UK HECA Chair: Vice Chair · HECA Network News Issue 9 - Spring 2005 “Many businesses there are...

HECA Network News Issue 9 - Spring 2005HECA Network News Issue 9 - Spring 2005

HECA Award Winners’ Projects

South East HECA Forum

Acting Chair: Kathy Alcock01892 554 [email protected]

Secretariat: Laura Russell020 7922 [email protected]

London HECA Forum

Chair: Ian Lane0208 8708 [email protected]

Vice-Chair: Oliver Myers0207 974 [email protected]

Secretariat: Sarah Hitchcock0845 450 [email protected]

South West HECA Forum

Chair: Richard Harper01823 356 383

[email protected]

Vice-Chair: Charles Garrett01225 477 946

[email protected]

Secretariat: Mike Brain01594 545367

[email protected]

Welsh HECA Forum

Chair: Steve Martin01443 864645

[email protected]

Vice-Chair: Bill Jones01978 297 208

[email protected]

Secretariat: Zoë Livermore01633 267 824

[email protected]

West Midlands HECA Forum

Chair: Graham Jones01584 813 377

[email protected]

Vice-Chair: Neil Morton

0121 3036 148neil.morton@

birmingham.gov.uk

Secretariat: Ellie Cooper

0121 262 6402ellie.cooper

@hestia-europe.com

Home Energy Officers’ Network Eastern (HEON)

Chair: Bruce Pittingale01354 622 [email protected]

Representative: Julia Blackwell01480 388 [email protected]

Secretariat: John Davis01733 262 [email protected]

East Midlands HECA Forum

Chair: Nick Costin01604 238 [email protected]

Vice-Chair:Alison McCafferty0116 299 [email protected]

Secretariat:Ros Badley0116 299 [email protected]

North West HECA Forum

Chair/Acting Deputy Chair of Group:

Brian Sexton0161 242 5803/5805

[email protected]

Secretariat/Vice-Chair:Alison Hartley

0161 242 [email protected]

North East Domestic Energy Forum

Chair: Steve Kent0191 433 [email protected]

Vice Chair: Ian Bloomfield01388 761 [email protected]

Secretariat: Wendi Wheeler01642 777 [email protected]

Scottish HECA Officers’ Network (SHON)

Chair: Stephen Cunningham01506 773744

[email protected]

Secretariat: Scott Restrick0141 226 3064

[email protected]

Northern Ireland HECAAdvisory Panel

Representative: Noel Rice02890 240 588

[email protected]

East Pennine HECA ForumYork & Humber

Chair: Paul Maplethorpe 01709 823 [email protected]

Vice Chair: Alan Jones0113 214 [email protected]

Secretariat: Clare Fitzpatrick 01484 351 [email protected]

This newsletter was designed by Rob Leeson

Disclaimer: The views expressed within this publication are individual and not necessarily shared by the editorial committee, HECA, the Energy Saving Trust, Leicester City Council or our sponsors.

NETWORK NEWS

National HomeEnergy Conference2005 Details

Issue 9 - spring 2005

UK HECA

Chair: Bruce Pittingale01354 622 [email protected]

Vice Chair: Steve Martin01443 [email protected]

National Secretariat: Helen Atkins Tel: 0116 299 [email protected]

photograph courtesy of EFDA-JET

The HECA Secretariat

is funded by the

Energy Saving Trust

Contains full programme listing for the National Home Energy Conference 2005

Contains full programme listing for the National Home Energy Conference 2005

HECA

HECA Network News Issue 9 - Spring 2005

HECA Network News - Spring 2005Welcome to the spring edition of HECA Network News,the newsletter of the UK Home Energy Conservation Association.

Cover story: JET, the Joint European Torus, is an experimental nuclear fusion reac-tor, which has been operating at the Culham Science Centre in Oxfordshire since 1983, where research is now coordinated under the European Fusion Development Agree-ment (EFDA). The photos on the cover, and above, show the inside of the JET ‘tokamak’. This is a donut-shaped reaction chamber, in which a plasma - a ‘soup’ of atomic nuclei and electrons - is held captive by powerful magnetic fields. This plasma is heated to temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius (hotter than the centre of the sun!), causing atomic nuclei to fuse together, releasing energy.

Conventional Nuclear reactors rely on ‘splitting the atom’, a process known as nuclear fission, where heavier atomic nuclei are split into smaller fragments. In fusion reactors, like JET, lighter atomic nuclei are, instead, combined to produce energy. Established nuclear fission power stations generate radioactive waste, a proportion of which will not decay to safe levels for many thousands of years. Disasters such as those at Chernobyl in the Ukraine in 1986, Windscale near Liverpool in 1957 and Three-mile Island in the USA in 1979 have also damaged the reputation of nuclear power production. However, some scientists insist that, despite these high risks, we should be relying more on our nuclear fission power sta-tions, since they produce no carbon dioxide - the main gas responsible for the greenhouse effect and climate change.

In contrast, nuclear fusion reactors, like JET, are believed to be inherently almost risk free. ‘Meltdowns’ cannot occur, due to the difficulties of maintaining the high tem-peratures and the delicately balanced conditions necessary to sustain a fusion reaction. As well as producing no carbon dioxide, fusion reactors produce either very little radioactive waste or even non at all, depending on the fuel used. Any waste that is produced decays to harmless non-radioactive material within just decades, rather than the many millennia taken for some fission waste to become harmless.

Although JET holds the current world record for energy production via nuclear fusion, it was only designed to produce a small power output in short pulses, with the goal of overcoming the many technological barriers to this potentially unlim-ited, clean source of energy. As the next step in building on the successes of JET, work will soon start on the international ‘Iter’ project (Latin for ‘the way’). Iter will be a fusion reactor capable of producing a sustained 500 MW power output, compa-rable to that of a conventional power station. It is hoped that Iter will come on-line within the next 15 to 20 years, and will demonstrate the viability of nuclear fusion for civil energy production.

If all goes well, we could have fusion power stations generating grid electricity by around 2050. However, many climatologists fear that the effects of global warm-ing may have already become irreversible by this date. We need to act now to ensure that once this safe, clean and effectively unlimited energy resource becomes available, it is not already too late! This means that everyone should play their part to reduce their own energy consumption, as well as encourage the use of renewable energy technologies, such as wind and solar power, as well as biomass. Those who object to the construction of wind farms, on the grounds of aesthetic taste, for example, could perhaps console themselves with the thought that such generators may only be necessary as a temporary stopgap, until the promises of nuclear fusion, or perhaps another high-tech sustainable energy solution, finally become reality.

