Jun
1
Written by:
epcassessor
6/1/2010 4:23 PM
The COALITION parties have agreed to implement a full programme of measures to fulfil their joint ambitions for a low carbon, eco-friendly, and energy efficient economy. They have also agreed, subject to advice from the Climate Change Committee, to increase the energy target from renewable sources.
Andrew Morphet, Managing Director of Synergy Property Services Ltd., has been looking into what this means for investors, manufacturing and individuals in the UK.
"The detail of Government energy policy is still to be released as there is a vast amount of work needed to move from intent to action but, I believe the huge potential benefits to the environment could be matched by a much needed boost to employment and investment and financial benefits for every household."
It is easy to see how much needed work on energy infrastructure would create employment, but how would this benefit the average household? Andrew continues:
“The Government is committed to the establishment of a ‘Smart Grid’: A key feature of the Smart Grid is that it will allow the input of energy from a huge variety and number of sources and will encourage the input of energy generated by renewable technology.
Households that install photo-voltaic panels will not only generate free electricity for their own use, but will also be able to export surplus energy back to the grid. Many homes need very little energy during the day, industry and commerce create maximum energy demand during the day: So households can export their day time surplus energy into the grid where it can be used by industry and commerce (and of course vice versa at night).
There is already a beneficial feed-in tariff (users are paid more for the energy they export than they pay to the utility company for what they import) but the promise of establishing a full feed-in tariff will encourage this.”
This all sounds encouraging but who is going to finance the capital costs involved? Andrew comments:
“It could be very quick and simple to make provision for the cost of home energy improvement to be met by the savings from lower energy bills if you grant a home (not the owner) a loan for energy improvement. I believe doing this is crucial to the improvement of housing in the UK.
A qualified Energy Assessor could evaluate the property and propose the energy saving measures needed, the cost of implementation and the potential energy and cost savings that would result. A loan could then be provided with the repayments being equivalent to the reduction in energy bills.
In the short term, the cost to the householder would be neutral. In the longer term, once the loan was repaid, the energy savings would benefit the home owner in the form of lower energy bills."
Would this require the training of people to do the energy assessments? Andrew is quite clear on this:
“There are already people qualified to do this work: they are called Domestic Energy Assessors (DEAs). They identify energy saving improvements when they preparing Energy Performance Certificates, so would just need to add to their existing skills in order to understand the cost of works they are recommending; this could easily be added to the system they use to produce EPCs.
This really is something that could be introduced in a matter of weeks if the Government is serious. Chris Huhne (Secretary of State at the Department for Energy and Climate Change), Eric Pickles (Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government) and Grant Shapps (Housing Minister) are welcome to call us for some help!”
You can too, if you would like help with EPCs, saving money on energy or reducing your carbon footprint: Call Andrew direct on 07931 791195 or email him.