EU Project Experience

Substantial experience

RED WOLF (Rethink Electricity Distribution Without Load Following)

• The RED WoLF project, funded by the EU programme Interreg North-West Europe (NWE), brings together 14 Partner Institutions from UK (5), France (4), Ireland (3), Belgium (1) and Germany (1). Universities, housing associations, local authorities as well as training and other non-profit organisations across North-West Europe aim to tackle housing emissions, responsible for approximately 300 million tonnes of CO2/year.
• The RED Wolf project will increase renewables' usage and reduce carbon emissions for homes with photovoltaic solar panels that do not have gas. CHA homes will provide one of 32 pilot homes in Ireland, UK and France. As part of this, CHA and Partners will fit houses with hybrid storage systems merging batteries and storage heaters. The heaters will provide heat on demand and the batteries will store output from the solar panels as well as low-carbon energy (wind/solar) drawn from the national grid at times of low demand using new 'smart' technology through which the houses hybrid storage systems will be able to communicate with the grid. This will remove the mismatch between generation and usage.
• The total budget received from Interreg North-West Europe (2014-2020) is €3.64 million of European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The total project budget is €6.06 million.

E-Lighthouse Project (Energy Saving Lighthouse Cities in the NPA region)

• The E-lighthouse Project ran from 2016 to 2019.
• It supported actions that increase energy efficiency in buildings and the uptake of renewable energy, thus decreasing carbon dioxide emissions. Though not a full partner, CHA was involved this project through NCE insulation and provided Pilot Projects for two innovative energy models, a Sustainable Energy Community (SEC) and a Domestic Energy Management System (DEMS).

RENEASE Project - (Renewable Energy Against Social Exclusion)

• This Project ran from May 2002 to March 2003. The aim of the Project was to develop a model for design of sustainable social housing, creating a convergence between social and environmental objectives. This has been achieved.
• The Pilot Project has clearly demonstrated to a large constituency that added value could be gained from incorporating sustainable energy considerations into social housing development strategies.

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EU Funding Goals

CHA has a stock of 21 existing family homes and is buying a further 8. We have a plan to retrofit all these homes to NZEB standard.

We also have plans for new build communities, which we are develpoing a solar energy communities.

We are interested in developing affordable green building for urban and rural communities, as well as the development of explicable models for solar energy communities that can be widely replicated.

We support the New European Bauhaus and the use of natural and recycled renewable materials and nature based processes in housing. We aim at increasing tenant and community engagement, and self-management and self-building, and are enthusiastic about EU networking for innovation.

We are passionate about contributing to solve both the housing and energy poverty challenges as well as de-carbonizing the built environment and empowering tenants and communities.

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Strenghts

Our strenghts are:

• experience
• skills in project development
• project management
• housing
• building
• circular economy
• energy efficiency
• renewable energy