More information on EFDA, JET, ITER and nuclear fusion can be found at:www.jet.efda.org and www.iter.org

Split image of the JET torus, showing the plasma (photograph courtesy of EFDA-JET)

The HECA Secretariat is funded by the

Energy Saving Trust

West Dorset Energy Day More than 100 local children tickled the taste buds of Channel 4 'River Cottage' celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall at an energy efficiency awareness day.

The event in Lyme Regis, organised by West Dorset District Council, was attended by pupils of local primary schools as well as the general public.

The youngsters put all their creative skills to good use, cooking up tasty and healthy dishes, using locally sourced produce. They also pro-duced displays showing how their locally sourced foodstuffs were eco friendly, with minimal fuel used for transport.

Pupils from Thorncombe St Mary's Primary School wowed Hugh with their five courses made from a single pumpkin and earned their school a prize of £250. They even kept some seeds to sow next season! Hugh emphasised the importance of eat-ing food produced close to home, adding that the local pumpkin used by the winners represented the global importance of saving energy.

Hundreds of local people visited the event, which also gave information about how to save energy and money. Some 13 organisations exhib-ited, including the Dorset Energy

Back issues of HECA Network News

are available to download free, from the

UK HECA Network website:

www.hecafora.com

For a free home energy efficiency check for your home, visit:

www.energy-advice.co.uk/home_check.html

Please send any news items, articles or pictures that you would

like to see in a future edition of HECA Network News to:

Helen [email protected]

UK HECA Secretariat2-4 Market Place South

LEICESTER LE1 5HB

Telephone (0116) 299 5133Fax (0116) 299 5143

Advice Centre, British Gas, Age Concern and Powergen. HECA offi-cers from across Dorset called in to lend their support and network with the many organisations represented at the event and are photographed here with Hugh.

The day was sponsored by Powergen, Warmerhome (Southern) Ltd and HEAT Dorset. It was also supported by North Dorset Primary Care Trust and South West Dorset Primary Care Trust.

- Joanne Rickman, North Dorset District Council

email: [email protected]

HECA Network News is sponsored by:

The HECA Secretariat is funded by the

Energy Saving Trust

14

For a FREE copy of theLeicestershire & Northamptonshire

Energy Efficiency Centre Mail Order Catalogue,

telephone 0116 299 5146 or visit www.energy-advice.co.uk

Items available include Windup Radios and Solar Goods.

Dorset HECA Officers with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall from Channel 4’s ‘River Cottage’

For more information onHECA, the Home Energy Conservation Association, visit www.hecafora.com

HECA

HECA


“Many businesses there are also active and keen to join the new emission trading schemes and markets opening up. The Government itself is also promoting higher energy effi-ciency and alternatives like hydrogen and solar,” he added.

But he, too, echoed Mr. Annan’s call to do more. “We must act swift and sure to go beyond Kyoto,” he said. “We must put the planet on course for the up to 60 per cent cuts in greenhouse gas emissions needed to conserve the cli-mate.”

After President George W Bush withdrew US support for the Protocol in 2001, Russian ratification became vital for it to enter into force since 55 Parties to the UNFCCC must ratify it, including the developed countries whose combined 1990 emissions of carbon dioxide exceed 55 per cent of that group’s total. Russia, with 17 per cent, took the official step in November, pushing the amount beyond the threshold and setting the clock ticking for entry into force.

Mr. Toepfer drew a “terrifying” picture of the impact of global warming drawn from recent reports, “a vision of a planet spinning out of control.” He noted that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the scientific body which advises governments and which was established by UNEP and the UN World Meteorological

Organization (WMO), concluded a few years ago that global temperatures may rise by as much as 5.8 degrees centigrade by 2100 without action.

Another report, launched a few weeks ago by the International Climate Change Task Force, an alliance of three think-tanks in the US, Australia and Britain, argues that even a two-degree rise could take the planet past a point of “no return,” he added. “I certainly hope that these new calculations are proven wrong,” he said. “However, it seems that many of the past theoretical forecasts are sadly coming to pass.”

Meanwhile, the UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, Anwarul K Chowdhury, pointed out the adverse effects that climate change and sea level rise present to the sustainable development of small island developing states.

“Never before has the negative impact of climate change been more evident than the recent devastating weather conditions resulting in widespread hurricanes, cyclones, tropical storms, tidal waves, tsunamis in various parts of the world, particularly affecting small island developing states. These small countries are the most vulnerable to global cli-mate change,” he stressed.

UN News Service - www.un.org

vide additional leverage via the Energy Efficiency Comm-itment money, to further reduce the costs of insulation. This resulted in npower and the Insta Foam and Fibre consor-tium becoming partners for the scheme.

An initial launch article was placed in the local East Riding News, which is delivered free to every household in the authority, in June 2003. This generated almost 1000 responses from households interested in a 50% grant towards the cost of cavity wall and/or loft insulation. Since the launch, only one other article has appeared to pro-mote the scheme in November's edition of the paper, from a customer who was so delighted he wished to let other know of the scheme!

At the end of March 2003, there will have been over 3000 private households who will have benefited from this pro-ject at a cost of just over £0.5million from the Local Authority. All the work has been undertaken by three local contractors, who have also obtained Home Energy Checks for the York Energy Efficiency and Advice Centre, as part of the survey process. A further £0.5million has been agreed for 2004-2005 and work is already in process to allow a seam-less transition.

In December 2003, I was contacted by the Energy Saving Trust to provide a case study on this scheme for other local authorities and this is available on their website. From this I have been contacted by a number of local authority staff asking about the operation of the scheme.”

For 2004-05, so far, the following has been completed: ! Cavity wall insulations - 2600 ! Loft insulations - 1918! Hot water jackets - 19

- Jane MearsSenior Environmental Health Officer

East Riding of Yorkshire Council

Jane Mears, receiving her HECA Award from Baroness Maddock at the 2004 National HECA Conference

12

Income Maximisation Day One of the key aims of the Borough of Pool's Affordable Warmth Strategy ‘Warmer Healthier Homes’ is to encourage benefit take up and income maxi-misation opportunities. To try to meet this objective, an Income Maximisation Day was held at the Dolphin Shopping Centre, during energy efficiency week.

The event proved to be a great success and over four hundred clients visited the various stands. All the exhibitors agreed that the event was well worth the effort and plans are in hand to repeat the event this year. Agencies who attended included the Pension Service, the Council's Revenue and Benefits team, Energywatch, the local Credit Union, New Deal for Loan Parents and the Dorset Energy Advice Centre.

