Orkney Housing Association
Established in 1985, Orkney Housing Association (OHAL) is the only housing association operating within Orkney. It is a charitable not-for-profit organisation with a membership open to anyone interested in supporting its aims.
We currently manage almost 980 properties, of which 830 are for social rent. As storage heating is the main heating source for the majority of our homes, we have an ongoing programme to upgrade older storage heaters to high heat retention storage heaters to help meet the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH). We have also used the Scottish Government’s Net Zero Heat Fund to install triple glazed windows and low U-value external doors in several developments across the Mainland and islands, along with loft insulation top-ups and immersion tank jacket installations to improve energy efficiency across older stock. This work will continue as funding allows ahead of the new Social Housing Net Zero Standard. Just over 300 properties built in the early part of this century have a mix of air-to-air, air-to-water, exhaust-air, and ground-source heat pumps to provide heating and hot water. However, we now install high heat retention storage heaters in our new-build properties. We also have a small number of properties with solar thermal and photovoltaic panels. In 2014 we completed a retrofit of the former boiler house for the Lynn Crescent district heating scheme to a certified Passivhaus.