News Archive
Drum Housing Association Scoops Prestigious 'Green' National Housing Award
Thursday 24 May - Drum Housing Association, who have been described by award judges as a ' hotbed of innovation', is celebrating the news that it has scooped a prestigious national housing award.
Announced today at a special awards ceremony in Central London, Drum has fought off tough competition from over 100 entries to win the Housing Corporation Gold Award in the Evironmental Sustainability category.
Now in its second year, the Corporation's popular competition for housing associations has two new themes: Empowering Communities and Environmental Sustainability. Each winning association will receive a prize of 50,000 to help fund their involvement in a year long programme of knowledge dissemination.
The award is in recognition for Drum's sustainability strategy that has helped shrink their carbon footprint by 178 tonnes a year significantly reducing the environmental impact of its existing and new homes.
Drum, part of the Radian Group, manages 4,450 homes in East Hampshire, Portsmouth and West Sussex, notched up a world first by using a solar/ambient heating system in The Evergreens scheme in Whitehill. It was also first to use domestic ground source heat pumps in Hampshire, in homes in the Kingsley area.
The association has also improved central heating and insulation in 95% of its existing homes during the past ten years, targetting the most polluting homes where solid fuel systems are replaced with renewables in some cases.
Drum is developing methods of reducing carbon emissions in existing housing with the Energy Saving Trust through one of a long list of partnerships it has established to deliver its sustainability strategy.
Paul Ciniglio, Drum's Sustainability and Innovation Manager said: "We are particularly pleased to have been involved with Generation Homes Partnership project. We have been able to reduce household carbon dioxide emissions from 10 tonnes to 2.5 tonnes per year through the installation of a package of renewables and other energy efficiency measures in 6 homes. Not only is this good for the environment, it will also dramatically cut residents running costs."
Sir Duncan Michael, Chairman of the judging panel said: "Congratulations to Drum Housing Association in securing this prestigious national award for its environmental work. Drum's fantastic and forward thinking work in improving sustainability really impressed the judges and has made it a worthy winner."
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Notes to editors:
A full list of winners and finalists of Gold 2007 are as follows:
Environment:
Winners- Drum Housing Association
- Greenoak Housing Association
- Places for People Housing Group
Finalists
- Gallions Housing Association
- Coastline Housing Ltd
- Flagship Housing Group Limited
Communities:
Winners- London & Quadrant with Metropolitan Housing Trust
- Poplar HARCA
- Willow Park Housing Trust
- Endeavour Housing Association
- Look Ahead Housing and Care
- Trent & Dove Housing
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The Judging panel is as follows:
Chair of judges
- Sir Duncan Michael, Housing Corporation Board
- Lord Richard Best, President of Local Government Association
- David Orr, National Housing Federation
- Roy Irwin, Audit Commission
- Professor David Strong, Building Research Establishment
- Shaukat Moledina, Deputy Chairman, Housing Corporation
- Donald Hoodless, Housing Corporation Board
- Julie Fawcett, Housing Corporation Board
- Empowering communities - Rona Nicholson
- Environmental Sustainability - Andrew Eagles
- Empowering communities - Helen Cope and Patrick Harkness
- Environmental Sustainability - Chris Watts and Alan Pithers