The date was chosen to coincide with school half-term and a farmers market being held in the area. This meant that a good cross section of the commu-nity were able to access quality information and advice. The event was advertised in local papers and on local radio - no mention was made of free light bulbs!

- Erica Pretty, Borough of Poole

South Lakeland District Council - Renewable Energy

The Rio Summit 1993, the 1995 HECA Act, the Energy White Paper 2003, Kyoto… We all know of the need to improve energy efficiency, increase use of Renewables and help create sustainable energy strategies.

Here at SLDC, having run a successful insulation program for some years, we are now addressing the issue of Renewable Energy (RE). First steps are small, but we have produced a leaflet enthusiastically called ‘Energy for Free’. In it, we set the context for renewables, outline the main sources and technologies available and provide contact points and web sites for further information.

We are in discussion with our planners and those of the Lake District National Park Authority to identify ways and means of integrating RE into the district's housing stock. There

Cavity Wall Insulation linked to Council Tax RebatesLocal Authorities do not normally receive 100 telephone calls from inter-ested residents between 6 and 8.30 AM linked to something heard on the radio, unless it is a public health scare such as the recent Sudan 1 incident. However, on November 10 last year, Braintree District Council did.

BackgroundFor nearly two years, Braintree District Council (BDC) has been working with British Gas to offer an 'able-to-pay' insu-lation scheme targeted at owner occu-piers. British Gas Energy Efficiency money is used to fund the scheme and, in addition, British Gas pays BDC to man-age the scheme, with a set fee being offered for each insulation measure installed. Where households are on an income-related benefit they are referred to the British Gas Warm-a-Life Scheme or to Warm Front where they receive 100% grants. BDC receives no fees in these cases. The money received by the Council for the 'able-to-pay' insulation scheme was ring-fenced so that it could be used towards a project that would benefit the community. British Gas came up with an idea that enabled BDC to use this money to good effect.The company was so pleased with the success of the scheme, that they approached BDC, along with a few other Local Authorities, with an innova-tive idea to link the insulation scheme to a Council Tax rebate. What they proposed was an offer to householders to give them money off

seems to be no shortage of help available, both to the indi-vidual resident and us as an Authority. The Cumbria and Lancashire Renewables Network (CLAREN), Renewables Northwest and numerous other groups now exist to help the individual or community.

However, there is still a gap between the knowledge and awareness of the need for RE and its actual uptake. So that the individual or small community group feels installing RE technology is feasible, we are beginning to be more pro-active in its promotion. After all, it's not science fiction any more. Here in the North West, there are many companies able to install RE technology right now. Roof-mounted wind turbines, heat pumps, solar water and PV panels, wood chip boilers, anaerobic digestion plants. All are available now, with ever-reducing pay-back times. Now is the time to truly embrace the revolution!

- Alasdair Muir, Housing Renewal Officer, Community & Housing, South Lakeland District Council

Income Maximisation Day held at the Dolphin Shopping Centre in Dorset.


Saving Energy at Her Majesty's Pleasure

A new study in Gloucestershire is investigating whether energy savings can be 'locked up' by working with local prisons.

During the time a prisoner is incarcerated, their families lose their income and can suffer severe fuel poverty as a result. Prisoners may also suffer fuel poverty themselves after their release.

The project is a partnership between Gloucester County Council, the Severn Wye Energy Agency and prisons in Gloucester and Usk. Funding for the feasi-bility study has been obtained from EST's Innovation Programme.

The study will explore and link three main areas. Firstly it will aim to develop an energy policy for each prison to reduce energy use and provide a more comfortable environment. Secondly, it will investigate how education in household energy efficiency can be provided to prisoners and prison offi-cers. Finally provision of energy advice to prisoner's families through chan-nels such as visitor's centres will be investigated.

This project represents an ambitious and exciting opportunity to reach new markets and target groups that can benefit most from available quality advice and support. Following the completion of the feasibility study it is hoped that a full implementation programme can be delivered to reduce fuel poverty amongst prisoner's families and save significant quantities of CO .2

- Mike Brain, Severn Wye Energy Agency tel: (01594) 545369 email : [email protected]

The Ockendon School Energy Show

In December 2004, Thurrock Council launched a unique and innovative energy and water reduction scheme for its schools called SAVE, (Schools Acting to Value Energy). Over 90% of schools have signed up to the SAVE programme and it has been endorsed by a number of organisations including the Government's Energy Saving Trust and the National Eco- Schools Project. SAVE has already been rolled out in other areas such as Maldon and Braintree, with other Councils soon to follow. Evolving from SAVE, Angela Hogg of Thurrock Council has worked closely with the Ockendon School drama teacher and a selection of approximately 25 students, (aged between 12 and 14), to develop an energy conservation show, which is to be filmed at their school on video and CD Rom format on April 2005. Once the video/CD-Rom is complete, it will be made available to other Thurrock schools to show at assemblies or associated lessons to raise energy awareness. It is envisaged, based on the positive feedback from other local authorities, that this release be made available to other Councils within Essex, the East of England region and possibly beyond. A small number of guests, (due to limited venue capacity), including The mayor and councillors, have been invited to this special showing on the 5th April. The local press will be covering the show taking photos and writing a report, with the hope of it being featured in the Thurrock Gazette. The students and drama teacher involved have put many hours into making this project a success, with much work done outside normal school hours. They have also designed and created some of the costumes. If you would like to learn more about the SAVE scheme and the benefits it can offer schools, please contact: Angela Hogg, Energy Manager, Thurrock Council, Tel: 01375 652249, Email: [email protected]

by 2050 and was set ten years in advance of it. We are making good progress towards both these targets. In 2000, software developed by the Council for Climate Protection, of which Leicester is a respected mem-ber, highlighted a 32% reduction for Leicester City Council's carbon emis-sions and a 6% reduction in energy con-sumption. This has resulted in lower run-ning costs for buildings. Over £29,000 was saved last year with a potential identified of over £100,000 in the same period.

All of the City Council's sustainable energy practices have been inde-pendently assessed and validated every year since 1999 through the Eco-Management and Auditing Scheme (EMAS). Four energy targets are man-aged by EMAS which are: energy con-sumption in our own buildings, the use of renewable energy in Leicester City Council’s own buildings, energy used by transport and a city-wide reduction in energy used by homes in the city.

