Background
Cranmore is a local authority housing estate located within Sligo town. Constructed in phases between the early 1970s and mid-1980s, it suffered social and economic decline through the 1990s. As a result, a regeneration process was initiated by Sligo County Council in 2007 supported by central Government departments.
This process resulted in the development of a masterplan in 2016 that had three main aims, namely, to regenerate the area through economic development, social development, and physical intervention. Within the physical plan for the regeneration of Cranmore a focus was placed on building and environmental energy upgrades to ageing housing stock.
These works were considered important for two main reasons: first, to address the level of dereliction of the housing stock; and second, to address fuel poverty being felt by residents due to the rising costs of burning fossil fuels and the impact this was having on health and well-being within the community.
Solution
Following publication of the masterplan in 2016, work began to assess the building fabric of each individual house and propose a suite of works that was tailored to improve energy performance. These works included insulating walls and attics, improvements in ventilation and airtightness, and the introduction of air to water heat pumps.
Benefits of Solution
Environmental
It has been estimated that the works will result in a one-tonne reduction in carbon emissions per house per year.
Economic
The upgrade is expected to provide savings of 40-50% to residents on current energy costs.
Social
Throughout the development of the masterplan for Cranmore, and in particular as works progress to implement improvements in the housing stock, community consultation has been extensive. This has resulted in positive community engagement and support for the regeneration project across all strands of the masterplan in relation to the implementation of social, economic and physical projects, schemes and services