ZAINAB YUSUF

My Sustainable Backyard // Grangemouth

My Sustainable Backyard introduces two interconnected interventions: the community heat network and the energy hub. Together, they combat fuel poverty in Bowhouse, Grangemouth providing energy literacy as a direct solution and placing the neighbourhood as an active participant in Grangemouth’s just transition. The heat network is a series of underground insulated pipes that captures waste thermal energy from the INEOS chemical plant. That energy is transported to the Bowhouse Energy Hub, where it is converted into heating and hot water for the community.

The hub brings together energy production and the community, serving as a multi-use civic space that providing a warm, welcoming environment surrounded by clean energy. The hub’s central purpose is translation. It takes complex, industrial-scale energy processes and converts them into human-scale stories, creating a customised experience for every age group. This is reflected throughout the building.

Part of the hub’s programme is the Energy Passport, a physical and digital tool that explains where energy comes from and how it is used. A barcode links residents to an online platform showing household energy use, carbon savings, costs, and available entitlements.

My Sustainable Backyard empowers a deprived community with the knowledge and resources to play an active role in Grangemouth’s just transition. It shows that energy and industrial process can be embraced tools for education, community and belonging.