Free and impartial advice has been provided to well over 100,000 house-holders with over 200,000 low energy light bulbs having been distributed. the consequences of which have been audited by independent market researchers. This has shown that over £4 million, 26 megawatts of energy and 75,000 tonnes of CO are saved in 2

households alone per annum.

Grant and renewal programmes, which include a Home Energy Pack-age, have stimulated the refurbish-ment of many Leicester homes and improved entire neighbourhoods. This proves the success of the Leicester Home Energy Strategy, which aims to establish an affordable and healthy environment in which to live. This is reflected in Leicester City Council's Housing Department also having achieved Beacon Awards for Housing Renewal and Housing Maintenance.

Within the social housing sector, Leicester has improved the average energy efficiency rating, Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP), from 37 in 1992 to 67 in 2003. This shows significant improvement under the Home Energy Conservation Act.

The improving of energy efficiency standards in both the social and pri-vate housing sectors has helped to sig-nificantly reduce fuel poverty in the city.

- For more information contactThe Leicester Energy Agency

on 0116 299 5150

Energy Scheme Works with Health SectorPlymouth Healthy Homes is an energy efficiency scheme funded by Plymouth City Council that helps people at risk of cold related illnesses to make their homes warmer and healthier places to live through energy efficiency improvements.

The project offers a free phone energy efficiency advice line, home energy visits, grants towards insulation measures and heating improvements and referrals to other schemes such as Warm Front. It has so far helped over 1100 households with advice and/or grants.

To help reach the target audience and develop referral networks, the project has been working closely with the local Primary Care Trust and Public Health Development Unit to offer short training sessions to health professionals across the city. Health visitors, District Nurses, Occupational Therapists and other specialist health workers have been offered the training and, so far, over 200 have attended a session.

The aim of the training is to raise the health professionals' awareness of the energy efficiency grants and schemes available in Plymouth and help them to identify clients who could benefit from the schemes. Between them, the health profes-sionals conduct over 10,000 home visits every month and so are ideally placed to identify people who can benefit from energy efficiency measures.

The training encourages the health professionals to refer patients to Healthy Homes for energy efficiency advice and referral to appropriate schemes, either by giving out the free phone number or making a direct referral on the client's behalf. The referral process is as simple as possible so as to not burden the health professionals with additional work load.

Katie Shears, the Project Co-ordinator says:“When developing the training sessions, I tried to keep the content as concise and relevant as possible, as the health workers are extremely busy people and cannot be expected to become expert energy advisers.

It was important to have the support of the health team leads and the Public Health Development Unit as it helped to give the training credibility and encour-aged a good uptake of the training. Referrals from the health sector to Healthy Homes have trebled since the training and, with regular updates to the health teams, I hope to keep the referrals coming.”

The project hopes to build upon the relationships developed with the health sec-tor in the future by holding advice surgeries in appropriate hospital wards, sup-porting hospital discharge services and working more closely with local health centres.

For further information on energy efficiency schemes in Plymouth, please contact: Colin Anderson, Home Energy Officer,

Plymouth City Council on 01752 307176

Wakefield Wake-up to Energy Savings

Signs are that the new Wakefield Solar Wake-up Scheme is proving to be a great success. Launched in Nov-ember 2004, the scheme is breaking new ground with an innovative com-bination of energy efficiency mea-sures.

Primarily funded by Neighbourhood Renewal and Wakefield Metropolitan District Council (WMDC) Private Sector Housing, the Solar Wake-up Scheme combines grants for solar water heat-ing with radiator top-up's and the installation of solar demonstration equipment.

The solar grants are helping vulnerable households install solar water heating through the Kirklees Energy Services' Simply Solar Scheme, for a fraction of the normal cost. Extra funding was secured from the Scottish Power Green Energy Trust to bring the cost down further for the householder. Indications are that 21 private house-holds will install systems in the Wakefield District.

The WMDC Energy Advice Team have worked closely with Warm Front to identify vulnerable households in need of extra radiators to achieve 'whole-house heating'. There is currently a fast uptake with the top-up's and it is expected to assist approximately 100 households with extra radiators.

To raise awareness of solar power and promote what people can do in their homes, the project has installed unique solar interpretation and dem-onstration equipment at the Water-ton Countryside Discovery Centre in Wakefield. An ideal location, this Centre now has fully operational solar water heating and photovoltaic sys-tems, which supply the building and interact with the display inside.

BBC ‘Look North’ Weatherman, Paul Hudson, officially opened the Water-ton Centre solar demonstration to the public at the Solar Wake-up Day on 21 November. The equipment has since been a great success with visitors and will help to promote the Solar Wakeup Scheme in the Wakefield District.

- Mark HootonEnergy Advice Manager

Wakefield MDC Paul Hudson pictured washing his hands in solar heated water, watched closely by Mark Hooton and Alison Webb of the WMDC Energy Advice Team.


all change for climate change

national home energy conference 2005

Issue 9 - Spring 2005Issue 9 - Spring 2005HECA Network News

HECA Best Practice SeminarsRegion Facilitator Project Description

South West Neil Short Energy education Raising awareness of climate change renewable energy in Schools and energy efficiency.

Eastern Ian Bowers East Cambridge Strategic A Partnership scheme including the Local Authority, Partnership Cube Police, Fire Service and PCT.

London Mark Lowers Heat recovery The benefits of heat recovery against traditional ventilation methods.

Scotland John Major, Rural Heating - A traditional radiator central heating system using Stuart Sommerville the Scottish Experience an electric boiler as the heat source.

North West DavidColbourne Sefton "Search" project Sefton Energy Action Reaching Cold Homes. A partnership scheme with PCT, delivered by Merseyside EEAC.

South East Matthew Bird Lewes Renewables The use of insulation and solar grants.

N Ireland Noel Rice, Micro CHP A demonstration project of 50 single dwellings across allBarry Steele tenures, multi-agency funded.

Wales Adrian Roberts, Here to Help Scheme The first UK ‘Here to Help’ scheme to target privateGerry Baker, sector Homes.Anita Jones

North East Colin White Warm Zones Experience A North East review of several warm zone schemes thathave been carried out in the region.

East Midlands John Leney Heat Streets scheme Rural project targeting vulnerable households not eligiblefor Warm Front, with a high level of training/customer care.

East Pennine John Manton Government Funding A local public services agreement on Home energy for two staff that resulted in the provision of Government funding of two

staff in return for meeting energy saving targets in 2006.

West Midlands Mandy Findlay, Health Scrutiny review A scrutiny review of the impact of the Affordable Helen Marshall Warmth and Health through Warmth programme.

