Promoting energy efficiency in low income homes

I was once told that you can be certain of two things in life: death and taxes.

With the economy currently in free-fall and UK energy companies having to navigate particularly sensitive relationships with their suppliers, I think we should add at least one more certainty to that list. Gas and electricity bills will continue to rise.

Not a pleasant thought, but one that requires consideration. Of course, it doesn’t help the average householder for their buildings to haemorrhage energy like no-one’s business.

Tenants of rented accommodation are often at the mercy of their landlords when it comes to energy performance. They also tend to be poorer than those who own their own homes and less able to cope with the financial consequences of fuel poverty caused by badly insulated or draughty accommodation.

This constitutes an emergency for low-income homes. A simple, yet effective, remedy is required.

Groundwork’s Green Doctor programme will soon be on-call to help cash-strapped householders by giving them advice and assistance that will improve the energy efficiency of their homes and save them money. Hundreds of homes in the southeast of England and south Wales will get a thorough health-check from our ‘Green Doctors’ to treat the symptoms of fuel poverty.

The scheme will see fully trained experts make free house calls in North London, Slough and Reading and south Wales to conduct energy use audits. Using a combination of technical and non-technical measures, from fitting draught excluders to topping up loft insulation, the two-year programme will help 1,250 households save £100,000 while reducing CO2 emissions by up to 680 tonnes.

The UK’s only not-for-profit energy supplier Ebico, which is backing the Green Doctors with a commitment to £120,000 funding through The Ebico Trust, is supporting the initiative as part of its Fuel Poverty Challenge – a commitment to reduce fuel bills in low-income households by £1,000,000 this year.

Ebico’s support builds on the success of our very first Green Doctor programmes in Leicester and Leeds. In a three-year period Green Doctors in Leicestershire visited 265 low-income homes each year and reduced carbon emissions by 68.15 tonnes with financial savings of £9,971. Green Doctors in Leeds visited 200 low-income homes in one year and reduced carbon emissions by 188.7 tonnes with financial savings on average of £110 per household. 

The medicine clearly works, but the approach goes way beyond energy efficiency. 

Our Green Doctors won’t just visit homes to hand out light-bulbs and loft insulation, although that’s obviously important. Like any other doctor they’ll also tell the patient what they need to do to stay fit and healthy.

For example, turning down your thermostat just a couple of degrees can result in visible cost savings. Composting and recycling can be easy ways to do your bit for the environment. It’s about educating people.

It’s about helping them to apply for grant aid for home improvements. It’s about helping them take action to gear up for tackling climate change.

To reinterpret an old saying:  if you give a man an energy efficient light bulb, he’ll save energy for as long as it lasts. Teach him how take small steps to make his home more energy efficient, and he’ll be able to save energy forever.