Case Study:

PeabodyGroup

£219k*Saved by Peabody in long-term

remedial costs

26.4 tonnesCO2 saved using

Switchee p.a

THE PROBLEMIn 2014, Trust Thamesmead and Tilfen Land were taken over by the Peabody Group. This meant that much of Thamesmead’s housing, community investment activities and over 200 acres of developable land became owned by a single, well-resourced body for the first time in a generation. As Thamesmead’s main landowner, Peabody is driving the town’s regeneration.

Thamesmead contains approximately 4,500 affordable properties spread across a number of different developments. Since taking over management, Peabody has been continuously fighting to maintain Thamesmead’s properties - specifically spending well over a million pounds repairing and compensating residents for issues resulting from damp and mould. This state of affairs was unsustainable - both in terms of resident well being and the affect this was having on the Peabody budget. Their main priority, therefore, was to improve the building performance - both in terms of reduced maintenance as well as increased tenant approval.

Peabody wanted to solve Condensation, Damp and Mould (CD&M), reduce the costs associated with it and improve the lives of the residents who lived there.

THE SOLUTIONThe solution came in the form of a coordinated strategy to combat the incidence of CD&M in the Thamesmead estate. This well thought out plan looked to tackle the root causes of the problem, identify the order in which properties needed to be repaired and finally put measures in place to ensure that these conditions did not reappear in the future. Rickaby Thompson Associates were appointed to evaluate the effectiveness of this strategy in order to to further roll out the solutions developed for the properties.

As part of this strategy - 145 Switchee units were installed across a number of different homes to help identify properties at risk of CD&M as well as evaluate the effectiveness of other third-party retrofit interventions - thereby preventing the rolling out of unnecessary and potentially expensive third party technology. One of the most utilised features of the Switchee units in this installation was the ability to AB test a variety of solutions to the CD&M problem. This allowed multiple retrofit interventions to be installed simultaneously across a number of properties to test real-world effectiveness on the individual Thamesmead homes.

The Switchee trial enabled Peabody to identify and target properties requiring maintenance, leading to 40 interventions and saving Peabody £1000s in long-term remedial costs.”Nic Wedlake, Group Sustainability Manager, Peabody

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WHAT DOES SWITCHEE DO?

Switchee saves residents money on their heating bills through reduction in unnecessary boiler firing. The Switchee can work with no resident engagement, its sensors and learning algorithms work even if residents choose not to engage with the unit - reducing workload on tenants, and giving them the benefits of advanced technology without the usual complexity.

At the same time, it also provides landlords with remote insights into their property portfolio - improving living conditions, and reducing the cost associated with damp and mould. The landlord dashboard displays aggregated energy saving metrics, sensory readings and other cost reduction data analytics to help affordable housing providers optimise their inventory, and provide a better service to their tenants.

Utilising the latest in smart technologies, Switchee optimises the energy use in affordable housing through it’s arsenal of sensors.

WHO ARE SWITCHEE?Switchee is a socially conscious technology innovator, focused on finding elegant solutions to housing issues. Switchee develops and supplies connected devices and analytics for landlords and their residents. Our purpose is to empower landlords to create exceptional homes for their residents. We focus on delivering improved comfort, affordability, security and safety.

Switchee developed its first product, a smart thermostat, in 2015 – specifically designed as an enterprise solution for housing. Before product design had even started, the team conducted expert interviews with senior housing professionals from a range backgrounds, including Local Authorities, Housing Associations, contractors and consultants. The objective was to understand in detail the issues they faced in supporting the health and wellbeing of their residents and the maintenance of large, complex housing portfolios.

Since launch, Switchee has seen rapid adoption by some of the largest landlords in the U.K. with the first commercial rollouts in Peabody and Flagship starting in 2017. Since 2015, over 45 social landlords have ordered more than 5000 thermostats to be installed in housing association and local authority homes across the country.

HOW DOES SWITCHEE DO IT?The Switchee thermostat has been created to learn the optimal heating conditions for a property through sensor data from it’s current property, as well as surrounding properties, deducing the ideal heating profile and then executing that profile.

This approach ensures temperatures are set and controlled based upon the both the needs of the resident, prevailing weather conditions, and building occupancy - and are continuously optimised throughout the life of the Switchee.

Over the past two years, the product has been through extensive testing to get it ready for full-scale rollouts in affordable housing projects. Switchee is getting ever-smarter with OTT firmware updates that add additional functionality to the dashboards, and improvements to the energy efficiency algorithms.

www.switchee.co

Another feature used extensively was the reporting dashboard - in order to identify where the worst affected properties were located, and help identify which intervention should be deployed. This was done through monitoring of temperature, humidity and airflow through the properties over a number of weeks. After a solution was installed, further testing was conducted to measure the effectiveness of the intervention. Switchee devices, for example, were installed alongside 40 smart ventilation systems to verify their effect on the Thamesmead properties, and help understand which properties in the rest of the development would best benefit from them.

