Clever Homes Video

The CLEVER Homes Project

The CLEVER Homes scheme (Comfortable Living Environment & Energy Reducing Homes), delivered by the by the Northern Ireland Energy Agency and Sustainable Energy Ireland is a partnership scheme which both improves the health and quality of life for households. Using solar ventilation technology, its aim is to enhance air quality, tackle condensation and reduce energy consumption and reduce fuel bills.

The project brings renewable technology to sections of the population which otherwise would be unable to afford it, having a positive effect on some of the least well off within the community. It is primarily funded by the European Union and a range of other funding partners.

CLEVER Homes has helped to raise awareness of the benefits of renewable technologies in both the public and private sector. The project won the UK Housing Award for Excellence in Delivering Efficiency in November 2006 and has been submitted for two further awards.

The Scheme

To date over 60 Sunwarm Tile systems and 60 Sunwarms have been installed in the CLEVER Homes energy efficiency scheme in order to improve indoor air quality and potentially reduce energy demands. Participants were selected with a focus on fuel poor households (making up 78% of the participants) and the remaining 22% from the ‘able-to-pay’ sector (homeowners that were not classed as fuel poor).These were identified by advertisements in regional newspapers (those who were able to pay) and fuel poor households identified through NHE Direct Offices and housing associations. Fuel poor participants from the owner-occupied and private-rented sectors were identified by inviting organisations involved in existing health and energy-focused schemes to nominate potential households.

A number of factors relating to loft space and accessibility, roof aspect (a south facing roof is needed for both systems to work effectively), number of asthma suffers or people with other respiratory illnesses in the household and severity of condensation and mould were also taken into consideration before the project was given the go ahead.

Monitoring

A percentage of the households in Northern Ireland were monitored before and after installation of the units for changes in; a final questionnaire was also sent to the ventilation systems have been effective in reducing mould growth, condensation and damp for the majority of households, as evidenced by the results of the health surveys.

The monitoring undertaken has demonstrated the benefits of solar ventilation systems in terms of improving air quality, decreasing damp, condensation and mould growth and improving the health and wellbeing of occupants.

Results

Pollutants

Air quality was found to have improved in all of the monitored homes with significant reductions is indoor air pollutants such as benzene and formaldehyde. The formaldehyde levels within the properties went from being above World Health Organisation guidelines pre-installation to below safe levels post-installation.

Temperature and relative humidity

Monitoring of the homes showed that homes maintained indoor temperatures at or above the 16°C temperature recommended by health guidelines, both before and after installation. However, more households were happy with the temperature of their homes post-installation.

Health

Results from the health surveys suggest that the ventilation systems have led to improved mental and physical health of participants and their children with a significant reduction in householders suffering from asthma, asthma attacks and wheezing or whistling in the chest. There was also a significant reduction in visits to the doctor by participants and their children following installation of the systems.