10 Ways To Have A Green Christmas

10 Ways To Have A Green Christmas

       

1.     Green Gifts

Around 40% off all batteries are purchased during the holiday season. That's a lot of money spent on batteries, and a lot of energy used! Make a pledge to buy energy-free gifts, and skip the expense entirely.

2.   Smart Decorating

Fiber optic trees and decorations are the ultimate in energy efficiency. In most cases, they use a single light bulb located in the base of the unit to light the entire decoration. Alternatively use candles instead of Christmas lights. Light candles throughout your home to achieve a beautiful holiday glow, without adding to the electric bill.

3.   Reuse/ Recycle

An average Christmas in the UK can generate as much as 3 million tonnes of waste. You could reduce that by sending email greetings cards or re-using old wrapping paper or magazine covers to wrap presents. But if it’s too late for that make sure to recycle your Christmas cards/ trees and open presents carefully so you can use the wrapping paper next year.

4.   Roast the Turkey not your Guests

Having guests this Christmas? Make sure to turn down your room temperature.  By reducing your room temperature by just one degree, you could cut your heating bills by up to 10%. This will give you, on average, a saving of £60 a year, according to the Energy Saving Trust.

5.   Mind The Gap

Don’t waste energy by having gaps around your windows and doors. Use a draught excluder by the front door and keep windows closed at all times. As soon as it gets dark, close your curtains to conserve more heat.

6.   Don’t Standby Wasting Energy

Never leave appliances on standby, this is an unnecessary waste of energy. Always remember to switch electrical appliances off at the socket when you’re finished with them and only charge laptops and mobile phones when you need to. Make sure you switch lights off when you leave a room and turn everything off before you go to bed, especially the Christmas tree lights.

7.   Clever Christmas Cooking

Be organised and defrost goods in the fridge overnight, rather than using the microwave. If you are cooking on the hob, select a ring size that fits your saucepan base and use a lid to prevent heat loss. And when using the oven, keep the door shut as much as you can and make big batches of food whenever possible to improve your energy efficiency.

8.   Stop Money From Dipping Away

A dripping hot water tap wastes enough heated water to fill half a bath in just one week. So fixing that annoying leaky tap will reduce your water consumption and your electricity bills. Also get the family to ensure that the taps are fully turned off after use.

9.   Fill Your Belly And Your Machine

One full load uses less energy than two half loads so if possible, wait untill the washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher is full rather than running two half loads.

10.    Make The Most Of The Winter Sun

You can buy some amazing solar powered fairy lights that will look great in your garden and save on energy bills.

Can non-domestic buildings benefit from the Green Deal?

When using the Green Deal for non-domestic buildings there are two main problems which are;

·        The energy efficient improvements will cost considerably more than in a domestic building therefore the cost is likely to exceed the savings on the energy bill, breaking the golden rule. A green deal loan will not be approved if it does not meet the golden rule.

·        Most commercial buildings are owned by a different company to the company paying the energy bills. The landlord may not be interested in investing, as they do not pay the bills. The tenants may not be interested in the investment as they may move to another property before receiving the full benefit of the savings.

Construction consultants Cyril Sweett carried out research into the Green Deal, which involved undertaking a cost-benefit analysis of four non-domestic buildings – a school, an office, an industrial unit and a warehouse. Actual buildings requiring refurbishment were used as examples. The buildings were assessed for current energy efficiency and retrofit improvements were made, where appropriate, using three refurbishment strategies: improvement of building fabric, services and switching to the use of renewable energy.
The costs were calculated to be paid back over 25 years with an interest rate of eight percent, and then compared to the expected savings over 25 years. The results were as follows:

• Industrial unit: loss of £48,000
• Warehouse: loss of £138,000
• School: loss of £742,000
• Office: loss of £1,043,000

This research proves that the Green Deal will only work for the very worst-performing buildings however, the Green Deal will become of particular relevance to landlords in the future. From 2018, there will be an obligation on commercial landlords to bring their properties up to a set EPC rating before it may be let again, provided there is no up-front financial cost to them. The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has advised that this threshold is likely to be an E Rating. Commercial landlords with properties below an E Rating will have to complete a Green Deal assessment to identify works needed to improve the EPC. If insufficient cost-effective improvements are found, the landlord may still have to implement any works that pass the golden rule even if they do not improve the EPC to the required minimum standard. Therefore, for commercial properties with an F or G, it will become mandatory to have a Green Deal assessment from 2018 onwards. For premises already let, any work undertaken under the Green Deal becomes consensual as consent must be obtained from all relevant parties that have an interest in the property. DECC have advised that there will be no cap for commercial loans, assuming that they comply with the golden rule.

The Green Deal on its own, based on the current provisions, is highly unlikely to have a significant impact in reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions across the commercial estate. It may be beneficial for some, mostly smaller buildings, and it may act as a further incentive to implement measures when companies are faced with other environmental taxes and levies, such as the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme. It may also serve to highlight the bands of an EPC, and embarrass landlords and occupiers into carrying out improvements works.

