The Green Deal plans to roll out retrofits on existing buildings across the country, helping us achieve the carbon emission reductions of 80% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. It will provide loans for energy efficiency which apply to the house rather than the owner and aim to be a ‘one-stop shop’ giving advice on grants and other information. Service suppliers like M&S and B&Q are expected to play a major role.
The SEA runs the Old Home Superhome Project which won an Ashden Award in 2009 for encouraging people to green their older properties by ‘superhome’ owners opening their doors to the public. As a member of the Existing Homes Alliance, SEA has helped prepare a report and recommendations for the Government on how to accelerate low carbon retrofits across the UK. The report supports the Green Deal, but sets out some of the practical challenges to bringing it in:
“There is substantial work to be done on developing the policies, frameworks and mechanisms that will make the Green Deal a success.”
John Doggart believes the biggest challenge is increasing capacity:
“The Green Deal simply won’t work if we don’t start building up our knowledge, skills and infrastructure right now. There are not enough people trained or experienced in the green building sector at present. It could also be a fantastic opportunity to create new jobs during these difficult economic times.”
“Indeed, some aspects of retrofitting are highly specialised, requiring more research. How do we ensure that there is adequate ventilation for insulation to perform properly in our climate? In some European countries there has already been mass scale retrofitting but these countries have different climates to ours. They don’t have the same problems of damp and old, leaky building stock that we have. “
There are approximately 26 million homes in the UK that could benefit from the Green Deal.
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
John Doggart says biggest challenge facing Green Deal is "building up our knowledge, skills and infrastructure"
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
UK faces double whammy of price rises and Arctic weather
The UK faces a double-whammy this month of price rises for gas and electricity (here here, and here) and the arrival of a blast of Arctic weather.
It's a good moment to check out our Ashden winners for home insulation (here and here) and remind ourselves of the achievements of Ashden school winners in making energy reductions.
See also Mike on saving £500 on his energy bills, Juliet on how to turn a small, cold, dark house into a Superhome and Simon on how the government's policy is shifting on fuel poverty.
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
TV viewers get a tour of Juliet's SuperHome
Juliet's SuperHome was featured on last night's Anglia Tonight. It's online now. The intro runs:
For many of us, winter energy bills are a huge worry- but now a family from Essex have been showing how achieving 'superhome' status can change that. The refurbished house in Tollesbury has reduced its carbon footprint by at least 60 per cent.
How to turn a small, cold, dark house into a SuperHome
This Sunday you can visit Juliet's SuperHome
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
ITV visits house with energy bills of less than £100 a year
In September Mike visited The Recycled House at the same time as ITV's Meridian Tonight. The cost of renovations and energy-saving refurbishments at The Recycled House has been £140,000 (with about half of that spent on energy-savings). The result? The Recycled House has cut its carbon emissions by 90%.
Meridian Tonight was impressed by a house with energy bills of less than £100 a year:
“Green technologies like solar panels and tapping into natural heat from the ground are revolutionising the way we light and warm our homes."
Watch the video, which includes an interview with Mike.
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Most popular 10 blogs in October
We've just checked the stats to see which blog had the most visits last month. The winner was the solar-powered lamp, with Juliet's SuperHome (a late entry) attracting a lot of interest in the last few days. Jo's visit to the biogas plant at SKG - published in March - is still in the Top 10.
1. Will solar-powered lamp be 100th Object of the World? (12 October 2010)
2. How to turn a small, cold, dark house into a SuperHome (27 October 2010)
3. Didcot pilots an energy source close to home (5 October 2010)
4. What the twitterverse thinks of the 100th Object (14 October 2010)
5. When electricity boards went on the offensive (27 October 2010)
6. Mike set to save £500-£600 on gas and electricity (29 October 2010)
7. Solar-powered lamp revealed as 100th Object (14 October 2010)
8. Brazil's ex-energy minister could become 'most powerful woman in the world' (7 October 2010)
9. Jo sees installation of biogas plant at SKG (10 March 2010)
10. Dulas brings Endurance wind turbines to the UK (31 August 2010)
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
This Sunday you can visit Juliet's SuperHome
Last week we reported in how to turn a small, cold, dark house into a superhome on how Juliet, Ashden's Media and PR Manager, had transformed her three-bedroom Edwardian terrace house in Essex.
Her local paper, Maldon and Burnham Standard, devoted two pages to the story and quoted Juliet, saying:
"We want people to see how warm and comfy the house is and that you don't have to spend loads of money."
Now people can see for themselves. This Sunday Juliet and her partner Ian Daglish (pictured) are opening their SuperHome in Wycke Lane, Tollesbury to the public between 11am and 3pm. More info: juliet@julietheller.co.uk
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
How to turn a small, cold, dark house into a SuperHome
As part of Energy Saving Week, Juliet Heller, the Ashden Awards Media and PR Manager, writes about moving to Essex and converting an Edwardian terraced house that had felt "small, cold and dark" into an officially-accredited SuperHome. The aim was to show how green an old house could be.
