1. DECC Blog – Changes to the Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation

    December 4, 2013

    Changes to the Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation By:

    As part of the Energy Bills announcements earlier this week, the government outlined proposed changes to ECO, and announced that £540 million will be made available over the next three years to boost energy efficiency.  £450 million of the £540 million will be aimed at households and private landlords.  Alongside this, the Green Deal is also being improved to make it more attractive for consumers and to remove unnecessary cost for companies.

    Reforming Green Deal

    In establishing Green Deal, we set the conditions to grow Britain’s energy efficiency market.  It is still early days but activity so far shows a growing number of participants are keen to take advantage of this new market and consumers are being inspired to make their homes more efficient. Over 100,000 assessments have been undertaken since January, with our research suggesting they are being well received and action taken: over 80% of those households assessed have already improved or are taking active steps to improve their home’s energy efficiency. That’s an encouraging start. But new markets take time to establish and Green Deal is no different.

    In these formative months for this new market we have worked closely with industry and listened to consumer groups and individual consumers. We have heard the many voices telling us the Green Deal needs to be simpler and more accessible to business and consumers alike.

    So among this week’s announcements are several proposals to streamline and improve Green Deal:  we want to make it easier for businesses to enter this developing market and for consumers to act to make energy saving improvements to their properties.  And we want to work with you to make that happen.

    New support for energy efficiency

    The proposed new incentives and support we outlined earlier this week will boost take up of energy efficiency measures both for households and for the public sector too. Worth £150m each year for the three years from 2014-15, they will be designed to reward new rather than replacement energy efficiency improvements, dovetailing with the Green Deal to leverage private finance. Importantly, they will ensure that the impact of the changes proposed to ECO as a result of the Green Taxes review is carbon neutral.

    This package will include:

    • A stamp duty rebate worth at least £1,000 from Government to spend on important energy-saving measures – equivalent to half the stamp duty on the average house – and more for expensive measures like solid wall insulation – up to £4,000.  All movers, not just those who have paid stamp duty, will be able to benefit, encouraging a whole-house approach and helping around 180,000 households over three years.
    • Targeted investment for more energy efficient homes within the Private Rented Sector (PRS), designed to help landlords meet the minimum standard (EPC E rating) that will be required under the PRS Regulations from April 2018.  We will also encourage landlords to bring their properties up to higher energy efficiency levels faster than the up-coming standards require.
    • £90 million of the overall £540 million package will help improve the energy efficiency of public sector buildings, including schools and hospitals, where an additional £30m will be made available in each of the 3 years from 2014/15 building on the existing successful Public Sector loans programme (SALIX).

    Together with additional, further savings expected to be made from the transport sector, with details to be announced in the Autumn Statement, these schemes will, in total, be designed to deliver total carbon savings of around 0.6Mt per year to maintain progress towards meeting our legally-binding carbon budgets to 2020 and beyond.

    We will work with Green Deal providers, industry and consumer groups to design these new schemes to start from April.

    Immediate changes

    We recognise the importance of giving certainty to industry at this time so we are making some immediate changes that will give a real boost to the supply chain while we design the new schemes and ahead of consulting on our proposed changes to ECO.

    There has already been high demand for funds under DECC’s Green Deal Communities competition so a quadrupling of the money available to English local authorities this year to £80m to promote Green Deal on a street by street basis will be a great opportunity for the industry and for the energy efficiency of those communities.

    Alongside the Green Deal cash back scheme, which stays open, it will incentivise the delivery of hard to treat cavity and solid wall insulation.  

    And we will work actively with obligated energy companies to promote stronger integration of ECO and Green Deal finance so more households can improve their homes

    Energy Company Obligation

    The changes to ECO, to be consulted on, include:

    • Reducing the Carbon Obligation (CERO) target by 33%. The 2015 Carbon Saving Communities (CSCO) and Affordable Warmth (AW) targets will remain the same.
    • Extending the ECO scheme to March 2017 with new targets for CERO, CSCO and AW at 2015 levels.
    • Enabling energy suppliers to carry forward any over delivery against 2015 targets to count towards their 2017 targets.
    • Enabling energy suppliers to carry forward over-performance from the predecessor schemes (CERT/CESP) and count it towards their ECO targets.
    • Allowing companies which have delivered substantial early progress against their current CERO target to benefit from an uplift in scores for the measures delivered
    • Extending the CSCO element of ECO from the 15% to the 25% lowest areas on the Index of Multiple Deprivation and simplifying the qualifying criteria.
    • Including District Heating as an allowable primary measure under CERO.
    • Including loft and easy to treat cavity walls as an allowable primary measure under CERO.
    • Introducing and standardising measures to prevent fraud, particularly around loft and easy to treat cavity wall insulation.
    • Introducing a solid wall minima set at 100,000 measures to be delivered by 2017 across all companies and all elements of ECO.

