Greg Barker, the government minister responsible for implementing the green deal, has hit back at the scheme’s critics in the Guardian today, arguing that the deal, which comes into affect this autumn and allows homeowners to borrow money to undertake energy saving measures, will indeed save them money over the long term:

People can expect to save money. There will be two assessments to help consumers see for themselves how much they stand to save. The first assessment will take account of the average energy use of the home, and the second will look at how the occupants use the home so they can enter the green deal knowing how best to maximise what they will save. The green deal charge will be fixed from the start too and is designed to ensure money is saved based on existing energy prices. So if energy prices rise, which seems likely, savings will substantially increase.

But will this be enough to comfort those who say the calculations which underpin Barker’s promise of savings are flawed and based on assumptions that are too optimistic? A lot of the analysis seems to be focused on the Green Deal’s so-called “Golden Rule”, whereby the loan repayments made by the homeowner must be less than, or equal to, the savings on their energy bill. Critics say the reality of the scheme mean it could end up costing some homeowners “thousands” because the savings will nowhere near match the expense of installing the energy-saving measures.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2012/apr/13/green-deal-save-homeowners-money

The recent 2012 International Passivhaus conference in Hanover revealed six new climatic zones established for the Passivhaus standard. Ranging from hot and dry zones, such as Saudi Arabia, to cool and temperate zones, such as the UK and Germany the conclusion is that while there are particular challenges in the more extreme climate zones – the arctic, or some equatorial regions – Passivhaus is an optimal solution in many climate zones of the world, and perhaps even more significantly, for all areas of significant human population. The Passivhaus Institute will be working on specific guidance for each of the zones.

Following the conference, representatives from organisations from around the world affiliated to the International Passivhaus Association, attended a meeting to discuss how Passivhaus can offer coordinated solutions for energy efficiency right around the globe. IPHA is an initiative from the Passivhaus Institute to try to bring together and co-ordinate the movement, without being prescriptive about how each country develops. 

It was revealed that, after Germany, the UK now has, through the Passivhaus Trust, the largest number of members of IPHA of any country or region in the world! With the first UK certified building in 2009, the number of UK Passivhaus buildings is now well into the hundreds. The challenge now is to increase recognition in the UK that Passivhaus offers an effective approach to delivering reliably low energy, comfortable buildings cost effectively. 

Click here to find out more about Passivhaus http://www.passivhaustrust.org.uk/

Government launches £35m energy efficiency innovation fund

The government has launched a £35m fund to support innovation in green technology by small and medium enterprises.

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) will have access to financial help in order to bring new environmentally-friendly products to market, the Government has said. The Energy Entrepreneurs Fund will have a budget of up to £35 million over the next 3 years and will provide financial support for SMEs to develop and demonstrate their ideas.

The £35m is part of a wider £200m innovation fund budget, which has already seen £35m allocated to the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s Buildings Innovation Programme – a programme that aims to drive down the costs of saving energy from buildings.

Energy secretary Ed Davey commented,
“Part of the way that we’re going to tackle climate change and get clean energy is through innovation, particularly with SMEs.

Earlier this month the Renewable Energy Association (REA) said that the UK could displace fossil fuel consumption up to the value of £60 billion by 2020 if it meets its European commitment to achieve 15% of its energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020. However, it said that without Government action most of this money will have to be used to purchase imported gas, oil and coal to meet the country’s ‘energy gap’.

For more information visit http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn12_052/pn12_052.aspx

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Ecoframes at Ecobuild 2010