"EasyPay" Prepayment Unit
Hydraulic Interface Unit
Point of Sale Unit
Consort Road Estate
Contract Value: £425,000
Timescale:
Apr 06 - Oct 06
Client: Presentation Housing
Impressed with Vital Energi’s expertise in delivering sustainable energy solutions in new housing developments, Hi-Life Construction appointed the company to work on a residential scheme in South London for Presentation Housing Association.
"Consort Road combines our commitment to great urban design with a high level of sustainability. We are delighted to win recognition for this terrific scheme."
Mohni Gujral, Chief Executive. Presentation Housing
The development of 49 dwellings consists of partly owned and rented social housing. The project involved the design, installation and commissioning of a CHP energy centre and the installation of a heat distribution system using pre-insulated underground pipe work. Vital Energi also managed the installation of the electrical distribution network to the properties and the cold water distribution works. As part of the new scheme, residents benefit from a continuous heat and hot water supply and make use of 'Vital Aqua Varm’ hydraulic interface units, which give additional heat control. Each property is fitted with a HIU providing residents with domestic hot water generated instantaneously on demand via a plate heat exchanger. It works as the heat exchanger interface point between the community heating network and the internal heating/domestic hot water systems. Within the HIU, the control components serving the hot water and central heating systems gives increased control over when and how much hot water can be used. The units are fitted with heat and water meters, enabling dwellings to be individually metered and billed for their energy consumption.
The meters are read using a Fixed Radio Network system allowing the data to be automatically received by Vital Energi’s secure billing server once every 12 hours. Reading frequency can be increased to allow for consumption profiling. The shared ownership properties on Consort Road pay for their water, electricity and heat through Vbill - a unique billing system operated by Vital Energi. Each resident receives a bill based on their quarterly consumption as they would if they were connected to one of the national utilities companies.
The Benefits:
- CO2 reductions of 44% against standard new build
- Financial savings due to increased efficiency
- Safe, reliable and instantly available heating and hot water
- Lower heating bills and reduced maintenance costs
The Consort Road development has received national recognition for its design with recent National Awards announcements. It won The Mail on Sunday British Homes Awards ‘Affordable Housing Development of the Year 2008’ award and was also shortlisted for the RIBA Architectural Awards 2008’.
Conclusion
The remaining properties on Consort Road benefit from a pre-payment metering solution. Based on smart card technology, the ‘EasyPay’ Pre-Payment Unit allows residents to budget their energy expenditure by charging a smart card at their local newsagents and transferring this to a Domestic Credit Meter (DCM) connected to the HIU. The ‘EasyPay’ system can help to reduce bad debt, because once any credit and emergency credit has been exhausted then an additional motorized valve on the HIU will shut off the primary heat supply. This type of technology also benefits residents by allowing them to save up heat units during summer months, helping to spread the cost of their fuel bills and manage their payments more effectively.
