Birmingham Energy Savers consultation

As part of my work as a BFOE volunteer working on the Final Demand campaign, this week I attended a consultation event on delivering the Green Deal in Birmingham, organised by the pioneering Birmingham Energy Savers project. 

In a nutshell, the Green Deal is a new government initiative aimed at reducing people’s energy use, thereby reducing their carbon emissions and alleviating fuel poverty, as well as creating jobs, in one fell swoop.

Through the scheme, people are able to improve the energy efficiency of their homes without having to pay for the costs upfront. Loft- and cavity-wall-insulation and efficient boilers are among the measures that can be taken to reduce energy wastage in the home, which of course reduces energy use. The work is paid for through people’s fuel bills, but with the ‘Golden Rule’ of the Green Deal – that the cost of the retrofit will not be more than the savings made on the bills – a net saving is still made.

Birmingham is the first local authority to be offering the Green Deal. Birmingham Energy Savers (BES) is a city council initiative which offers solar pv installations and energy advice to the people of Birmingham, aiming to reduce the city’s carbon emissions and create local jobs. Amazingly, it is the second largest refurbishment programme in the world!

BES is currently gearing up to start delivering the Green Deal later in the year when it goes live. Already they have conducted pilot tests and been finding partners to work with. Right now they are hammering out the finer details of how the real deal will work – and that is why they organised the consultation event that I went to.

The event was attended by a varied bunch, including housing associations, energy companies, consultants, contractors, renewable energy companies, councillors, business people – and BFOE!

We started with a presentation explaining the project and some of the potential problems it may face – such as the numerous very old properties that don’t meet the required standards. For example, some Victorian houses only have one wall layer, so can’t have cavity wall insulation (as they have no cavity!). I was pleased to hear that extra subsidies may be available for these houses.

We then broke out into three focus groups. BES asked us all for our input on three areas, to feed it into their continuing development of the project. Firstly my group focused on behaviour change – why it’s important, what can be changed and what resources are needed. With a representative of a housing association in our group, we spent some time discussed potential problems of offering the deal to social housing tenants, in particular people questioning why they have to pay for the work themselves – should the housing association not provide them with energy efficient homes in the first place? 

We all acknowledged the need to maintain a dialogue with ‘customers’, providing ongoing support rather than simply going in, doing the work, and then disappearing. This could be done with six-month follow-up consultations. With the installation of solar pv panels that provide free electricity, there is a danger that some people may actually become more frivolous with how they use that electricity. Smart meters – which allow people to clearly see how much energy they are using – may be a good way to engage people with how much energy they are actually using and encourage them to be more careful with it.

Our group then moved on to discuss customer satisfaction. Having work done on your house can be extremely disruptive, and if a house is having a full retrofit the tenant may have to move out of it while the work is being done, so ensuring minimal disruption is a high priority for ensuring customer satisfaction. We suggested that complimentary services such as free storage space may help to make the process smoother.

We agreed that the energy advisor making the initial contact will need to be multiskilled to put the customer at ease, explain the technical details but not present the work as a ‘sale’, as this may be off-putting for some people and even arouse suspicion of the scheme. A national website and hotline will be provided for people to follow up on the initial visit and confirm the project as bona fide and not a scam.

Finally we discussed awareness-raising and engagement. We built upon the previous discussion of potential suspicion, and agreed that clear endorsement by Birmingham City Council and/or central government was required to put people’s minds at ease that the project is for real

I raised the point that in communicating with people about the scheme, the environmental message needs to be as strong as the financial one. For many people it will be the financial incentive that attracts them, but the reason the deal exists is to reduce carbon emissions and that message should not be lost. If it is then a precious opportunity to raise awareness of the direct links between day-to-day behaviour and climate change would be lost. Some people will also be attracted by the environmental incentive too, so there is a need to understand people’s drivers.