The National Home Energy Conference 2005 sold out in record time this year. If you have not already booked your place at the Conference, then we hope to see you in 2006.The full programme is listed below:

on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 May 2005

at the Highcliff Marriott Hotel, Bournemouth

The workshop and seminar arrangements for the National Home Energy Conference 2005 are slightly different from those of previous years. This year there will be three, one hour workshops sessions with three repeated workshops/seminars running concurrently in every session: ! Scheme Integration - Facilitator: Amanda Pearson, Practical help! Sustainable Energy Centres (SEC) - Facilitator: Colin Timmins, EST ! EEC2 (Energy Efficiency Commitment 2) - Facilitator: Katherine Smith OFGEM (Office of Gas & Electricity Markets) At the same time, running in addition to these, there will be 12 'HECA Best Practice' Presentations (one from each HECA region). There will be four of these per session, each lasting half an hour with two presentations per workshop room.

Enact Expansion Hots UpSince its sponsorship of the HECA Conference in 2004, Enact Energy has spent an extremely busy twelve months spreading its wings far and wide across the UK.

The company's highly successful HEAT Project is now endorsed by almost 100 local authorities across the UK, making it one of the most successful energy effi-ciency campaigns.

As the company prepares to sponsor this year's conference, UK Business Develop-ment Manager Nigel Dewbery believes

the sponsorship of last year's event provided a springboard from which the HEAT Project hasn't looked back."Sponsoring the HECA Conference gave us the opportunity to intro-duce ourselves and the HEAT Project to a much wider audience. For local authorities, it gave them the opportunity to see what the project had already done and what it could do for them. This year, we will have a chance to bring delegates up to date with the HEAT Project expan-sion and provide them with an insight into our plans for the future," said Nigel.

Having brought 50 new councils on board over the past twelve months, Enact has bolstered its HEAT Project team to meet demand for its ser-vices with the appointment of a number of regional business manag-ers. "It's been an extremely busy but productive twelve months, both for us and our participating local authorities. The take-up for the HEAT Project from members of the public has been very positive and we are looking forward to building on that success and growing the HEAT Campaign further throughout 2005," said Nigel.

The HEAT Project, altogether, has insulated over 60,000 homes with life-time CO savings of over two million tonnes.2

The National Home Energy Conference 2005 is Sponsored by:

HEAT is an Enact Energy managed project

The HECA Secretariat

is funded by the

Energy Saving Trust

Programme - Day 1:Tuesday 10 May 2005 9:30 Coffee & Registration 10:00 Bruce Pittingale, UK HECA Chair

Welcome & Introduction from the Chair 10:10 Nigel Dewberry, HEAT Project, Enact Energy

Enact Sustainable Energy Consultants 10:25 Peter Brunt, DTI

Key Note Address 10:45 TBC

DEFRA11:00 Jim Skea

UK Energy Research Centre 11:15 Q & A 11:30 Break & Exhibition Viewing 11:55 Workshops - Session 1 13:00 Lunch & Exhibition Viewing 14:15 Workshops - Session 2 15:15 Richard Powell

Anglia Sustainable Round Table 15:30 Break & Exhibition Viewing 16:00 Brenda Boardman

Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford 16:15 Questions and Summing-up 16:30 Close

19.00 Drinks Reception 19:30 Conference Dinner & HECA awards 22:00 Evening Entertainment

Programme - Day 2:Wednesday 11 May 2005 9:30 Coffee & Exhibition Viewing 10:00 Prof John Chesshire

Key Note Address 10:20 The Worshipful The Mayor of Bournemouth

Welcome Address 10:35 Aubrey Meyer

Global Commons Institute: Contraction & Convergence

10:50 Simon Woodward & Baroness Maddock Utilicom - Southampton Community DistrictHeating System

11:05 Q & A 11:20 Break & Exhibition Viewing 11:45 Workshops - Session 3 12:45 Lunch & Exhibition Viewing 14:00 Dr William Bird

Met Office - Health Forecasting 14:15 Philip Sellwood, Chief Executive, EST

Future of EST Working with Local Authorities & SECs

14:30 Q & A 14:45 Bruce Pittingale

Chairs Summary & Close

8

HECA


Ian Marlow, Jas Odell, Rt Hon Nick Raynsford, Minister for Local & Regional Government, Councillor Andy Vincent and Don Lack at the Sustainable Energy Beacon Award Ceremony, held 21 March 2005 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London.

Switch to Life in theGreen Lane

People in the St Albans district, in Hertfordshire, can play their part in reducing global climate change by taking advantage of grants and advice available through a new local fund called ‘Life in the Green Lane’.

To coincide with the Kyoto Protocol becoming legally binding in February, St Albans City and District Council launched its Sustainable Energy Projects Fund with a display in the Market Place on Wednesday 23 February. The fund worked towards creating a greener, cleaner and healthier future for everyone in the dis-trict.

A £3,500 donation to launch the fund was made by the Biggleswade branch of Miller Pattison Ltd, which has been carrying out insulation work in the district, supported by grants from ScottishPower.

Councillor Geoff Churchard, port-folioholder for sustainability, roads and transport, said: “Life in the Green Lane has to be far more sensible than contributing to air pollution and global warming.”

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement setting targets for indus-trialised countries to cut their green-house gas emissions. From this month, the UK will have a legal obligation to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases to 12.5% below 1990 levels by 2012.

Through Life in the Green Lane, house-holds, community groups, schools and businesses can find out how to do their bit by obtaining support, funding and advice on a range of energy effi-ciency and renewable energy issues,

including:-

! Special offers for home insulation. Big discounts on loft and cavity wall insulation are available to all households, whatever their in-come. For example, a 3-bedroom semi-detached property can have cavity wall insulation installed for £125 rather than the full price of £360. Some residents will qualify for 100 per cent grants;

! Information and grants for energy efficiency measures, including up to 40 per cent discounts on con-densing boilers;

! Advice on reducing energy bills. Free helpline number 0800 512 012;

! Information and funding for solar hot water systems and other renewable energy systems. Get up to £600 in grants, about a quarter of the cost, towards installation of a solar hot water system, plus addi-tional grants for other renewable

energy applications;

! Information for businesses and schools on green auditing and resource management.

During the launch in the Market Place, staff from St Albans District Council and the Beds & Herts Energy Efficiency Advice Centre were avail-able to give advice on energy effi-ciency and renewable energy issues.

The Council also issued free Energy Saving Light bulbs to households in receipt of a benefit and to people over the age of 60.

