Never has energy efficiency been such a priority for social housing providers than right now.
The Government’s Clean Growth Strategy has announced a new target to get all housing up to Energy Performance Certificate Band C, and help make people’s lives better, by 2030.
While it’s widely acknowledged social housing providers have made great strides to improve their efficiency outputs, there’s still much work to be done.
According to David Weatherall, the Energy Saving Trust’s head of policy, there are lots of energy inefficient social homes out there, a situation that’s doing very little in helping protect social housing tenants from high energy bills.
At the same time, the trust also recognised that social housing providers’ budgets are currently constrained, however, many do have long-term asset management budgets to upgrade their properties.
This new government energy efficiency target is undoubtedly a big deal for the social housing sector right now and for the foreseeable future. And like most widespread challenges of this scale, it can’t be achieved by making one major change. It won’t be possible to make it happen overnight either.
Meeting this new target will see social housing providers being expected to review each and every element of their energy consumption, on a strategic and practical level. And if they haven’t already done so, it’ll no doubt involve them revisiting their communal laundry appliances.
Laundry appliances may be a smaller cog in the overall system, but still play an integral part in:
- Reducing energy consumption and reducing overall CO2’s;
- Making sure residents have affordable access to services and don’t suffer high energy bills.
- Helping meet BREEAM performance scoring in new-build schemes.
Communal laundry appliances and energy usage
Most of today’s communal washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers are all geared up towards energy efficiency. And the technology, analysis and design of many of these systems can help reduce energy consumption considerably.
Technology – look out for models that feature energy efficient programmes where washes are faster and shorter, bringing the overall cost per use down. Many machines also provide technology that’s specifically geared towards reducing water and energy consumption.
Analysis – your commercial laundry appliance supplier can help you assess if your machines are running as efficiently as possible and make recommendations regarding how to improve efficiency and quality, whilst reduce energy and water consumption.
Design – look out for features, such as larger drums, easy loading and simple programmes. They are all key design facets that can help you streamline your laundry processes and reduce unnecessary washes. WTL (water technology listed) approved appliances and energy efficiency marks.
Social housing providers have been tasked by the Government with a major challenge, a challenge that requires investigating all facets of energy usage – communal washing and drying appliances included, if Government targets are to be met.
To find out more? Or for a FREE energy efficiency survey………………Contact us today on 0800 009 6683 or get in touch through our online contact page at www.clm-services.co.uk