I found the consultation interesting and informative, and it was great to be representing BFOE ‘out there’. It felt like a responsibility and a privilege to be championing the green perspective and engaging with people with very different perspectives, such as business, housing and even energy (I was sat next to a man from one of the big six energy companies, who we are currently campaigning against with our Final Demand campaign!). This was both challenging and enjoyable, and felt very necessary.

Kara Moses

Green New Year's Resolutions

Have you made a new year's resolution this year? If so, is it one that will benefit the environment as well as yourself?

There's no reason why you couldn't make a late one now if you haven't got round to it yet...

How about one of the following?

Transport

• Fly less, or not at all if you can help it. Flying is the most polluting activity a person can take and not doing it will make more impact on reducing your carbon footprint than anything else. The reason why it is only a small proportion of the UK's carbon emissions is because relatively few people do it still.

 

• Drive less. Per mile, driving can also have very high CO2 emissions (although people don't tend to drive as far as they fly). It also has a negative impact on the area in which you live in terms of congestion, air pollution, noise pollution and creating a dangerous environment for pedestrians and cyclists. If you can cycle, walk or take the bus/train, please do. It's good for your health and can also mean lower stress levels than driving in the rush hour.

 
Waste and Resource Use

• Think about buying things with less packaging. Plastic bags are an environmental problem, but then so is the packaging that most food (and other products) is encased in. If you buy fresh fruit and veg to cook from scratch, it almost always has less packaging and you could also make a point by unwrapping things in the shop and leaving the retailer to deal with the waste - they might re-think what they stock then.

• Try to find ways to re-use as many things as possible rather than throwing them away or putting them in the recycling. It can be fun to think of new uses for things. 

 
Food

• Buy local. Use local independently owned shops/market stalls as much as possible and try to find products that are produced locally, too. The smaller the distance between where things are produced and bought, the better for the environment, generally speaking. Also, eat less meat and dairy, as these foods have a bigger environmental impact.

  
Energy

• Ensure electrical devices are turned off when not in use, both at home and at in the work/study places you go to. Also, make sure you don't leave doors/windows open when the heating's on.

 
Campaign

• Get involved with Birmingham Friends of the Earth and help us to campaign for change and a better environment.

Do you have any other ideas you'd like to share?

Aston University Go Green Week

Last week was Aston University’s Go Green Week. Birmingham FoE were invited along to engage with students on our environmental campaigns. Each day had a different theme. The Energy & Climate Change group were there to coincide with “Turn Off Tuesday”.

One of the things that amazes me about Birmingham is that two of its universities have no student led environmental groups. Aston University used to have one but it is now defunct. So a big aim of the day was to sign up as many interested students as possible to a mailing list, with a view to getting a new group up and running with links to Birmingham FoE.

Armed with our leaflets and clipboards in the foyer of the Main building we approached students. Of the students who weren’t too busy on their way to lectures to stop, almost all of them recognised that energy & climate change were important issues and many of them wanted to find out more. This is encouraging, (we didn’t come across any climate change deniers!), but the difficult bit will be engaging them enough to get them to actively get involved!

The second aim of the day was to gauge students views on their student digs. Student rented accommodation is amongst the worst housing stock in the UK and Birmingham is no exception. One of the things we are campaigning for is a legally binding minimum standard of energy efficiency for private rented properties by 2016.

While students were largely very keen to tell us about their draughty bedrooms and freezing bathrooms, when it came to agreeing to be filmed for a “Rate My Digs” feature, they became a little more reticent! Some for fear of retribution, but many because they hadn’t done their hair or because they “had a heavy night”! However, with perseverance and charm, we were able to get a handful of brave soldiers to appear in front of the lens without make-up!

You will be able to see what they said in a video which will shortly be released, so look out for that. On the whole though, it is fair to say that Aston University is investing in new, energy efficient accommodation so hopefully our students can watch Deal or No Deal in warmth and comfort, safe in the knowledge that they are not wasting energy!

Robert Pass

Low Energy Party - more exciting than it sounds!

