The Ministry of Sustainability and Climate Resiliency is moving forward with plans to conduct energy-efficiency retrofits and rooftop solar on 10 pre-selected National Housing Development Trust homes.
The ministry has issued a tender for third-party support for insulation retrofits as part of the government’s Energy Efficiency Programme, which is made possible through a €1.2 million (about CI$1.1 million) grant from the European Union’s Resilience, Sustainable Energy, and Marine Biodiversity (RESEMBID) Programme.
On the government procurement site Bonfire, the ministry is inviting proposals for the supply and installation of spray foam insulation on 10 pre-selected National Housing Development Trust homes.
The selected homes for retrofits under this programme are located in NHDT developments in West Bay, George Town, Bodden Town and East End.
At present, there are no NHDT-constructed homes in North Side or the Sister Islands.
Sustainability and Climate Resiliency Minister Katherine Ebanks-Wilks, in a comment to the Cayman Compass on the project via email, said the government programme aims to improve energy efficiency and facilitate retrofits for both existing public sector buildings and National Housing Development Trust homes.
“Affordable housing should be both affordable to purchase and affordable to live in – especially for families who have young children, persons with disabilities and older persons in their household. Improving energy efficiency is a cost-effective way to help homeowners save energy and money,” she said.
By introducing renewable energy, the minister said, government is providing affordable, clean energy to those who need it most.
“This programme embodies the vision of the draft updated National Energy Policy which includes more ambitious targets for renewable energy while prioritising affordability for our people and Government. I encourage the public to stay tuned to the National Energy Policy website and social media pages for more updates on this project and to access helpful resources for saving energy in your own homes and businesses,” she said.
About the project
The two-part project includes a Public Sector Building Energy Efficiency Programme and a Residential Energy Efficiency Programme targeting government-built affordable homes.
The residential programme includes both energy and energy-efficiency retrofits, as well as the installation of renewable energy for 10 NHDT homes, from the 100kW CORE allocation which was designated to the NHDT in 2020.
Last year, the ministry worked in collaboration with the NHDT and with a socio-economic consultant to help select 10 trust homes to receive energy-efficiency retrofits and rooftop solar.
More than 55 housing trust homeowners submitted completed applications, the Compass understands, and that anonymised data was provided to the socio-economic consultant for analysis, with priority given to applicants based on certain criteria.
The criteria included how much energy the home was using, financial need, and whether the household contained vulnerable people such as young children, persons with disabilities or seniors.
Members of the project team also emailed informational flyers and application forms to NHDT owners and tenants, and hand-delivered those to people without an email address, so residents could opt-in to be considered for the programme.
The initiative also includes training, establishing minimum energy-efficiency standards for new builds, and assessing the best financing mechanisms to support the retrofit of additional buildings.
The sustainability ministry has also been working with the Ministry of Planning, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure and the NHDT to ensure energy-efficiency measures are considered in the design of future affordable housing.
All selected homes will also have an energy monitor installed, which comes with a smartphone app to track consumption in real time.
This project is different from the Cayman Home Energy Efficiency Retrofit (CHEER) programme which aims to help eligible Caymanian homeowners save money by enhancing the overall energy efficiency in their houses.
Related Videos
