Experts help residents save up to £300 on heating bills
Monday 3 October 2016
ENERGY experts at the University of Salford have helped Greater Manchester scoop a national award for reducing household bills.
The Green Deal Communities Programme, which helped people save up to £300 a year on heating bills, was awarded the Large Project of the Year Award at this year’s National Energy Efficiency & Retrofit Awards, hosted by Joanna Lumley.
Across Greater Manchester, more than 1,300 households were retrofitted with insulation technologies within budgets and ahead of schedule.
Professor Will Swan of the University of Salford’s Applied Buildings and Energy Research Group, said: “We have been working with Greater Manchester for several years and projects like this give us a great opportunity to apply what we have learned in a way that can impact people’s lives.
Appliance of science
“This is about how to wed science to practical application. The work not only helps is share our knowledge, but aids our understanding of the logistics of large scale retrofit programmes.”
The Salford team’s contribution included technical support, monitoring and evaluation.
The ‘Little Bill’ project was run by the Greater Manchester Combined with partners Keepmoat Regeneration, Willmott Dixon Energy Services Limited and Wates Living Space, and Salford Mayor and Chair of the Greater Manchester Low Carbon Hub, Paul Dennett said it was great to lead the UK.
“We are passionate about doing all we can to protect the most vulnerable in our society from the cold and rising energy costs. Simple measures implemented as part of the scheme, such as loft and cavity wall insulation, have helped people save up to £300 a year.
“It really can be the difference between heating and eating,” the city Mayor said.
Largest UK scheme
Launched in 2014, the scheme became the UK’s largest national domestic energy efficiency retrofit scheme. ‘Little Bill’ received positive feedback from residents across Greater Manchester with many reports of warmer homes and a greater understanding of personal energy consumption.
The University of Salford supported not only the technical aspects of the retrofit, but also worked with the team to ensure that people were at the heart of the project.
“If these types of schemes are to work this well, you need to fully engage with owner occupier. Householders consider not only energy efficiency when engaging in retrofit, but also how it improves their comfort and how it can improve their property aesthetically.
“It showed us that we need to take a much more sophisticated approach to ensure that private sector homes are part of the energy efficiency story."
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