For further information, please contact:

Catherine Lockwood Public Relations Officer

Tel: 01727 819317 email: [email protected]

web: www.stalbans.gov.uk

Get Your Tax BackIn August 2004, the Treasury brought out a Statutory Instrument entitled 'The Energy-Saving Items (Deductions and Expenditure etc.) Regulations 2004'. This will have effect in respect to expenditure incurred on or after 6 April 2004. The changes will allow landlords a deduction for income tax proposes up to a maximum of £1,500 spent per property when they install loft or cavity wall insulation.

TADEA Ltd/Northumbria LASP, Newcastle City Council and Newcastle Warm Zone have submitted a bid to the

Innovation Programme for feasibility funding to explore the effectiveness of using the tax allowance to encourage take up of energy efficiency measures. The project plans to produce a package to help landlords claim the Landlord's Energy Saving Allowance for energy efficiency works car-ried out in that tax year.

The bid has been successful and the project will get under-way at the end of March.

For further details, contact Colin MacDonald on 0191 230 5492,

[email protected]

6

Leicester City Council Wins Beacon Status for Sustainable Energy

On 21 March 2005, it was revealed that seven UK Local Authorities had been awarded beacon status in the cate-gory of ‘Sustainable Energy’. These were:

! Cornwall County Council (Consortium of 7 Districts)

! High Peak Borough Council! Leicester City Council! London Borough of Lewisham! Nottinghamshire County Council! Shropshire County Council! Woking Borough Council

Below is a summary, focusing mainly on the housing sector, of some of the ini-tiatives that earned Leicester City Council their Beacon Status. Look out for details from some of the other Sustainable Energy Beacon Councils, in the next edition of HECA Network News.

Leicester City Council has been at the forefront of the sustainable energy agenda since 1990 when Leicester's first strategic energy action plan was developed. This agenda has grown over the years and our most recent achievement has been Leicester's Climate Change Strategy.

Leicester has the only Energy Efficiency Centre of it’s kind in the UK, housing the Leicester Energy Agency, the City Council's Energy Management Team and the Energy Advice Centre staff, all under one roof. The Leicester Energy Agency is also the home of the UK HECA Secretariat. This 'one-stop-shop' puts Leicester at the leading edge of sustainable energy because of the syn-ergies that come from working together. This model of good practice is now being developed in other cities across the UK.

The Centre attracts over 15,000 visitors annually and provides a comprehen-sive energy service to all parts of the community, including the sale of energy efficient and renewable energy appliances.

Independent research carried out by De Montfort University in 1998 identi-fied that consumers in Leicester are more aware of the effects of energy efficiency and the environment (e.g. Climate Change) than the rest of the UK.

Leicester has the broadest range of sustainable energy programmes in the UK and their achievements include exciting ventures such as:-

! Remote metering,! Solar rental ,! Various leading edge innovation projects such as Asia Pro Eco,! Climate Change Strategy,! Active participation at the World Summit in 2002 which has been trans-lated into actions through Leicester's Sustainable City Officers' Group,! Successful community engage-ment resulting in direct benefits in terms of reduced energy costs for Leicester's residents.

In 1990, Leicester set a target of 50% reduction in CO emissions from 1990 2

to 2025. This is in excess of the Government target of 60% reduction


their Council Tax if they installed subsi-dised Cavity Wall Insulation. House-holders would receive a discount of £100 off their Council Tax bill jointly funded by British Gas and BDC. This pro-vided a perfect opportunity for BDC to use the ring-fenced money from man-aging the existing insulation scheme.Apart from the administration, this has not cost the Council Tax payers of the Braintree District any additional exp-ense and it has given Energy Efficiency, British Gas and BDC nationwide public-ity.

How it WorksThe Council contacts eligible house-holders with the offer and any referrals generated are passed to the British Gas appointed insulation contractors. They arrange surveys, provide quotes and hopefully sign households up to the scheme.A list of the applicants who have had the work done is passed on to the BDC Finance Department who in turn amend the Council Tax payment let-ter, either when it initially goes out in March or thereafter. The BDC contribution is limited by the size of the fund, so only the first 500 installations can be financed. How-ever, this will result in £50K being put back into the local economy as well as the ongoing annual savings and envi-ronmental benefits. Although the householder must invest £175 to receive the Cavity Wall Insulation (discounted from £430), aver-age annual savings on energy bills are around £90. Coupled with the Council Tax rebate of £100, householders could see savings of £35 in the first year.There has been no additional publicity since the initial launch in November, yet the 600 contacts received so far has resulted in the funding of around 250 Cavity Wall Insulation installations.

The FutureThis scheme is exclusive to owner occu-piers with properties that have unfilled cavities, so we are investigating other measures that may be included in the future, e.g. solar water heating and solid wall insulation, and whether the scheme can be adapted for tenants.British Gas are happy with the outcome of the initiative and are now looking to roll out the scheme to other Councils in forthcoming years.Anyone interested in speaking to a rep-resentative from British Gas about this scheme can contact Wayne Smith on 07979 564838.

-Peter ChisnallBraintree District Council

Good Environmental Management In Medway Schools (GEMMS)

GEMMS is a new Medway Council initiative to raise awareness of the environ-mental impacts associated with running school buildings, and the practical and behavioural measures that can be taken to make improvements.

GEMMS is part of the council's broader effort to make the management of their buildings more sustainable, recognising that schools make up a large part of the property portfolio. The initiative was launched on 23 February, at a seminar for school caretakers and site managers.

The event gave representatives from 36 schools the chance to hear about the major environmental issues facing us today, such as man-made climate change and the growing problem of waste. They were then given some advice on reducing energy and water consumption, increasing recycling, buying eco-friendly cleaning materials and taking part in the European Eco-Schools programme.

The project team decided to speak to caretakers and other buildings staff first because, as well as carrying out practical tasks such as operating and maintain-ing heating and lighting systems, they are often the ‘eyes and ears’ of the school and can have a great influence over the way that schools are run.

In addition, those schools, which are part of the Council's green energy contract (covering 50 buildings in total), received certificates to display in their buildings.

Ieuan Edwards, from Medway Council's Research and Review Team, said “We are very pleased at the initial response to this initiative. We are now looking at feedback and working on building on this success to develop further sessions for caretakers and other school staff. So far, it looks as though all of the participants at our launch event would be keen to be an ongoing part of GEMMS, and we will try and build on this to encourage more of our schools to take part in the future.”

Other speakers included Sally Morris, Gavin Goodwin and Sarah Dagwell form Medway Council, Henry Muss from Creative Environmental Networks, David Taylor from the LASER energy group and Alex McLelland from Premiere Products.