    Streamlining and improving the Green Deal: making things simpler

    Alongside this package of support for Green Deal, we have also published this week a set of improvements to the Green Deal – to make it simpler and quicker for householders to improve their homes as well as stripping out time and cost for industry, while ensuring that consumers remain properly protected and can rely on work done under the Green Deal Quality Mark.

    Starting from January and then over the following months we will make changes in three broad areas:

    • Making Green Deal more accessible to consumers through improved information and signposting;
    • Making it easier for firms to operate in the market; and
    • With the Green Deal Finance Company, making sure the Green Deal  finance offer gives customers what they need.

    The market is already seeing simpler documentation available from the Green Deal Finance Company, for example.  By speeding up the processes through which Green Deal Providers are approved then giving those companies more support once they are approved, we will help them to become active quickly, giving consumers more choice in future.

    I hope you will welcome these proposals as an important step.

    The Green Deal will need to adapt as the energy services market develops, and as consumer attitudes to energy efficiency change.  We will continue to talk with you, across the industry, about your early experiences over the last ten months, and to research how consumers are finding the Green Deal.  We want to hear your views.

    The Government is resolutely committed to the Green Deal.  We will continue to work with you to make the Green Deal a success.

    Category: News

  2. Government action to help hardworking people with energy bills DECC announcement 2 Dec 2013

    December 2, 2013

    British households will benefit from proposals that will be worth £50 on average, thanks to government plans to reduce the impact of energy company price rises.

    • Plus £1,000 to spend on energy saving measures when you move home – helping people cut their bills through energy efficiency; safeguarding green jobs.

    British households will benefit from proposals that will be worth £50 on average, thanks to Government plans to reduce the impact of energy company bill rises.  This builds on the help given to hard-working families through income tax cuts, the council tax freeze and the fuel duty freeze. While the Government cannot control the price of energy in the global market, it can help bill-payers by reducing the impact of social and environmental programmes on their bills.

    So today the Government confirms it will reduce the current cost of levies by:

    • Establishing a rebate saving the average customer £12 on their bill, for the next two years, worth a total of £600 million. The Warm Homes Discount will continue to help millions of vulnerable households receive a £135 rebate off their energy bill.

    • Reducing the cost of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), an insulation scheme delivered by major energy suppliers. This will result in £30-£35 off bills, on average, next year.  The existing dedicated support in ECO for low income and vulnerable households will be maintained and extended from March 2015 until March 2017. 

    In addition, electricity distribution network companies are willing to take voluntary action to reduce network costs in 2014/15. This would allow a further one-off reduction of an average of around £5 on electricity bills, which energy suppliers will be able to pass on to their customers as well.

    All of the major energy suppliers have confirmed that they will pass the benefits of this package to their customers. The reduction in individual household bills will depend on the energy supplier: Some companies have not yet announced price rises for 2014, or have limited their rise until the Government’s review of green levies concluded. Others have announced price rises and have indicated that they will reduce their customers’ bills as a result of these changes.

    The value of the benefit will vary between companies, but, on average, this package, including VAT, will be worth £50 to households, compared to what would have happened without these changes.  

    The Government will also ensure that its overall approach is carbon neutral, with new measures that will boost energy efficiency even further by introducing  new schemes for home-movers, landlords and public sector buildings, worth £540 million over three years:

    • In future, when people buy a new home, they could get up to £1000 from the Government to spend on important energy-saving measures – equivalent to half the stamp duty on the average house – or up to £4000 for particularly expensive measures.  The scheme will be available to all people moving house including those who don’t pay stamp duty, helping around 60,000 homes a year, over three years.

