sustainability

We all need to do our bit to help the environment. On this page we offer some simple ways that you can save energy and money as well as explaining how Homes for Haringey are working to improve the environment.

• Top tips to help save energy and money
• Warmer and greener homes for council tenants
• Decent, energy efficient homes for all
• Working more efficiently

Top tips to help save energy and money

1. Fit energy efficient light bulbs.
2. Don’t overfill your kettle. Only boil as much water as you need.
3. Turn your heating down. By reducing your heating by one degree, you could save as much as 10% off your heating bill.
4. Turn appliances off, such as televisions and satellite receivers, instead of leaving them on standby.
5. Walk or cycle instead of driving short distances.

Find out more about how you can help the environment by recycling.

How we help make Haringey a cleaner and greener place to live

• Heating: The heating and hot water system is the biggest source of energy use in the home. Over the last 5 years we replaced 4,000 ageing boilers with new energy efficient condensing boilers and upgraded central heating systems with programmable controls.
• Lighting: In most communal areas such as hallways and stairwells, timers or photocells turn lights on when it gets dark and off when it gets light so we use electricity only when it's needed. When we get a home ready for a new tenant, we install energy-saving light bulbs. these last up to 10 times longer than ordinary bulbs.
• Water: Our Decent Homes programme gives us a good opportunity to address water conservation. We're installing double flush toilets and water efficient taps with reduced flow. We also encourage residents to put a water 'hippo' in their toilet cistern to reduce the amount of water used.
• Insulation: Around one third of the heat lost in a home is through walls. Cavity wall insulation is a cost effective way of reducing this heat loss. Most homes with cavity walls have been insulated. We're now looking at cost effective ways of insulating properties with solid walls. Good loft insulation can reduce the cost of heating a home by about a quarter. When we replace a roof on a building, we install loft insulation 300mm thick - 30mm thicker than specified by current building regulations. Double glazing cuts heat loss through windows by half so we're installing double-glazed windows as part of our Decent Homes programme. On 15 estates we've installed special devices on street lamps which detect faults such as the lamp staying on during the day. When this happens, we fix it quickly so electricity isn't wasted.

Recycling in our workplaces

We have over 700 staff working all over the borough.

• At our depots we collect rain water from the roofs to be used by our plasterers.
• We send timber shavings from our workshops to a local stable where it is used as bedding for horses.
• We also recycle glass, cardboard, paper, clean timber and printer cartridges - and all our leaflets and magazines are printed on recycled paper.

Download a copy of our Environmental Sustainability Strategy

For more information contact us:

Email: communications@homesforharingey.org
Tel: 020 8489 1582