Richmond Housing Partnership (RHP) is making waves with a number of ‘green’ initiatives to ensure sustainability in its developments. The Teddington based housing association is proud to announce that 99% of all site waste from its recent development at Park Road, Teddington, was recycled!
According to the UK Environment Agency, approximately 90 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste is generated every year and construction and demolition is responsible for creating 21% of the hazardous waste in the UK. RHP is determined that figures like these can become a thing of the past. Only 1% of some plastics were sent to landfill from the site, which created six new properties.
Environmental sustainability is of great importance to RHP. The forward thinking organisation received a Green Apple Award in November 2011 for its new office building, which achieved a BREEAM rating of ‘excellent’ and reduces CO2 emissions to at least 20% below the calculated baseline by the use of renewable technologies, including Photo Voltaic panels on the roof of the building which provide energy without disturbing the neighbours.
RHP is also sensitive to the needs of its customers when developing new facilities that help the environment. When the HA received requests from customers to provide secure bike storage on estates, they immediately investigated the availability of funding to make this happen. With the help of a grant in partnership with LBRuT Council, eight secure and visually pleasing bike racks were unveiled in December 2011.
RHP also specified the use of 90mm Rock Wool and GRP resin to externally insulate 12 units at Longford House, Hampton, giving greater thermal comfort to residents. RHP’s Asset Services team are currently investigating the use of this system for other estates and properties, as well as grants available for fuel switching, roof insulation and the use of ‘A’ rated boilers, with a view to implementing a rebate scheme for each boiler used.
For more information on RHP, visit www.rhp.org.uk.