    • Government will also introduce a scheme to support private landlords in improving the energy efficiency of their properties, which will improve around 15,000 of the least energy efficient rental properties each year for three years. Together, the homebuyers and private rental schemes will be worth £450 million over three years.

    • £90 million over three years will be spent improving the energy efficiency of schools, hospitals and other public sector buildings.

    The Government will also increase the funds available to local authorities this year through Green Deal Communities from £20 million to £80 million, to help support ‘street-by-street’ programmes for hard-to-treat homes in a cost-effective way, and will keep the Green Deal cashback scheme open, which will protect jobs in the energy efficiency industry before the new measures take effect.

    In order to provide investor certainty at a time when the UK needs unprecedented investment in energy security, levies providing support for existing low carbon energy projects will not change, such as the Renewables Obligation (RO), Contracts for Difference (CfDs) and feed in tariffs (FITs). Without this investment, energy security would be jeopardised as Britain would become ever more dependent on imported oil and gas, and energy bills in the future would be increasingly subject to high and volatile fossil fuel prices.

    Energy and Climate Change Secretary Edward Davey said: “Energy bills are a big concern for many people, which is why we’ve been working to reform the energy market, increase competition and make it easier for people to shop around and switch supplier. Today’s announcement confirms a serious, workable package which would save households around £50 on average.

    “Today’s package also ensures that energy companies are not off the hook. They will keep up their efforts to help people in fuel poverty cut their bills by making sure their homes leak less heat, and they will have to be more transparent about what they’re spending on social and environmental measures. Next year, our competition test will forensically examine what more we can do to get prices down through ferocious competition.”

    “This won’t affect our commitment to tackling dangerous climate change through reducing Britain’s CO2 emissions, which will be backed by £540 million in new investment to make sure Britain’s homes and public sector buildings are more energy efficient, permanently reducing their bills.”

    Notes to editors

    The proposals announced today, on which Government will consult, include:

    • A rebate of £12 on domestic electricity bills to be passed directly to customers, funded by the Government, for two years.

    • A range of changes to ECO, including reducing the Carbon Emissions Reduction Obligation element of ECO by 33 per cent for the period to 2015, and setting a target for the period to 2017 reflecting this same level of activity.

    • Maintaining the level of ECO activity currently directed at low income and vulnerable households and extending the same activity out to 2017 – this support is worth around £540m and assists around 230,000 households each year

    • Including district heating schemes as a primary measure under the Carbon Obligation element of ECO, enabling whole communities to benefit from lower heating costs.

    • In line with efforts to save as much as possible on people’s bills, allowing energy suppliers to insulate easy-to-treat cavity walls and lofts as part of their ECO carbon targets. However, they would still need to provide a minimum of 100,000 homes with solid wall insulation – a level that will not increase costs.

    • Requiring the energy companies to bemore  transparent about how much they spend on social and environmental measures, either through voluntary agreements or through legislation.

    The Green Deal, which is designed to work alongside ECO to make Britain’s homes more energy efficient, will be strengthened, streamlined and reformed. DECC is today publishing improvements to the Green Deal that will make it more straightforward and less time-consuming for people to participate it, reducing time and cost for industry and making things simpler for consumers. Further improvements to the Green Deal will be announced early next year. 

    In addition, there will be £540 million in new incentives and support to boost take up of energy efficiency measures for both households and in the public sector. These measures will overall save around 2.7- 2.9 Mt of CO2 and ensure that the impact of the changes proposed is carbon neutral.

    Plans were already in place to introduce minimum energy efficiency standards for private rental properties in 2018.  As planned, the Government will consult on these standards in January.  However, as part of this package and ahead of the introduction of minimum standards in 2018, the Government will make funding available through the Green Deal specifically to help landlords bring their properties up to minimum standards.

