Birkenshaw – Old Edinburgh Road, after External Wall Insulation works were complete

Birkenshaw, a village in North Lanarkshire, 12 miles east of the city centre was identified as an area suitable for an ECO and HEEPS funded program of External Wall Insulation works.

The area comprising of 272 solid wall properties, 195 of which are privately owned and 77 are Clyde Valley Housing Association, provided the perfect opportunity for the three parties to collaborate to maximise funding and deliver an area based approach.

The properties in Birkenshaw are poured concrete construction, what this means for residents are hard to heat homes that lose heat quickly and result in expensive fuel bills.  It was no surprise that residents were delighted to be included in the programme and signed up on mass, with 100% of the estate on board.

A.C. Whyte embarked on a tight schedule of works that began in early February and saw the estate completed in only eight months, meaning residents will benefit from much warmer homes this winter.  Now that the estate is complete and residents are getting a feel for how warm and cosy their homes are, the tight nit community is buzzing with enthusiasm.  Residents shared why the works are so welcome.

“The estate looks fantastic, the work is outstanding my house looks like new.  It’s a pleasure to come home to.”

“Anything that will stop the drafts and help reduce heat escaping would make us more than happy” said Isabella McMahon. “It’s great to hear that private homeowners can benefit from this funding, fuel bills are a big issue and anything that will help bring them down is good with us” said John Devitt, who’s mum also lives on the estate.

A resident of Old Edinburgh road told us recently: “The estate looks fantastic, the work is outstanding my house looks like new.  It’s a pleasure to come home to.  The men on site really did a wonderful job, I can’t thank them enough.”

The focus of projects like this is very much improving energy efficiency, reducing fuel bills and improving the quality of life for residents.  By adopting an area based approach, all of this is achieved whilst creating an impressive, aesthetically pleasing, revitalised community.  As one resident put it “All the residents of Birkenshaw will be walking about with smiles on their faces, because they are saving fortunes”.