Energy efficiency and
domestic renewables
What works and how to fund it
David White ACA, MSc
Renewable Energy and
the Built Environment (CAT)
22 November 2011
Content
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A bit of context and the scale of the challenge
Free and low cost energy efficiency measures
More expensive energy efficiency measures
Current sources of funding and advice
The Green Deal
The Feed-in Tariff scheme
The Renewable Heat Incentive scheme
Transition Town West Kirby Energy Group
Aims
• To highlight some of the ways in which you can save
energy and reduce your bills
• Where you might get funding for energy efficiency
measures – now and in the future
• Point you towards sources of reliable information
• No marketing or selling of services
• NOT specific advice – depends on individual
circumstances
A bit of context
• UK Government has set a legally binding target of an 80%
cut in carbon emissions by 2050
• Through our use of gas and electricity, the UK’s homes
are responsible for around a quarter of the UK’s carbon
emissions
• Emissions from homes need to be near zero by 2050
• Around 80% of the houses standing today will still be in
use in 2050 – almost all will need refurbishing
• This equates to refurbishing a house every minute for the
next 40 years
The state of our homes
• There are around 26 million homes in the UK (ex. NI)
• Amongst the oldest and least energy efficient homes in
Europe
• We spent £33 billion pounds on heating and lighting our
homes in 2010
We have a lot of old houses
Millions
Measuring the energy efficiency of our homes
Energy Performance Certificates
EPC ratings of UK homes
EPC rating and energy bills
• Average Band G energy bill - £2,200 per year
• Average Band B energy bill - £530 per year
• Moving from a Band D to a Band B is likely to halve your
annual energy costs
What does a Band B home look like?
• For a 1950s semi-detached house:
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Loft insulation to depth of 270mm
Cavity wall insulation and internal insulation
Ground floor insulation
High performance double glazing
Either condensing combi boiler or condensing boiler with well
insulated water tank and pipework
– 100% dedicated low energy efficient fixed light fittings
All of which adds up to a substantial bill and lots of
disruption if you wanted to do all of these things
Rising domestic energy bills
Combined gas and electricity bills have almost doubled
since 2003
Where do we use energy in our homes?
What influences how much energy we
use in our homes?
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Type of property – detached, semi, terrace, etc.
How old/draughty/insulated it is
The fuel used to heat the house – gas, electric, other
Efficiency of your boiler – type and controls
How many people live in the property
The age of the people living in the property
How you use your home
– Occupancy - in during the day or at work?
– Behaviour - turning lights off, thermostat temperature, etc.
Points highlighted in red are areas you can influence
Free and low cost energy efficiency measures
(by no means an exhaustive list!)
Savings
are per
year
Replace shower
head
Switch appliances
off
Cost - £25
Saving - £70-£140
Cost – £0
Saving - £40
Use heating system
efficiently
Switch supplier/
payment method
Cost - £0
Saving - £55
Cost - £0
Saving - £130
Insulate water tank
and pipes
Install/top up loft
insulation
Install cavity wall
insulation
Cost – £25
Saving - £55
Cost – £0
Saving – up to £175
Cost – £0
Saving – up to £135
Wash at 30ºC
Cost – £0
Saving – up to £150
Draught proofing
Cost - £120/240
Saving - £115
The Energy Saving Trust estimates some people could save 25% of their
energy bill through low and zero cost energy efficiency measures
More expensive energy efficiency measures
Replace boiler
• Typical cost £2,300 – save up to £300 a year
• Be careful if you’re thinking about solar
thermal
Double glazing
• Cost varies widely: £3,300-£6,500
• Save around £165 annually
Solid wall
insulation
• Internal: £5,500-£8,500
• External: £9,400-£13,000
• Save around £500 annually
Take advantage of and preserve opportunities
• If undertaking home improvements, use the
opportunity to install energy efficiency measures
– Install internal wall insulation when replacing kitchen or
bathroom fittings
– Install mixer shower if replacing old electric shower
• Also worth preserving opportunities
– Extend eaves when re-roofing to allow for future
installation of external wall insulation
– Postpone window replacement and install alongside solid
wall insulation
Current sources of funding for energy
efficiency measures
• Warmer Wirral – 0800 512 012
– Open to all Wirral residents
– Provides free cavity wall and loft insulation (if <150mm)
• Energy Saving Trust – 0800 512 012
– Has a grants and discount database by postcode
– What’s available largely depends on your circumstances
– Strongly recommend calling them for free, impartial advice
• Your energy supplier
– May offer other measures for qualifying households
Current sources of funding for energy
efficiency measures (cont.)
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Warm Front – www.direct.gov.uk
– Government scheme aimed at people on certain income-related
benefits
– Funds improvements costing up to £3,500
• CosyLoans – www.wirral.gov.uk
– Interest-free loans of between £200 and £2,000 from Wirral
Borough Council for homeowners and landlords
– Funds specific energy efficiency measures
• Wirral Home Improvement Agency/Handyperson Service
– Some limited financial assistance for property repairs
– Handyperson service for elders and vulnerable people
– Contact number 0151 691 8090/691 8371
Houston, we have a problem…
• We need to refurbish 26 million homes and 2 million
industrial buildings by 2050, preferably sooner
• Estimated cost of £400 billion
• Upfront cost is seen as a major barrier by
householders, particularly in the current economic
climate
• The Government’s proposed solution is the ‘Green
Deal’, due to be launched in Autumn 2012
How does the Green Deal work?