    Measure Estimated CO2 impact
    Changes to ECO 2.7 -2.9 MT CO2 increase
    £450 million over three years for energy efficiency incentives through the Green Deal (detail below): Up to 1.8 MT CO2 saving
    1.Stamp duty rebate worth up to £1000, or up to £4,000 for particularly expensive measures, available to all people moving house including those who don’t pay stamp duty, helping around 60,000 homes a year over three years. See Green Deal figure above
    2.Scheme to support private landlords in improving the energy efficiency of their properties, which it is anticipated will improve around 15,000 of the least energy efficient rental properties each year for three years. See Green Deal figure above
    Improving the energy efficiency of schools, hospitals and other public sector buildings with £90 million over three years for a loans scheme, building on the existing Salix scheme. 0.6 MT CO2 saving
    Additional savings from transport policies to be announced shortly At least 0.5 MT CO2 saving

    Immediately, the Government will incentivise energy companies to keep delivering hard-to-treat cavity and solid wall insulation. It will also increase the funds available to local authorities this year through Green Deal Communities from £20 million to £80 million, to help support ‘street-by-street’ programmes for hard-to-treat homes in a cost-effective way, and will keep the Green Deal cashback scheme open.  Other changes to be consulted on that will help energy companies keep their costs down and pass those savings onto customers include:

    • Energy companies will be able to ‘bank’ any over-delivery against previous schemes and the current round of ECO against their 2015 and 2017 targets.

    • In addition, there will be incentives for quick delivery, which would save people money sooner. Energy companies that fall short of their new 2015 delivery targets will have their 2017 target increased by the same multiple.

    • Measures to prevent fraud, particularly around loft and easy-to-treat cavity wall insulation, will be introduced and standardised across the industry.

    • Energy companies will work towards offering ECO funding alongside Green Deal finance, which could increase the level of funding available to some consumers, and will reduce the costs of delivering ECO for suppliers.

    The £50 savings are an estimate of average savings, based on suppliers’ indication of how they would respond to the proposed package measures. Actual savings will vary by company.

    Distribution network cost reductions would be the result of distribution network operators (DNOs) voluntarily opting to recover some of their costs over a longer timeframe, which suppliers have indicated that they are willing to pass on to their domestic customers.

    DNOs own and operate the distribution network of towers and cables that bring electricity from the transmission network to homes and businesses, and are regulated by Ofgem.

    Reductions would vary across the 14 distribution network regions in Great Britain based on what costs DNOs are able to defer.

    The way DNO reductions are delivered is a matter for the DNOs, the suppliers and Ofgem, within the existing regulatory framework.

    The £50 average bill saving and the Government’s proposals on ECO will apply in England, Wales and Scotland. Separate arrangements apply in Northern Ireland.

    Category: News

  3. Streamlining and improving the Green Deal – DECC announcement 2 Dec2013

    December 2, 2013

    An announcement from Department of Energy & Climate Change regarding improvements to Green Deal:

    Changes to make the Green Deal more straightforward for families who want to improve their homes and benefit from lower bills.

    The Green Deal, which is designed to work alongside the Energy Company Obligation to make Britain’s homes more energy efficient, will be streamlined and improved to boost take up of energy efficiency measures.

    The changes are designed to make the Green Deal more straightforward and less time-consuming for families who want to improve their homes and benefit from lower bills in future

    The Green Deal is an initiative for the long term.  And these are early days.  It will need to adapt as the energy services market develops, and as consumer attitudes to energy efficiency change.  We are talking to industry about their early experiences over the last  ten months, and researching how consumers are finding the Green Deal.

    There are also opportunities to cut costs for the supply chain, while still ensuring that consumers are properly protected and can rely on work done under the Green Deal Quality Mark.

    So the market is already seeing simpler documentation available from the Green Deal Finance Company (GDFC), for example.  And by speeding up the processes through which Green Deal Providers are approved, then giving those companies more support once they are approved, we will help them to become active quickly, giving consumers more choice in future.

    Starting from January and then over the following months:

    We will make Green Deal easier for consumers by:

    • Introducing a new on-line tool that will give consumers straightforward advice on the steps they can take to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, and how they can get help.

    • Improving the Green Deal Advice Report that gives householders important information on what an assessment is telling them. The Report will be clearer and easier to understand, and better signpost the range of Government support available.

    • Giving consumers better signposting to the companies that can provide the services they want, both through the Energy Saving Advice Service and the GOV.UK website.

    We will make Green Deal easier for the companies operating in the market by:

    • Opening up access to Energy Performance Certificate data,  so that companies can more easily identify properties which will benefit most from energy efficiency improvements.

    • Adding more measures to the list of those that can be supported under the Green Deal, and allowing more flexibility over the exact specification to which companies install.

