Housing Sustainability
At Guinness we believe we have an important role to play in the transition to low-carbon, sustainable housing. We are working continuously to increase the environmental standards of our properties and improve our service to customers. Here’s a snapshot of our current performance and work:
- The average SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure) of Guinness-managed properties is 72.
- Renewable and low carbon systems installed on Guinness properties.
We are helping our customers save energy and money by:
- Insulating cavity walls and loft insulation;
- Running energy advice sessions;
- Providing materials and energy saving products.
- We are improving the energy efficiency of our homes in line with the government’s targets, using a range of innovative insulation and heating measures.
- We have provided energy training to staff, so that they can offer advice and support to customers.
Key Successes
We have achieved a lot over the last year, with the following as particular highlights:
- Underfloor insulation installs
- Guinness has been piloting a robot technology to insulate suspended timber floors while minimising disruption. This is one of a number of innovative measures being explored, to help improve energy performance across the stock.
- Smart Energy engagement programme
- This SEGB (Smart Energy GB) funded project provided energy advice to more than 7,500 customers, via events, drop-in sessions and printed materials.
- New collaborations
- Guinness has forged new partnerships with local energy charities across the country, for the delivery of energy efficiency projects, and to increase access to energy support and advice for customers. One of them is Connect for Help, an energy advice organisation targeted towards households that are already in, or at risk of, fuel poverty.
- Retrofit measures
- Approximately 900 insulation measures were fitted in over 800 properties in 2020/21.
- Over £600,000 funding was attracted for these works. They are expected to benefit customers by approximately £1.9 million in lifetime bill savings.
Future plans
- Guinness is in the process of developing a new Sustainability Strategy, to establish a trajectory towards Net Zero Carbon by 2050.
- Measures for Hard to Treat homes are being investigated. These include solid wall insulation, low carbon heating and smart thermostat technology.