THE RESULTSThe Switchees installed in the Thamesmead development have helped Peabody in a number of core areas - helping ensure that the residents are living in the best conditions possible and the maintenance staff are significantly better supported.

Fuel Poverty and CO2 were both significantly reduced through the installation of Switchees. On average, residents saved 15% per household on their heating bills after the installation. The first 57 units installed in the development

have saved an estimated 56.1MWh of energy and 10.374 tonnes of CO2 every year since the installation, with the additional units that have been installed since resulting in similar savings - making the properties significantly greener with no additional investment.

Condensation, damp and mould were all abolished from the properties with Switchees installed. Utilising the advanced heating algorithm - and proved through the remote data - removed the CD&M from all properties in which the Switchee was installed. A secondary benefit was the identification of properties becoming at risk of CD&M in the near future. Preventative maintenance on these properties has reduced its associated health risks associated - for example respiratory illnesses.

Following the success of this trial and the proven value delivered for Peabody and residents alike, Peabody have chosen to continue installing Switchee elsewhere in Thamesmead - going from a trial of 57 devices to a development-wide rollout.

ABOUT PEABODY GROUPFounded in 1862, Peabody Group is one of the oldest and largest housing associations in London. Following the merger with Family Mosaic in July 2017, Peabody now own and manage 55,000 homes in London and the South East, housing over 111,000 residents. Peabody also have 8,000 care and support residents.

Rickaby Thompson Associates was founded in 1982 as an architectural practice specialising in the design of energy efficient buildings. As of 2002, the company jettisoned architectural services to focus on energy and sustainability consultancy.

On average, per month my energy bills were £50, with Switchee it has almost halved. Saving £25 a month goes a long way.”

– Mr. Jarvis, Peabody resident“

Mr Robinson, a Peabody resident, with his new

Switchee

Mr & Mrs Jarvis, Peabody residents turning their heating down

WHAT DOES SWITCHEE DO?

Switchee saves residents money on their heating bills through reduction in unnecessary boiler firing. The Switchee can work with no resident engagement, its sensors and learning algorithms work even if residents choose not to engage with the unit - reducing workload on tenants, and giving them the benefits of advanced technology without the usual complexity.

At the same time, it also provides landlords with remote insights into their property portfolio - improving living conditions, and reducing the cost associated with damp and mould. The landlord dashboard displays aggregated energy saving metrics, sensory readings and other cost reduction data analytics to help affordable housing providers optimise their inventory, and provide a better service to their tenants.

Utilising the latest in smart technologies, Switchee optimises the energy use in affordable housing through it’s arsenal of sensors.

WHO ARE SWITCHEE?Switchee is a socially conscious technology innovator, focused on finding elegant solutions to housing issues. Switchee develops and supplies connected devices and analytics for landlords and their residents. Our purpose is to empower landlords to create exceptional homes for their residents. We focus on delivering improved comfort, affordability, security and safety.

Switchee developed its first product, a smart thermostat, in 2015 – specifically designed as an enterprise solution for housing. Before product design had even started, the team conducted expert interviews with senior housing professionals from a range backgrounds, including Local Authorities, Housing Associations, contractors and consultants. The objective was to understand in detail the issues they faced in supporting the health and wellbeing of their residents and the maintenance of large, complex housing portfolios.

Since launch, Switchee has seen rapid adoption by some of the largest landlords in the U.K. with the first commercial rollouts in Peabody and Flagship starting in 2017. Since 2015, over 45 social landlords have ordered more than 5000 thermostats to be installed in housing association and local authority homes across the country.

HOW DOES SWITCHEE DO IT?The Switchee thermostat has been created to learn the optimal heating conditions for a property through sensor data from it’s current property, as well as surrounding properties, deducing the ideal heating profile and then executing that profile.

This approach ensures temperatures are set and controlled based upon the both the needs of the resident, prevailing weather conditions, and building occupancy - and are continuously optimised throughout the life of the Switchee.

Over the past two years, the product has been through extensive testing to get it ready for full-scale rollouts in affordable housing projects. Switchee is getting ever-smarter with OTT firmware updates that add additional functionality to the dashboards, and improvements to the energy efficiency algorithms.

www.switchee.co

www.switchee.co

61-63 Rochester Place, Camden, NW1 9JU020 7043 2310

info@switchee.co