Next Thursday, Urban Village is hosting a special kind of party. The bar has agreed to install low energy lighting in the bar using twenty percent of the money they take.

This concept is called “9carrots” - businesses making themselves more sustainable using a portion of the extra sales from 9carrots promotion. Any business can join and progressively builds up extra sales over time to invest in green upgrades.

“The 9carrots project is a way of connecting your community to its supply chains, production methods, employment and financial decisions by creating an ongoing dialogue between people and business. Then, together, your community can start making changes it needs become resilient to peak oil and Climate Change.” - Tom Tierney, Kings Heath Transition Initiative

In March, the Kings Heath Transition Initiative are planning to launch a larger scheme involving a dozen local businesses. Groups have also recently started in the USA and Canada.

The evening will be opened by the comedian Richard Higgs, followed by the superb soul-funk band Route 49. Entry is free and it starts at 8pm. It's open to all - please come down and show your support!

RSVP (optional): http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=161601410558237

This is not a BFoE event, but we welcome the idea and a number of our members will be going along to support it.

Hamstead Hall CLC goes Green!!

My school in Handsworth Wood, Birmingham, which has 1100 pupils, has made considerable effort in trying to save energy and stop climate change.

Teachers encourage students to switch off lights when they are not needed, in particular during day light. Small things like this save an enormous amount of energy and help cut Hamstead Hall Community Learning Centre’s carbon footprint.

Hamstead Hall provides the local Handsworth Wood community with fantastic facilities, such as weekend sport clubs. These extra clubs allow community members to use the sports hall and astroturf out of school hours. Therefore, keeping up a good image is vital for such a neighbourhood-based school.

Recycling is also considered to be something important within the school. In every classroom there are large paper bags where students are required to recycle paper and plastic bottles.


As part of Personal, Social Health Education days students participate in workshops within the geography department where they learn about the environment and their carbon emissions by calculating their carbon footprint. The head of geography says “the pupils were amazed to see how much energy they use, by going on the internet and playing on their X-box’s!”.

The ICT department of the school ensures that all computers are switched off after use, in fact there are posters on the walls of the classroom that directly inform students to save energy and stop climate change.

How does our school compare to others in Birmingham? I'd be interested to hear.

Rupi Chandla (Hamstead Hall sixth-form student).

Eco-teams training day

As an environmental outreach officer for Birmingham Friends of the Earth I recently attended a workshop/training day through Eco-Teams, which was an interesting event as where I made some good contacts. I met Phil Beardmore of Birmingham Sustainable Energy Partnership, John Boyle of the Midlands Co-op and of the staff who helped facilitate the event itself.


The Venue was the Birmingham & Midland Institute, which was very nice, but didn’t have any signs to the event in the building. To cut a long story short, there were two events on that day and I ended up in the wrong one to start with. After I realised this I eventually found the location of the event and I was welcomed, despite being somewhat late.

The event was slightly rushed, which was a major pitfall, in my opinion, as it created a chaotic environment. Although the miniature classes/workshops were very basic in terms of the main issues of climate change, more time would have been appreciated. However, the material used was informative and made me think about how I waste energy on a domestic level. There was a lot of group work involved in the activities and it was led by table facilitators, so we were never left to our own devices.

I think the way they organised it was interesting as there were about six or seven tables, each with a facilitator. They all had separate topics to cover and at the end of each lesson/workshop, we did a brief presentation on what was covered to all the groups, which was a very effective way to cover many topics related to climate change quickly. Although my reflections on the day may seem negative, the overall agenda of the event was admirable and people without much knowledge could learn and do something practical.

The main point of the event was to inspire people to lead their own Eco-teams. This could be done on an independent basis or as a group. Eco-teams have an array of support on their site, from activities to lesson plans and ideas to use in your projects. Each person has a five-month period to complete their project, but if they have someone else in their group who wants to, they can take over the role of leader and continue the project.

I would generally suggest that this is a great project for people who want to take it on and environmental organisations should work together to provide support for it.

Karl Whale