Green Deal Or Not Good Deal

I was invited lately to the release of the England and Wales Green Deal presentations, to those in local industries interested in working on this project in the UK.

Having worked on the skills element of the Northern Ireland “Green New Deal”, I was intrigued to hear what was on offer to local business. Three sector skills bodies were involved in the seminar setting out the needs and the likely routes that will implement the policy.

The premise is that the UK needs to become more energy efficient to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to climate change, having already committed to achieving a 34% reduction in CO2 emissions (compared to 1990 levels) by 2020. To achieve these targets, the Government has set legallybinding carbon budgets across all sectors of the UK economy including our homes, communities and workplaces.

Reducing the demand for energy and eliminating wasted energy is one of the most cost effective ways of reducing carbon emissions. To do this, we all need to make our homes and workplaces more energy efficient and need to look for lower carbon energy sources.

The Green Deal arrangement will create a new financing mechanism to promote a range of energy efficiency measures, starting with whole house solutions and basics such as heating controls or loft insulation, to be installed in people’s homes and businesses at no up-front cost. Participating energy utility companies and accredited retailers such as Tesco, B&Q and Marks & Spencer and others will be seen as ‘Green Deal Providers’, providing customers across the UK with qualityassured work to their homes.

It worries me that sales companies will be the key provision bodies with no historical background in professional energy management and assessment. Sales companies with no historical background or visible experience sets alarm bells ringing for me. The ideal as presented seems to stagger ‘headlong’ into a process where existing EPC assessors, along with other energy assessors, will be upskilled with short courses and allowed to deliver a full energy assessment package to some poor unsuspecting souls. Before all the EPC assessors ‘run for their guns’ – let me explain. For anyone to go into a property to assess and then deliver a complete energy scenario is a massive undertaking. Energy assessment cannot be taken lightly, considering the high tariff skill sets required to professionally assess and specify energy measures. This for a quick political tick box exercise is a scary prospect, if the energy performance certificate experience is anything to go by.

Firstly, I firmly believe that the first survey must be conducted by a professional building surveyor who can decide on the integrity of the structure walls, roof, dampproofing levels etc before any decision can made.

Then the fun begins – is there anyone out there who possesses the ability to look at the property, its occupational lifestyle, geographical location (including microclimate, solar orientation) family energy needs and then prescribe a list of possible improvements that reflect best practice?

Knowledge of all the existing technologies, modern materials and control devices available are needed to provide the optimum costed energy solution for the householder. I seriously doubt that such an animal exists, and if he/she does, I take my hat off to him/her.

This is by any stretch of the imagination a difficult scenario, considering the range of technologies, modern materials, applications techniques and cost efficiencies based on geographical information, application running hours and what the customer can afford.

Let me for instance take renewable technologies as an example, with a quick list of the basics:

Wind power (large scale, small scale, community based)
Heat pumps (water, air and ground source)
Biomass (manual, automated)
Micro CHP (gas driven, gas fuel cell)
Solar thermal (flat panel, evacuated tube)
Photovoltaic PV-T (stand alone or heat pump integrated)

Who can specialise in all of these technologies and provide sound advice to a householder and then relate to the existing services within the property? The main areas that can be addressed in saving energy costs have been common knowledge for many years, insulation, heating controls, glazing, only heat what you need heated, and so on.

This is the main funding need, help the needy, old and infirm people in fuel poverty with funded low-cost solutions. We can’t expect these people to fund material changes to their homes.

Therefore what real benefits can be gained by rushing to devise an army of assessors and worryingly salesmen who will, if let loose, cause major heartache to simply make a quick buck?

That’s what the EPC market has now turned into, with assessments being carried out today for as little as £40 (real dedicated EPC assessors know what I’m talking about on costs at present).

The fundamentals for the Green deal:

Green Deal Provider: will offer the plan to consumers enabling them to finance work recommended by an accredited adviser and undertaken by an accredited installer.

Green Deal Accredited Advisor/Assessor: will carry out property energy assessments, produce an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)2 which will make recommendations as to the eligible energy efficiency measures using the Green Deal funding mechanism, to be passed to the Green Deal Provider.

The assessor will also give advice to the occupier of the property on energy saving behaviour and improvements.

Green Deal Accredited Installer: will survey properties for the measures that they have expertise in specifying and installing and will install the measures according to the agreed manufacturer instructions and quality standards. There must be change in our energy usage patterns and the Green Deal is an excellent ideal but it’s important that it’s of value, quality led and helps those in need, not a vehicle for salesmen to build up their bank accounts.

“Knowledge is power, perceived knowledge is a disaster.”