, except in the coldest weather
  when units are activated

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The Unipol Approach - The Building

• We are simply trying to do our best
• Low energy fridge/freezers
• shift to low energy lighting but ensuring it is
  appropriate and attractive
• e.g. replacement of 50w halogen GU10 spotlights
  with 9w compact fluorescents and, within a year
  4w LED bulbs (presently only 2.2w available)
• replacement of non listed and non conservation
  area windows (normally box sashes) in smaller
  houses with double glazing
• improving loft insulation and attic insulation in
  line with the decent homes standards
• dry lining external walls in smaller off street
  properties
• shift to condensing boilers (over the next three
  years)
• use of dual flush cisterns in smaller properties
  (already present in complexes)

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The Unipol Approach - The Building

• Future initiatives
• use of solar power to raised base temperature of
  central hot water systems (stored solar heated
  water for Combi systems)
• extension of recycling at larger complexes
• giving students a sustainable choice in property
  allocation with additional support in specialised
  recycling and lifestyle areas

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The Unipol Approach - Future BuildingsBuro
Happold Survey
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The Unipol Approach - Future BuildingsBuro
Happold Survey
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The Unipol Approach - Future Buildings

• Natural passive ventilation
• Roof glazing to increase natural light
• Larger room windows

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The Unipol Approach - Future Buildings

• Water saving showers ? (tenant reaction)
• Water saving taps (probably more acceptable) -
  tap aerators

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The Unipol Approach - Future Buildings

• Solar hot water collectors
• Grey water harvesting systems (may build this in
  to our next 45 small property refurbishments)

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The Unipol Approach - Future Buildings

• Photovoltaic wall as part of the wall finish

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The Unipol Approach - Future Buildings

• Use of sustainable building materials
• recycling where possible (not simply building new
  buildings)

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The Unipol Approach - Future Buildings
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The Unipol Approach - Future Buildings

• Use of sustainable building materials
• use of newspaper based insulation
• use of organic insulators - sheeps' wool, hemp
  and straw
• slightly suspicious of wind turbines and green
  roofs
• heat recovery in ventilation systems may be too
  expensive

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Legislation

• The introduction of Energy Performance
  Certificates for tenant use in mid 2008
• will also raise awareness both amongst tenants
  and ourselves as a supplier

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Conclusion

• We are doing what we can but change must be
• structured
• achievable
• affordable
• to
• raise awareness and reward good energy usage
  giving our tenants a stake in any savings they
  make.
• Not trying to be carbon neutral (although we may
  do a show house)
• Grant aid is difficult to come by so our
  improvements must stack economically as part of
  our ongoing investment in the stock

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Conclusion

• The biggest changes can come from simple things
• low energy light
• tenant awareness
• more controllable heating systems
• better insulation
• recycling.