    • Working with industry to find ways to reduce the cost of insurance requirements attached to Green Deal measures. 

    We will work with the Green Deal Finance Company to make sure the finance offer gives customers what they need by:

    • Ensuring customers can, if they choose, move from quote to a Green Deal Plan in a single day.  We know that the need for different people to make separate visits to homes is unpopular with customers and companies alike. 

    • Seeking Parliament’s approval to change legislation to make it clearer that landlords and tenants can benefit from the Green Deal and encouraging industry to offer finance in the rented sector.

    • Working towards increasing the range and availability of  “top up loans” that customers can put alongside Green Deal finance if they wish. 

    Some of these practical changes will happen in January.  Others are planned in the first half of 2014 as we seek Parliamentary approval to amendments to legislation and work with industry to change the systems through which Green Deal operates.

    There are more improvements to come.  By working with industry and listening to consumers, we will:

    • Liaise closely with the energy suppliers and GDFC to ensure that the Green Deal can work better in combination with the Energy Company Obligation. There are circumstances where customers should be able to get a subsidy alongside a Green Deal loan and have the ability to make repayments through their energy bill.  We want more companies to offer a “blend” of these products, to ensure that customers get the best possible deal.

    • Look at how the “golden rule” controls what can be borrowed under the Green Deal – and consider what adjustments make sense for consumers. 

    • Work with industry to see how we can minimise the number of visits to a home for assessments, work and inspections.  We know through research that customers put a high value on the Green Deal assessment.  But some do want to move straight from an on-line assessment to installation.  We will look at ways to make that possible. 

    • Work with companies to ensure they give customers the best possible support throughout the Green Deal process, right from the initial expression of interest through to care after installation.

    • Make sure that consumers get clear, joined up information about the different Government schemes (including the Green Deal, renewable heat and feed-in tariffs) and how they can be used to make their homes warmer and more efficient at lower cost. 

    We will keep the customer journey under review, and are open to views and ideas about how to make it more streamlined for all involved in the Green Deal.

    Category: News

  4. Relaxed planning on solid wall insulation

    October 23, 2013

    Relaxed planning on solid wall insulation

    A recent revision of the planning rules has provided a positive lift for the Green Deal, with the planning regulations for solid wall insulation eased.
    The visibility of solid wall insulation has been highlighted as an important factor by the energy minister, Greg Barker, who said that its application on properties could draw others into the scheme. “There is a big learning exercise for consumers and people in the trade as well about just how fantastic solid wall insulation products have become,” Mr Barker said.
    The announcement confirmed that the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Communities and Local Government had jointly agreed an amendment to planning rules, designed so that most solid wall insulation projects will not need planning permission. “It’s really the solid wall market that is going to be most impacted by the Green Deal,” Mr Barker said. “From the get go we will have a transformation in solid wall installation numbers.”

    READ MORE HERE http://www.warmfrontltd.com/post/Relaxed-planning-on-solid-wall-insulation-to-boost-Green-Deal/

    Category: News

  5. FLOORPLAN

    October 18, 2013

    CLICK TO SEE PLAN: PLAN

    Category: News

  6. DECC AND GREEN DEAL POST INSTALL EPCs

    March 13, 2013

    The following statement has been issued by DECC and DCLG

    DCLG and DECC clarifications on requirements of Green Deal post-install EPC’s
    This note reiterates the guidance issued by DCLG on the requirements for EPC’s lodged on the Landmark Register, post-installation of Green Deal measures (www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-performance-certificates-for- theconstruction-sale-and-let-of-dwellings

    This follows a number of questions raised by some in the industry, from both EPB Accreditation Schemes and Green Deal Assessor Certification Bodies.

    Following the installation of improvements funded by a Green Deal Plan, Green Deal Providers are required to add information about the Plan to the EPC Register. Once they have done this, the Green Deal Provider will notify an assessor about which of the energy saving improvements have been installed (as recommended in the Green Deal Advice Report and by the original EPC). They will provide appropriate evidence that the work has been done, confirmed by their customer.
    This assessor will then use the evidence received from the Green Deal Provider to create and lodge a new EPC for the property. A post-install Green Deal EPC must reflect all the improvements facilitated by a Green Deal Provider, even if not all of them are funded by Green Deal finance. Once this new, post-install EPC is lodged, the Register will add the Green Deal Plan information, which then becomes part of the new EPC.

