Update on Scotland’s green ambitions

The Energy Saving Trust has recently published its report on progress in Scotland entitled “Supporting Scotland’s Green Ambitions: December 2024 report.” The Energy Saving Trust receives many enquiries about how the programmes it delivers on behalf of the Scottish Government work and what changes they deliver on the ground. These are from both organisations seeking … Continue reading Update on Scotland’s green ambitions →

Majority of UK businesses unaware of support available to improve energy performance

This is quite a worrying concern. A survey of 503 UK businesses shows that 62% are unaware of government energy efficiency supports, with 47% deterred by cost concerns from investing in green upgrades. Dimitris Mavrokefalidis discusses the survey in an article on the Energy Live News website. Have you found the same level of awareness … Continue reading Majority of UK businesses unaware of support available to improve energy performance →

A citizens panel learned how to eliminate carbon emissions from homes and helped design solutions they thought would work for owner-occupiers

Jacob Ainscough, Senior Research Associate in Environmental Governance, Lancaster University and Rebecca Willis, Professor in Energy and Climate Governance, Lancaster Environment Centre at Lancaster University write on The Conversation website about the views of tenants in a study they undertook. A panel was set up. Participants spent 25 hours over seven sessions, both online and … Continue reading A citizens panel learned how to eliminate carbon emissions from homes and helped design solutions they thought would work for owner-occupiers →

By placing sensors within a home, energy efficiency can be measured in the same way as energy generation

We all know that our policies and programmes need more data of actual energy performance. Om an article on the Architecture Today website, Matthew Prowse, Specification and Housing Director for Knauf Insulation, discusses how homes being designed today can prepare for the imminent shift to measured ‘in-use’ energy performance. Measured energy efficiency is coming, … Continue reading By placing sensors within a home, energy efficiency can be measured in the same way as energy generation →

A new app teaching people about energy efficiency reflects how technology plays a key role in reaching new audiences

Marina Ollé Hurtado writes on the youris.com about a user-friendly smart app to help people improve their energy-saving behaviours developed by European researchers. An intelligent app to teach people energy efficiency Energy demand is growing across many countries in the world as populations increase and people get richer. In fact, global energy consumption … Continue reading A new app teaching people about energy efficiency reflects how technology plays a key role in reaching new audiences →

Disappointment in new climate information hub for SMEs in Britain

Opened to great fanfare, the UK government-backed Business Climate Hub has come in for criticism from small businesses that hoped it would help them to cut their carbon emissions and provide a simple reporting guide. Richard Tyler explains in an article on The Times website. Climate hub ‘sends small firms on wild goose chase’ … Continue reading Disappointment in new climate information hub for SMEs in Britain →

Smart consumers for smart renovations – wishful thinking?

I cannot stop thinking about a recent article entitled Fighting Climate Change? We’re Not Even Landing a Punch in the New York Times by Eduardo Porter. He is quite emphatic that we simply are not doing enough. He states “But what definitely won’t suffice is a climate strategy built out of wishful thinking: the proposition … Continue reading Smart consumers for smart renovations – wishful thinking? →

Blog from Catrin Maby – A Passport to a better building future? Putting the Building Renovation Passport in context

It’s good to see the growing support for the concept of the ‘Building Renovation Passport’, defined by BPIE in their 2016 study as ‘a document - in electronic or paper format - outlining a long-term (up to 15 or 20 years) step-by-step renovation roadmap for a specific building, resulting from an on-site energy audit fulfilling … Continue reading Blog from Catrin Maby – A Passport to a better building future? Putting the Building Renovation Passport in context →

Blog from Energy Advice Exchange – “Main barrier to domestic energy efficiency is cost . . .”

A few weeks ago, a news item on the Energy Live News website in the UK raised the issue of cost as the reason why consumers were not investing in energy efficiency. That’s fair, as a starting point. We are always told how expensive energy-efficient technologies or energy renovations are, whether it is true or … Continue reading Blog from Energy Advice Exchange – “Main barrier to domestic energy efficiency is cost . . .” →

Chairman’s Conclusions: Think local first: designing an EU buildings policy framework centred on consumers, local authorities and energy advisory services to deliver on Europe’s renovation challenge

A policy roundtable, organised by the PUBLENEF project through one of the consortium organisations (Energy Cities) and the Energy Advice Exchange, was held on June 20th in Brussels during the EU Sustainable Energy Week in order to further explore the key role and importance of local authorities and energy advisory services in Europe’s energy efficiency … Continue reading Chairman’s Conclusions: Think local first: designing an EU buildings policy framework centred on consumers, local authorities and energy advisory services to deliver on Europe’s renovation challenge →