The story so far
The eco scheme
The house met our main criteria: it required a complete refurbishment and it had a South facing aspect.
Typically Edwardian, the main house has a square footprint with a two storey rear addition. The ground floor was divided into a living room, dining room and kitchen with a 60s extension at the rear to house a bathroom and toilet. It felt small, cold and dark, but that was soon to change dramatically.
The refurbishment project was managed by Ian, who's an experienced building contractor with an engineering background and longstanding interest in sustainability. Ian’s aim was to contradict a prevailing belief that older properties could not be “green” and demonstrate that they could be made super energy efficient - at an affordable price.The scheme for the house involved re-designing the ground floor to make it completely open plan, and installing extensive glazing on the rear, to bring more light and warm sun into the house. It also included a loft conversion to accommodate a guest room and office.
The house was planned and equipped to be as energy efficient as possible, using insulation, renewable energy and smart environmental design. Within four months the refurbishment was complete and the three of us moved into an attractive, light and spacious new home.
Creating a ‘SuperHome’
We undertook a range of measures to reduce the carbon impact of the house:
Solar thermal gain: passive solar gain occurs when a house benefits from the internal heat generated by the low sun during winter months. The open plan design and installation of glazing on the South facing elevation heat the house through the natural power of the sun, at zero cost.
Efficient wood burning stove: the wood burning stove is integral to the scheme. The original chimney breast was widened to allow for a 10 kilowatt convection stove. With the open plan design, its heat radiates and warms the whole house, and the temperature can be regulated by opening or closing bedroom doors. Only seasoned, locally-sourced hardwoods are used.
Solar hot water: solar panels on the kitchen roof are South-facing and during April to October they provide at least 90% of the household’s hot water.
Insulation: insulation was installed during the loft conversion thus removing a large cold area within the house. Unusually for a property of its age, the house had cavity walls. Once this had been established, all four houses in the terrace were able to benefit from cavity wall insulation.
Electricity consumption: all domestic appliances are A-rated for energy efficiency and clothes are dried outside. The majority of the lights throughout the house are low energy, and less efficient overhead halogen lights are used as little as possible. We track the energy consumption with an OWL energy monitor, switching off lights and appliances when they are not needed.
Secondary heating: an oil condensing boiler (there is no gas in the village) was fitted for back up heating and hot water but is not required during summer months. At colder times of year the wood stove, passive solar gain and solar water heating heat the house and water.
Water: as 30% of domestic water consumption goes down the pan, a dual flush toilet was a must. The family opts for showers instead of baths as they consume a fraction of water. An unforeseen benefit was a sealed well in the back garden previously used to supply the terrace for domestic needs and is now used to water the plants.
What are the benefits of a low carbon home?
The house is warm and comfortable to live in, as well as bright and airy thanks to the building design and the harnessing of the natural heat of the sun. It also requires very little electricity, water and fuel, as the yearly bills confirm. With such low electricity and water use, the utility companies were initially regularly in contact to check whether the meters were accurate!The combination of the wood burner acting as the household’s primary heat source, and the use of solar hot water, annual heating bills have been slashed by more than 75% compared with an equivalent house.
More to do
Next year we hope to install high-efficiency sash windows and a new sealed front door to further draught-proof the house.
Another aim is to replace all overhead halogen lighting in the living area and loft with efficient LED lights.
What is a “SuperHome”?
Having reduced its CO2 emissions by 62%, in 2009, the house achieved SuperHome status from the Sustainable Energy Academy and National Energy Foundation who together run the Old Home SuperHome Project, an alliance of exemplar low carbon homes across the UK.
Each SuperHome has been assessed for a range of energy efficiency criteria and found to have reduced its carbon footprint by over 60% compared to an equivalent home of its age and size. SuperHome owners hold regular open home days to encourage other home owners to take energy saving steps, helping the UK move towards its target to cut carbon emissions by 34% by 2020.
About us
Ian Daglish is a building consultant specialising in sustainable building refurbishments, with over 20 years’ experience as a building contractor. He has studied for an MSc in sustainable building from the Centre for Alternative Technology, the world’s leading centre for pioneering sustainable technologies.
Sunday, 24 October 2010
This week is "Energy Saving Week"
This week is Energy Saving Week. At the Energy Saving Trust - which helps people be more energy efficient in their homes and save money on their energy bills - they are going to concentrate on one area of energy efficiency each day:
Monday 25th Launch day
Tuesday 26th Insulation
Wednesday 27th Generate your own energy
Thursday 28th Energy saving products
Friday 29th Transport
This blog will also be hearing about energy efficiency from members of the Ashden Awards team. There will be reports and photographs from both Mike's eco-refurbishment of his new home and Juliet's success in turning her Edwardian terraced house in Essex, which had "felt small, cold and dark", into a SuperHome. We'll also hear about Sarah's visit over the weekend to another SuperHome, this one belonging to John Doggart, chairman of the Sustainable Energy Academy, an Ashden Award winner in 2009.