• Still waiting for the consultation document to be
published, so this could all change!
• In a nutshell, it’s a Pay-As-You-Save scheme:
– You will be able to install a suitable package of measures at
no upfront cost to you, using a loan of up to £6,500
– Repay the loan over 20-25 years using the savings you
make on your energy bill
– The savings you make must be more than the cost of the
loan (the ‘Golden Rule’)
– If you move out, the loan stays with the property not you
Looks a bit like this…
Current
annual
energy
bill
£200
Green Deal charge
£700
Annual energy bill
after Green Deal
package
£1,000
How do you get a Green Deal?
Assessment
Finance
Installation
Repayment
And there’s more help for those that
need it…
• An Energy Company Obligation (ECO) will also be
introduced as part of the Green Deal
• Will be used as:
– A subsidy of up to £3,500 (or more?) which is added to the
Green Deal loan to help pay for more expensive measures,
e.g. solid wall insulation
– Or will subsidise the cost of a Green Deal package for those
who can’t afford to heat their home properly and may not
see any savings on their energy bills after Green Deal
measures have been installed
Feed-in Tariff scheme (FITs)
• Introduced in April 2010 to encourage the uptake of
small scale renewable electricity generation
• Photovoltaics (PV), aka ‘solar panels’, have been by far
the most popular technology due to:
– Level of financial return and ease of installation, e.g. don’t
usually need planning permission for standard domestic
installations
– FITs payment is guaranteed for 25 years, tax-free and index
linked
Level of tariff to be cut from 12.12.11
• Government recently announced a 50% cut in the tariff
for PV:
– Will pay 21p/kWh for systems accredited on or after 12
December instead of 43.3p/kWh
– New rate intended to provide a return on investment of
4.5%-5.0%
– Government is currently consulting on whether homes
need to meet a minimum standard of energy efficiency
before qualifying for this rate
– One suggestion is a home will need to be in Band ‘C ‘or
better, otherwise will only get 9p/kWh
– This new requirement coming into force from April 2012
Is PV still a good idea?
• From a financial perspective, depends on a number
of factors:
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How good is your site? Orientation? Shading? Roof size?
How much the system costs to install
How long you plan on living in the property
How sunny it is!
• From a carbon saving perspective?
– Reducing energy consumption first almost certainly more
carbon (and cost) effective, e.g. insulation
– If you’ve already done lots of energy efficiency measures
then definitely worth considering
The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)
• A new incentive scheme being introduced alongside the
Green Deal next year to support domestic scale
renewable heat generation
• Technologies covered by the scheme likely to include
biomass boilers, solar thermal, ground and air source
heat pumps
• For the time being, the Government has introduced the
Renewable Heat Premium Payment, which provides a
voucher towards the cost of installing some technologies
Renewable Heat Premium Payment
(RHPP)
RHPP
voucher
Typical cost of
domestic
system
Solar thermal hot water
£300
£4,000-5,000
£55
0.23 tonnes
Air Source Heat Pump
£850
£6,000-£10,000
£130
0.80 tonnes
£1,250
£9,000-£17,000
£130
0.80 tonnes
£950
£5,000-£12,000
£100
3.00 tonnes
Technology
Ground Source Heat Pump
Biomass Boiler
Typical
Annual carbon
annual saving saving versus
versus gas
gas
• Once the RHI comes in, you should receive a payment for every kWh
of heat you generate
• Currently don’t know how much the payment will be or how the
scheme will work in practice
• Basically, other than the RHPP, all of this is TBC!
The Green Deal and renewable energy
• Nothing confirmed yet, but looks unlikely that you
will be able to have renewables installed as part of a
Green Deal package without covering most of the
cost yourself
• All speculation at the moment, but the imminent
consultation document should tell us what the
Government’s current thinking is
Transition Town West Kirby energy group
• Currently, TTWK doesn’t have an energy group, but there
are numerous examples of successful groups in other
Transition Towns
• We’d like to launch one here if enough people are
interested in getting involved
• If you are interested, please provide your contact details
and we’ll be in touch
• If you’d just like to be kept informed about the group’s
activities and events, then there’s an option for that as
well
• We will not to pass your details on to anyone else
What sort of things have other energy
groups done?
Draught
busting packs
Advice and
information
Group discount
schemes
Community
renewable
energy projects
Eco-home
open days
Schools
But it’s entirely up to those involved to decide what they’d like to do
Conclusions
• We face a huge challenge to refurbish our homes to a
high standard of energy efficiency
• The Government is hoping the Green Deal will provide
the answer
• There is some help out there
• Contact the Energy Saving Trust for free, impartial advice
• The FITs and RHI schemes will provide some support for
domestic scale renewable energy
• TTWK would like to start up an energy group to help the
local community reduce its energy consumption (and
bills!)
Thanks for listening
Any questions?