Renewable information evening proposal *FEEDBACK REQUIRED*

AckwelFoley

Hello.

Im planning a series of information evenings almost nation wide on renewable energies and the new building regulations.

At the moment the proposal is that there will be an energy assement company, renewable supplier/s, insulation suppliers, and perhaps somone from other related companies that would provide helpful information.

The purpose of the evening is to try and increase awareness of products and services available that will help people comply with the new regulations, and to hopefully inform people on how to obtain performance values of their homes, and essentially what procedure needs to be followed when choosing or evaluating products.

I dont want an over technical information evening as i dont want to lose the "attention" of the general public, i want to keep it resonably straight forward and clear

I would like feedback from you on "issues" you would like to see covered within this information evening / seminar in order to make it as effective as possible.

Thanks

Brian

sydthebeat

whilst it might not 'fit in' with the ethos of the meeting, but i would think it would be very important to emphasise the requiement for Energy assessment companies to be independant of any supply or product company.
There appear to be quite a bit of a cartel market growing up around this 'energy efficiency' industry, with apparantly independant energy assessing companies offering construction specifications and even recommendations of contractors to do the work.

It would also be helpful, if you expect a large 'lay person' attendance, to do an overview of the current building reg requirements (ie DEAP must be done to show 40% efficiency) and how this can be beneficial to teh BER process.

AckwelFoley

sydthebeat wrote: »

whilst it might not 'fit in' with the ethos of the meeting, but i would think it would be very important to emphasise the requiement for Energy assessment companies to be independant of any supply or product company.
There appear to be quite a bit of a cartel market growing up around this 'energy efficiency' industry, with apparantly independant energy assessing companies offering construction specifications and even recommendations of contractors to do the work.
.

Yes, i do see your point, the difficulty is however that this type of thing is common throughout the construction sector.

Engineers and architects spec certain products for houses from certain manufacturers, and energy acessors will often recommend a supplier or as you say even a contractor because i would like to think that they are happy with the product or service.. however thats not to say there is an uletrior motive, but i dont think people are stupid and i think once the information is provided correctly and fairly, i think people can make up their own minds

Retro-Fit

Snyper,

Great initiative. Will you charge attendees or presenters for the information evenings. Homebond ran a series of information evenings on BER and new part L, which was very usefull, with presentations for SEI, DOE and some commercial firms selling renewable technologies and Vapour Barriers. This was informative for housing developers. the commercial presentations seemed a bit hard sell.

What is your target audience, self builders, homebuyers?, If you are promoting independant advise then I'd keep suppliers off the podium. What people like to see is what is the minimum spend, how can that be financed and grant aided and how much will be saved. Pumps, fans, turbines, Thermal inertia, and MHRV are minor details to homeowners, they want to know the bottom line.

A Presentation to homeowners that gives them the costs benefit analysis of a range of interventions is well received. I have data on 14 houses which were upgraged in the last 2 years, Payback at present fuel prices was 7-11 years for insulation, airtightness and boiler/plumbing upgrade. Significant Thermal comfort improvements were quite decernible after the upgrades but unfortunatly I didn't quantify this by monitering room temperatures for the heating season before and after. While the owners bills were reduced on average 35% the levels of satisfaction with the interior environment increased drastically.

I have seen many houses with pumped cavities but little attic insulation, houses with solar thermal panels but leaky as swiss cheese and someone with geothermal and underfloor but just 50mm insulation in the walls and floor. Its a matter of priorities, an independant expert will point out the lowest hanging fruit. An energy assessor isnt necessarily an expert, they may have done a five day course, but there is a lot of experience needed to compliment that. A Background in Architecture/ Technology/ Engineering is vital.

No6

sydthebeat wrote: »

There appear to be quite a bit of a cartel market growing up around this 'energy efficiency' industry, with apparantly independant energy assessing companies offering construction specifications and even recommendations of contractors to do the work.

I think there's an even bigger problem than that out there in RE companies setting up training schools for renewables then offering BER's by registered assessors for various packages including finance but using only selected products (theirs) and all elligible for the home improvements grant which is only in a pilot stage as far as I know! I also know of one large nationwide energy assment company offer in cheap BER's but loads of expensive (and generally unnessescary add on's) It's fast becoming a rip off the poor home owner free for all as far as I can see. As for the op once you let the suppliers and perhaps an energy assessment company (large nationwide) in you're in shark infested waters!!!