    The assessor who carries out the post-install assessment and EPC lodgement, using evidence received from a Green Deal Provider, is not required to visit or re-visit the property.

    This assessor could be the same person who carried out the original EPC assessment and / or the Occupancy Assessment, or they could be a different assessor engaged by the Green Deal Provider specifically to handle post-install lodgements. However, it is important to note that an assessor may not have access to the EPC XML data file if they are not a member of the same Certification Body as the assessor who lodged the original EPC. Without that EPC XML data file, the assessor would need to revisit the property to carry out a full new assessment. The Q&A in the DCLG guidance makes clear that a further assessment by a GD assessor is not required following installation of Green Deal measures, provided that suitable evidence is available from the Provider that the work has been done.

    The energy assessment industry will need to modify some working practices to take account for these aspects of the Green Deal. For example post-install EPC’s will not require a second assessment, nor an associated site visit, so audit procedures will need to take account of this fact for quality assurance purposes.

    Category: News

  7. Should we change our electric storage heaters to save money?

    February 26, 2013

    Should we change our electric storage heaters to save money?

    Daily Telegraph 15 Aug 2012

    A LOAD OF HOT AIR

    Q We are in our seventies and increasingly concerned about the running costs of our off-peak electric storage heaters in our two-bedroom bungalow. We appreciate that gas may be cheaper to run, but at our age we are trying to avoid the upheaval of installing a gas central heating system.

    We have read of a new German-engineered electrical heating system with a clay core, which is easy to install and runs off 13 amp sockets, which they claim can save 30-40 per cent in the first year alone against the old storage heating system. What are your thoughts?

    JA, Glasgow

    A Clay-cored electric heaters are not a “new system”, and advertising used to market them is frequently misleading. All electrical resistance heaters cost exactly the same to run, because 100 per cent of the electrical power is converted into heat. Any claim that these radiators use 30- 40 per cent less electricity to heat a room cannot be true.

    A theme common to many of the adverts is that the heaters run for only 15-20 minutes per hour, thus somehow saving electricity. But any thermostat-controlled heater will turn itself off periodically to maintain a constant room temperature. You will get exactly the same heating effect, and exactly the same-sized electricity bill, using convector heaters or oil-filled radiators costing £20 from Argos. There is no need to give thousands of pounds to any of the dozens of firms who have sprung up importing these clay-cored heaters.

    In your own case, you would find your bills skyrocketing, because you would be using expensive day-rate electricity, rather than cheap off-peak electricity.

    Your heating system is the cheapest you could get. Town gas is practically the same cost per unit as off-peak electricity, but incurs thousands of pounds’ outlay for installation and upkeep. If I were you, I would stick with your existing storage heaters.

    Category: News

  8. What are the implications of the Green Deal for Commercial Property?

    December 21, 2012

    By: Philip Hargreaves, Executive Chairman and CEO of Inteb

    The Green Deal is an initiative that will have significant impacts on the commercial property sector from the end of Q1 2013, as a far-reaching energy efficiency drive. Fundamentally, it is a financing mechanism for energy efficiency improvements in both private and public sectors and domestic and non-domestic properties. It operates on the basis of a Green Deal Advisor carrying out a full property inspection, to write a Green Deal Advice Report (GDAR), recommending measures (from over 50) which can be fitted within the property and satisfy the Golden Rule.

    The Golden Rule stipulates that the cost of the recommended measures must be lower than (at least a “0” NPV) the annual saving resulting from their installation. If the property owner accepts the recommendations and signs a Green Deal Plan or contract with a Green Deal Provider, a Green Deal Installer then carries out the work, with the cost charged back on the property’s electricity bill over a number of years (up to 25). The units of energy used should fall, but behavioural change and proper energy management can augment the reduction and bring still more benefits all round.

    Non-domestic Green Deal processes are inherently tricky, due to complexities of tenure and ownership. However, landlords must best consider their Green Deal strategies and negotiate the maze as Green Deal cannot be ignored. By 2016, a landlord cannot refuse a tenant’s request for Green Deal improvements – creating huge potential implications for properties owned within investment portfolios, as well as for individual owner occupiers. Additionally, in 2018, it will become illegal for landlords to rent properties with an EPC rating lower than an “E”.