The launch event was part-funded by the EU Environmental Stewardship pro-ject, an international project which aims to improve environmental perfor-mance in partner organisations and to share good practice.

For further details, please contact Ieuan Edwards at Medway Councilon 01634 331490 or at [email protected]

From left to right: Gavin Goodwin (Medway Council), Sally Morris (Medway Council), David Taylor (LASER), Ieuan Edwards (Medway Council) and Henry Muss (Creative Environmental Networks)

4

Kyoto Comes into Force On 16 February 2005, the Kyoto treaty against global warm-ing came into force with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urging the world to save the planet by adding to the limits on greenhouse gases and the UN Environment Chief stressing that many in the United States, the world’s top polluter, support the protocol despite the US Government’s opposition.

Under the Kyoto Protocol to the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), industrialized countries are to reduce their combined emissions of six major greenhouse gases during the five-year period from 2008 to 2012 to below 1990 levels.

So far 140 countries have ratified the accord. The Euro-pean Union and Japan, for example, are to cut these emis-sions by 8% and 6% respectively. For many countries, achieving the Kyoto targets will be a major change that will require new policies and new approaches.

“By itself, the Protocol will not save humanity from the dan-gers of climate change,” Mr. Annan said in a video mes-sage to a celebratory ceremony in the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto, where it was negotiated in 1997. “So let us celebrate today, but let us not be complacent.

HECA Award Winner EastPennine Region 2004Jane Mears won the East Pennine HECA award in 2004 for her discounted energy scheme for owner-occupiers and privately rented accommodation. Jane details below the successes of the project and its plans for the next year.

“Since February 2000 I have been responsible for energy efficiency in the private sector within the Housing Renewals Team of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council. Initially, I was supported by a HECA Officer until July 2002, since which time that post has remained vacant. As a part time officer, I have seen the need to involve as many partners, both from the public and private sectors, to ensure that the East Riding HECA objectives are met.

I have developed, on my own initiative, a number of proactive schemes centred on grants and subsidies bring-ing in leverage from the private sector. One of the main achievements of 2003-2004 has been the development of a reduced cost insulation scheme for those not eligible for Warm Front in East Riding. The need for this was identified due to stock condition surveys that I had previously been involved in, which indicated that a substantial number of private sector households had little or no insulation.

In September 2002, I put together a capital appraisal bid to try to obtain local authority finance for 2003-2005 to subsi-dise insulation for these homes. The arguments I put forward were based on the needs to comply with the HECA targets and, in doing so, link with the Council's community aims of improved health, greater prosperity and a healthy environ-ment.

Approval for the scheme was granted in February 2003 and, in April 2003, I set about tendering for a utility to pro-

I call on the world community to be bold, to adhere to the Kyoto Protocol, and to act quickly in taking the next steps. There is no time to lose,” he added.

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Joke Waller-Hunter, in the keynote address, pointed to indications of climate change just in the past seven years. “Changes to polar ice, glaciers and rainfall regimes have already occurred,” she said. “We see an increasing number of extreme weather events, such as droughts, floods and hurricanes. While more research is needed, these alarming signals, confirmed by the scientific community, keep climate change high on the political and business agendas in many countries.”

UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Klaus Toepfer took to task those who claim that the Protocol “is more dead than alive” without the United States, which accounts for about 24 per cent of global fossil fuel-related carbon dioxide emissions - about twice those of China, the world’s second largest emitter - according to figures from the US Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center.

“While the Government of the United States has decided against the Kyoto treaty, many individual states in America are adopting or planning to adopt greenhouse gas reduc-tions in line with the spirit of the Protocol,” he said in a mes-sage.

Winter Survival CampaignLiverpool City Council's Annual Winter Survival Campaign was held on 19 November 2004 at St Georges Hall and was opened by Councilor Ron Gould.

The day was a great success with approximately 400 members of the public attending, all of whom went away with something from the day, including energy saving light bulbs, flu jabs, advice and leaflets regarding: energy efficiency, healthy eating, fire safety, pensions, crime prevention and much more. There was also a raffle on the day with various prizes ranging from a food hamper, an electric blanket to a wind-up radio.

The event was publicised widely by use of flyers and posters and by the A Team (Radio Merseyside) who contributed greatly by publicising the event for a whole week prior to the day, ensuring there was a good turn out from members of the public throughout Liverpool.

The Chinese Community was targeted for the event with the use of translated flyers and posters, due to their locality to the venue. Chinese Health Link workers helped publicise the event in their community. Also on the day, due to the positive turn out from the Chinese community, translators were provided. There was a Tai Chi demonstration per-formed by Kwong Tam Merseyside School of Tai Chi, who encouraged everyone to join in the exercises. There was also some entertainment from various singers on the day.

As a follow-on from the 19 November event, Liverpool City Council will be holding a further four Road Shows throughout the winter months but on a smaller scale in different venues across the city, to ensure everyone has the opportunity to come along and access the valuable information available.

- Richard Quinn (0151 225 3658) andGaile Connolly (0151 225 3738)


npower - Savings for Lifenpower is one of the UK's leading energy suppliers and draws on 50 years experience in supplying electricity and gas. npower offers a range of essential home and business services, to around 6 million residential cus-tomers across the UK.

The npower Energy Services team has been estab-lished since 1994 and is responsible for delivering ever-greater energy savings from the residential energy market. In April 2002, the Government introduced the Energy Efficiency Commitment (EEC) which signalled a significant step change in our energy efficiency activity. More recently, npower has responded posi-tively to the revised targets for the second phase of EEC (2005 to 2008). npower's Energy Services Team wel-come the opportunity to sponsor HECA Network News during 2005. In future editions we will continue to update you on our activity.

npower Savings for Life was launched in April 2003 with the primary objective of helping customers to realise the benefits of energy efficiency measures more readily. npower, in partnership with the public, private and voluntary sectors create projects and initiatives that offer customers access to a comprehensive range of energy efficiency advice, products and ser-vices including loft and cavity wall insulation, low energy light bulbs and energy efficient appliances.

Each week the Savings for Life programme brings about the installation of 350 high efficiency condens-ing boilers, 300 cavity wall or loft insulation jobs and 22,000 low energy light bulbs. By way of illustration some of npower's Savings for Life projects are described below.

Warm Wales - Cymru GynnesWarm Wales is a unique partnership between Neath Port Talbot Council, Transco's Affordable Warmth programme and npower aimed at improving the energy efficiency of all properties in the Borough of Neath Port Talbot - an area where there is a high inci-dence of fuel poverty.

