The Relish™ team were celebrating once again on friday 16 September when they picked up two more awards at the Constructing Excellence London and South East awards 2011.
Worthing Homes has long been an innovative leader in the built environment sector. These awards demonstrate not just their commitment to sustainability but more importantly show how well-managed refurbishment can improve the lives of their residents. I’m confident too that the open knowledge sharing approach will be beneficial to the whole social housing sector. Derek Rees, chief executive of the South East Centre for the Built Environment (SECBE), regional director for Constructing Excellence
Integration and collaborative working was the first of the two awards that the team won. This recognised the way Worthing Homes pulled together environmental surveying specialists Fairthorn Farrell Timms (FFT), construction company Rydon and the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) at the university of Brighton to deliver a sustainable refurbishment programme. The pilot scheme was designed, drawing on the specialisms of the partners, each partner agreeing to share the learning in an ‘open source’ arrangement, with the objective of promoting the Relish™ approach to as wide an audience as possible.
Sustainability was the key word for the second of Relish’s prizes, the Legacy award where nominees needed to demonstrate the application of the principles of sustainable construction and / or sustainable development that deliver a sustainable legacy. Relish™ reduces carbon emissions and fuel poverty, as well as providing a practical and affordable model for large scale refurbishment programmes. It is a proven approach for cost-efficient, low carbon refurbishments, in occupied homes. Alongside an engagement programme where residents work with their landlord to reduce energy use, households can save as much as 20% on their energy bills.