Greenleaf Road Retrofit Case Study

Aston Group and Waltham Forest Council's first retrofit property.
Waltham Forest Council has been taking steps to address the climate emergency for years. To meet a net zero target by 2030, future initiatives must go further and use innovative technologies.
Homes are the biggest carbon emissions contributor, so retrofitting a traditional Victorian terrace shows residents the changes they can make to their homes to save energy, money and reduce their carbon footprint.
Waltham Forest Borough Council appointed long-standing partners Aston Group to manage the retrofit of a council owned property, into its first-ever eco show home. 47 Greenleaf Road as a typical Victorian terrace built in 1902 with a poor energy performance. A report published by Waltham Forest Council in 2019 highlighted that 51% of the borough’s carbon emissions were generated by residential homes. The same report also revealed that 14.6% of homes in the area were fuel poor households. New-build properties with energy-efficient technology are only part of the solution. With 70% of Waltham Forest’s 107,216 homes pre-dating 1944, it’s vital to find a way to reduce carbon emissions from existing homes, through retrofitting. The annual heat demand from this home is estimated to fall from 17,219kWh to 7,995kWh per year, while the EPC banding will rise to from E to A.

[@neilbrandon]

Thanks for sharing this. You have done a great job here.

[@stubelton]

Great project, very well done 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@astongroup4911]

Thanks Stuart, couldn't have done it without you!

[@Orangebull]

This looks great, What was the cost of these retrofit measures please?

[@astongroup4911]

Hi there, here are all the costs for the deep retrofit the property astongroup.co.uk/our-work/47-greenleaf-road-retrofit-home

[@Tenagor]

Your voice over attributes a "better living environment" to the smart air bricks. Aren't they instead a way of actively managing the sub-floor humidity level with least energy loss? Does this matter once you've encapsulated the timbers in insulation sprayfoam?

[@Tenagor]

What is local planning policy on external wall mounted heat pumps - have these been given a blanket exemption or is planning consent required?

[@astongroup4911]

We had to carefully consider the location of the heat pump in the garden for many reasons. We describe this in the white paper that is on the case study page on our website astongroup.co.uk/our-work/47-greenleaf-road-retrofit-home I hope this helps. Thanks

[@neilbrandon]

Did you consider using a SunAmp to simply provide the hot water, then intelligently automated controlled Infrared panels?

[@astongroup4911]

We didn't consider SunAmp, if you would like to provide more detail please email [e-mail]. Thanks

[@Tenagor]

What concerns do you still have regarding risk of condensation on the inside of the facade with IWI? Did you ventilate?

[@astongroup4911]

Hi Martin, yes we did include a mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR) system

[@univ01883]

​@@astongroup4911I think he's referring to the risk of interstitial condensation between the interior brick and the IWI. I'm still trying to find an answer to this risk