    There is a significant risk for landlords based around length of tenure. Landlords must avoid owning unoccupied property for which they are left footing the Green Deal charge. There is also an issue relating to multi-let properties, where general consents from all parties are required.

    In the short term, Green Deal is likely to be of most interest to the SME owner-occupier companies that wish to give staff more energy-efficient and comfortable working environments, using the Green Deal’s useful financing mechanism. However, many other property owners are already assessing how to improve energy efficiencies in lower-rated EPC rated properties and focusing on building lifecycle planning for budgeting purposes as well as evaluating other financing options outside Green Deal.

    Multi-let scenarios are problematic. Green Deal consent is required from the bill payer, but in a multi-let property, who is that? If some tenants refuse energy efficiency measures, what happens? A landlord cannot fix energy efficient systems in some areas of the building and not others.

    On the plus side, Green Deal benefits will be enjoyed by both tenants and landlords, with tenants receiving enhanced comfort, without a higher service charge, thanks to the Golden Rule. Better working conditions should lead to longer tenures and increased values for landlords, without them having to pay for the improvements, although the correlation between sustainable buildings and value enhancement is still to be widely accepted, nothwithstanding reputational impacts.

    To be a Green Deal winner, a commercial property owner needs proper advice and a strategy for the property portfolio as a whole. Accessing the services of in-the-know Green Deal Assessors working at the highest level is vital. Owners should seek to be ahead of the game and receive reputational capital out of the Green Deal process. Clear views on financing options should be sought, as Green Deal may be only part of the solution and a co-ordinated approach, bringing all parties, including managing agents and contractors, to the table is essential.

    As the tenant is effectively paying for quality-driven Green Deal installations through their electricity bill, their future rent reviews should be favourable, which is why early engagement is essential, to establish future protocols.

    The EPC is the key to Green Deal and its authenticity is paramount if the Green Deal Advice Report (GDAR), which forms the basis of the Green Deal Plan – the contractual relationship between the Green Deal Provider and the occupier/bill payer – is to be accurate. It is crucial that existing energy assessors and Green Deal Assessors are competent and Green Deal training should be first class. Many current EPCs are sub-standard and this will clearly have implications on properties at the lower “F” and “G” ratings level going forward.

    While the Green Deal infrastructure is not yet in place for a mass roll out and we have only a soft launch at present, Green Deal is here to stay. Property owners must prepare robust Green Deal strategies for their portfolios, access top-level advice and engage with an informed Green Deal Provider who can construct a plan incorporating training, stakeholder involvement and financial options. 

    Category: News

  9. More progress on the Green Deal

    December 1, 2012

    DECC Press Notice 2012/153

    30 November 2012

    The Green Deal continues to build momentum ahead of the first deals being available on 28 January 2013, with money for a new communications campaign confirmed and a key regulatory milestone reached to bring the Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) into force.

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has been granted an exemption to the Government marketing freeze for a campaign that will build understanding and trust of the Green Deal. An initial £2.9 million is available to cover digital and traditional channels.

    Further Green Deal progress confirmed today includes:

    • Plans to develop a national Open Homes network, making it easy for people to find and see homes that have been improved by energy saving retrofits
    • Opening of the online Green Deal Cashback Portal where Green Deal Providers, charities and Community Interest Companies wishing to take part in the Cashback Scheme must register

    Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said:

    “We are making excellent progress on the Green Deal ahead of the key date of 28 January 2013, when the first Green Deals can be signed. We now have funds for a communications campaign that will build further understanding of the Green Deal, helping to create a real buzz.

    “We are also supporting development of a national Open Homes network which will show people just how great their home could look and feel with exciting energy efficient upgrades.

    “When you add our fantastic cash back into the mix, it’s clear that the Green Deal is building momentum and will be a brilliant offer for people.”

    DECC will invest an initial £2.9 million up to April 2013 to promote the Green Deal, supported by the Energy Saving Advice Service, the new Green Deal pages on gov.uk/greendeal and the Green Deal Cashback Scheme. It has also been confirmed that the Cashback Scheme will be administered by Capita.

    Category: News

  10. Unusual Christmas Presents Part 1

    November 28, 2012

    Category: News