13/12/22

The installation of an innovative insulation system that aims to improve the thermal efficiency of buildings is reaching completion in the east of the city.

The ‘Plug-N-Harvest' project aims to design, develop and demonstrate a new modular, plug-n-play external cladding system that is able to both provide insulation and renewable energy production to both residential and non-residential buildings.

Having received an award as part of a European-wide consortium under the EU's Horizon 2020 Programme, the Council is piloting the plug-n-play cladding system on two council homes in Llanrumney.

The scheme supports the Council's One Planet Cardiff strategy which sets out ambitious plans, including improving buildings' energy efficiency, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 in response to the climate emergency.

The project also required the designers to consider the sustainability and recyclability of materials used and so the cladding system uses mineral wool insulation in an aluminium frame, both of which can be easily reused/recycled with solar panels attached directly to the insulated panels. This is attached to the building and has been installed on the south-facing end gable of two Council semi-detached homes. The other walls of the building have had traditional external wall insulation installed, demonstrating how the Plug-n-Harvest cladding system can be integrated with a traditional external wall insulation retro-fit.

Tenants living in the homes will benefit from improved insulation, more comfortable indoor temperatures and potentially reduced heating costs, as well as an amount of free solar PV-generated energy.

Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Cllr Lynda Thorne, said: "We are delivering new council homes across the city, homes for the future that are sustainable and energy efficient. But if we are to achieve our One Planet Cardiff vision, it's essential to ensure that our existing housing stock becomes more energy efficient by carrying out improvements and retrofit works such as this new cladding system to help to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. This also makes homes more comfortable for our tenants and helps to reduce fuel poverty."

Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Cllr Caro Wild, said: "Emissions from domestic properties account for 28 per cent of the whole city's emissions, which is why decarbonising our estate is going to be a key element of our One Planet Cardiff plans to be a carbon neutral council by 2030.

"We've already started an extensive retrofit programme - £1.3 million was invested earlier this year in energy efficiency measures at eleven of our schools for example. We've also agreed that from 2024 all new council buildings will be designed to net zero standards, and we'll bringing forward a new carbon reduction plan that will cut emissions even further than the currently agreed target of reducing emissions from our buildings by 60%."

View a timelapse video of the system being installed here https://youtu.be/W58LjSQUYdQ