If there is a serious intention for commercial properties to reduce energy consumption and benefit from the Green Deal, then certain aspects of the Bill must be reconsidered with commercial property in mind. Think of the potential benefit; one large retrofitted shopping centre or office building could save far more energy than well over 100 homes.

What is the Green Deal and who will it benefit??

What is the Green Deal and who will it benefit??

The Green Deal was introduced to Parliament on the 8^th December 2010 as part of the Energy Bill. It is intended to

The aim of the Green Deal is to offer consumers energy efficiency improvements to their homes, community spaces and businesses at no upfront cost. Instead, businesses will provide the capital, getting their money back via energy bills. Companies such as Marks & Spencer, B&Q, Tesco and British Gas have expressed an interest in providing finance for the green deal.

All Green Deal Plans will have to meet the flowing requirements;

• The expected financial savings must be equal to or greater than the costs attached to the energy bill, known as “the golden rule” of the Green Deal.

• The measures must be approved and the claimed bill savings must be those accredited through this process. (This may be do through an EPC)
• The measures installed must have been recommended for that property by an accredited, objective adviser who has carried out an assessment. (A pilot programme is currently being carried out to establish how best to accredit green deal assessors, in anticipation of the publication of the Green Deal Assessment Process by January 2012. The parties involved in this programme are: The UK Accreditation Service (UKAS), Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and UK- based certification bodies).

• The measures must be installed by an accredited installer. (Accreditation for installers has not been confirmed but it is likely that it will build on the existing Competent Persons Scheme (CPS) structure. This scheme may first need to be accredited by UKAS.)

• For householders, the Green Deal provider must give appropriate advice within the terms of the  Consumer Credit Act and take account of the individual circumstances of the applicant.
• The Green Deal provider must have consent from all relevant parties, including the express consent of the current energy bill-payer.

• The presence of a Green Deal must be properly disclosed to subsequent bill payers (e.g. new owners or tenants) alongside energy performance information.

• Energy suppliers must collect the Green Deal charge and pass it on within the existing regulatory safeguards for collecting energy bill payments – including protections for vulnerable consumers.

The green deal differs from a loan in that; the charge is only paid whilst the benefits are enjoyed and the repayments are transferred in line with occupancy and tenure.

This scheme looks relatively simple for domestic buildings. The homeowner takes out a loan for the improvements. They pay for the investment out of the savings they make and if they move home, the new owners take over the loan. But how does the Green Deal benefit non-domestic building owners? See following blog for the answer……

The Greenest Government Ever ???

Feed-In Tariffs (FIT’s) were introduced as part of the Clean Energy Cash back initiative in April 2010. This scheme was introduced to encourage homeowners, small businesses and communities to improve the energy efficiency of their properties by installing renewable energy technologies.

The FIT scheme was based on energy suppliers paying customers for generating their own green electricity. It could be used in conjunction with following technologies;

• Solar electricity (PV) (roof mounted or stand alone)
• Wind turbine (building mounted or free standing)
• Hydroelectricity
• Anaerobic digestion
• Micro combined heat and power (micro CHP) (limited to a pilot at this stage)

The following diagram illustrates how FIT’s generate money/savings through the use solar panels.



Diagram taken from; www.energysavingtrust.org.uk.

   

 

Since the scheme was introduced in 2010 it has been a huge success. It has boosted the solar industry with the installation of 100,000 solar panels, created more than 22,000 jobs and almost 4,000 new businesses.

This level of success teamed with claims that large-scale solar farms were ‘soaking up money’ from the scheme lead to a review of the FIT scheme which had been planed for 2013. In March 2011 the Energy Secretary Chris Huhne launched a comprehensive review which was to be completed by the end of 2011, with tariffs remaining unchanged until April 2012 . The findings of this review lead to a second review and it was confirmed on the 31^st October 2011 that despite the original brief the government now plan to make cuts of more than 50% to the current tariff rate from 12 December 2011. This will mean that anyone installing solar panels after this date will receive only 21p per kilowatt hour for the electricity generated by their panels, from the 43.4p for panels installed before this date. The government have said that halving of this subsidy rate was necessary, as otherwise the scheme would cost more than the £860m allocated.

This announcement has been met with strong opposition from companies within the energy industry, politicians and the general pubic. Solar companies say thousands of jobs will be lost within the industry, which currently employs around 25,000 people in the UK. Several of these companies are bringing legal actions against the government, arguing that the government has acted illegally in bringing in the changes so hastily, before a consultation has taken place.

Liberal Democrat councilors are preparing to revolt over the coalition government's crackdown on solar subsidies, as a growing number have been greeted with stiff opposition from outraged householders and companies fearing job cuts. Local councilors are being advised to push for a postponement of the subsidy cuts, as a minimum. Most politicians are particularly concerned about the future of local schemes to install solar panels on social housing, which will help to rescue people from fuel poverty.

The feed-in tariff scheme was helping to grow the solar industry and get more people into work. This sudden change to the feed-in tariffs is putting this at risk and it will also create uncertainty in the government's other flagship climate change policies. And this was meant to be the greenest government ever?

All views on this matter welcome.

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