The primary objective of Warm Wales is to reduce the 1number of residents in fuel poverty using a systematic

door to door methodology, starting with the most deprived wards in the Borough.

The three-year programme, the first of its kind in Wales, offers every household, regardless of income and ten-ure, assistance towards energy efficiency improve-ments, supported by npower. All households receiv-ing an assessment are given free low energy light

2bulbs, with priority group and fuel poor households qualifying for a number of free insulation and heating improvement measures.

In addition, npower is offering energy efficiency advice and a benefits health check for residents to help identify whether they could be eligible for additional benefits.

It is intended that energy efficiency measures will be installed in 80% of fuel poor homes by Autumn 2007, thus improving the standard of living for local residents.npower's Energy Services Manager, Mike Lock, com-mented:

“I believe the most effective approach to alleviating fuel poverty is to work in collaborative partnership with oth-ers, in a targeted focused way, to improve the health and living conditions of the more vulnerable people in its communities. "

Energy ServicesAlongside projects such as Warm Wales, npower has delivered the largest energy services proposition in the UK, which has been hailed as the most comprehensive package in the market. The groundbreaking 'Savings for Life' insulation scheme consists of a home survey, home energy report, cavity and/or loft insulation, low energy lamps and the offer of finance to spread the cost.

npower's A1-Boilers is an innovative approach to high effi-ciency heating formed in partnership with installers, mer-chant, manufacturers and npower. The result was an effective mechanism for installing high efficiency con-densing boilers into the owner-occupier sector of the market. Such was its effectiveness in the market that the A1-Boilers scheme won the H&V News 2004 award for Environmental Initiative of the Year.

In support of the Energy Saving Trust's most recent 'You can make a difference' national campaign, npower are currently offering both cavity wall and loft insulation for

3as little as £109 each .

Visit www.npower.com/makeadifference for further information or call 0845 6024696 to arrange a free survey and quotation.

We welcome opportunities to discuss the incorporation of our programme into local initiatives for the overall ben-efit of residential energy customers. The npower Energy Services team can be contacted via email:[email protected]

1. A fuel poor household is defined as a household that spends more than 10% of their disposable income to heat their home to a comfortable standard.

2. Under the EEC (2002 - 2005) a priority group household is one in receipt of at least one of the following benefits: Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support, Working Tax Credit (with an annual household income of less than £14,200), Child Tax Credit (with an annual household income of less than £14,200), Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (where it includes Constant Attendance Allowance), War Disablement Pension, Pension Credit.

3. Subject to terms & conditions.

HECA Network News is sponsored by:

2

TADEA put Ideas into PracticeTees and Durham Energy advice Limited (TADEA) is a not-for-profit organisation, formed to deliver a range of new and existing projects to residents and small busi-nesses throughout the North East. On July 1 2004, TADEA moved from of its office in Belasis Hall Technology Park to larger premises 100m away .

Features of the office include:

! 5 sunpipes in the ceiling that allow natural daylight into the darker areas of the office. Reducing the need for electrical lighting that is not needed unless gloomy conditions prevail

! Intelligent lighting controls for communal areas and efficient office lighting. ! A condensing boiler fitted with Eco Burn intelligent heating controls.

Condensing boilers are 30% more efficient than conventional ones. The Eco Burn heating controls helps to maximise the boilers efficiency.

! A Zen Solar panel that contributes to the offices hot water needs. The solar panel is being promoted by Tees Valley Energy Savers and interested mem-bers of the public can view it upon appointment.

! A small 1KW wind turbine being provided by Wind-save. 1 of 30 early bird installations.

! Maximum standards of insulation and a wall demonstrating the application of Sematap solid wall insulation.

David Lacey, General Manager of TADEA, said "We regard the office as a dem-onstration project. We would like councils, other organisations and businesses to come and have a look at what can be achieved”.

- Dan Ludgate

Breaking Down the Barriers to Using Renewable EnergyImproving understanding about renewable energy technology to increase its use is the aim of a new toolkit launched on Thursday 23 September by Deputy Mayor of Lon-don, Nicky Gavron.

Lack of information, concern over difficulties of installation and per-ceived costs often hold back plan-ners and developers from moving from the use of traditional polluting energy sources to clean renewable energy technologies. The London Renewables Toolkit and training package aims to break down these barriers.

The toolkit aims to show that renew-able technologies are cost effective, easy to install and well suited to urban areas such as London espe-cially on properties that are energy efficient. It offers examples of best practice and funding schemes avail-able to planners, developers, archi-tects and others. A series of free train-ing sessions for planners and devel-opers on how to apply the toolkit will also be offered by London Renew-ables.

Deputy Mayor Nicky Gavron said: 'London uses a huge amount of energy resources and is expected to expand by the size of the city of Leeds by 2016. This will only increase our contribution to climate change unless we have a real sea change in the way we use energy and in the types of energy that we use. The world is urbanising very quickly, and if we don't solve sustainability in our existing cities, we won't be able to tackle it anywhere'.

Planning policy now requires the use of renewables. The London Plan spe-cifically requires major develop-ments to include energy efficient and renewable technologies and design, and the Mayor's Energy Strategy expects that ten per cent of a new development's energy demands come from renewable energy on site. Renewable technol-ogy is not just an option for those par-ticularly concerned for the environ-ment, it is a must for all new develop-ments in London. What is more, Lond-oners support the use of renewable energy. The recent London Rene-wables poll by Mori showed that 81

per cent of Londoners think renewables are a good idea.

This Toolkit is an invaluable and essential resource for all those in local govern-ment, planning departments and the development and construction indus-tries who are meeting the challenge.

The project has the backing of new Energy Minister Mike O'Brien who said: “In the battle to reduce climate cha-nge, the toolkit should help the people in London who can make a difference in meeting the Government's target of pro-ducing ten per cent of our energy needs from renewable sources by 2010.”

Copies of the training package can be found at: www.london.gov.uk/mayor/Environment/energy/London_renew.jsp

London Renewables is a body set up by the Mayor of London in 2003 to ensure that London meets its renew-able energy targets. It is part funded by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), comprises representatives of the Greater London Authority, the London Development Agency, the Assoc-iation of London Government, the Government Office for London, EDF Energy, London First, Imperial College London, London Sustainability Exch-ange, Renewable Power Association, solarcentury Creative Environmental Networks and the London Environment Coordinators Forum.

- Suzanne [email protected]

London Renewables

TADEA's new energy efficient offices

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