The first tenants have moved into a 1930s Cambridge home transformed through a deep retrofit by The Cambridge Building Society.
Rachel, 28, and her partner Marco, 27, will live at the three-bedroom Ferndale Rise property for 18 months while its energy use and performance are monitored.
The project has raised the home’s Energy Performance Certificate rating from D to A and is intended to demonstrate the practical options available to homeowners considering energy-efficiency improvements.
The Cambridge says the completed property removes more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it emits.
RETROFIT PUT TO THE TEST
The improvements include internal, external, cavity, roof and floor insulation, alongside airtightness measures and triple-glazed windows and doors.
Its original gas boiler has been replaced with an air-source heat pump supplying underfloor heating across both floors. A mechanical ventilation and heat recovery system has also been installed.
Twelve solar panels have been fitted across the house and a structural insulated panel building in the garden.
Further measures include a sedum roof and a 3,000-litre underground rainwater harvesting tank supplying the toilets, washing machine and garden.
Rachel, a Mortgage Case Assistant at The Cambridge, says: “We are so grateful to have been selected to live in Ferndale, the house is just amazing. Moving from Norwich, we feel very lucky to be back in Cambridge and closer to family, friends and of course work!
“We are very excited to live in such a stylish and energy-efficient house, and to find out more about living day to day with things like an air-source heat pump, solar panels and rainwater harvester in a really well-insulated property.”
REAL-WORLD PERFORMANCE DATA
Information collected over the next 18 months will help The Cambridge understand how the technologies perform when the property is occupied.
Carole Charter, chief commercial officer at The Cambridge Building Society, says: “We’re excited to see how all the innovative energy-saving measures we’ve put into Ferndale Rise during our deep retrofit will perform with Rachel and Marco living there over the next 18 months.
“We hope their Ferndale journey will inspire homeowners to make improvements to their own home that work within their own budget and circumstances, as we recognise there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to retrofitting.”
The project has been recognised across six retrofit and sustainable-living award categories since its completion in summer 2025.
Main picture: Rachel, 28, and her partner Marco, 27, will be putting the energy-efficiency measures at The Cambridge’s Ferndale Rise property through their paces over the next 18 months to understand how the home performs following the deep retrofit.
