The Green Deal- Will it Work?

2012-01-11T00:56:00.000-08:00

The Green Deal is a large part of the coalition government’s claim to be the “greenest government ever”. The idea behind it is simple: People won’t make green modifications to their homes, such as double glazing or loft insulation, because it costs too much money. In the long run, however, the modifications will actually save people money. However, as everyone is particularly skint right now, few people have the cash flow to shell out a lot of money now if they’ll only feel the benefits later. The solution is to offer people a loan to add these energy saving modifications to their homes, then make the loan repayments small than the amount of money they will actually be saving every month.

It’s a neat little solution, allowing people to get double glazing for their homes from top-end brands such as Anglian Windows and Everest Windows that will literally pay for themselves. The scheme is due to come into force in October this year. However there are those who are already criticising the scheme.

As the law stands, energy companies are legally obliged to enable customers to be more energy efficient.

David Kennedy, the Chief Executive of the Committee on Climate Change has said that: “The proposal is to take away that obligation and say, ‘let’s leave it to the market’. We think there is a significant risk in leaving it to the market, as that has never worked anywhere in the world and is unlikely to happen in the UK. We are talking about the transformation of the entire building stock of this country.”

The CCC says that instead of the Green Deal,, the government needs to continue to pressure energy companies into providing insulation for lofts and wall cavities using the new Energy Company Obligation (ECO). This would require energy companies to continue delivering energy efficiency improvements paid for with a levy on energy bills, usually about £50 for an average household.

The Coalition, however, are instead using the ECO to try and combat fuel poverty and so-called “hard to treat” homes, such as older buildings without cavity walls.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change is arguing that, to begin with, the scheme must target older homes, with a spokesperson saying: “Once the green deal is in place we envisage there’ll be plenty of cost effective offers on loft and cavity wall insulation, making it easy for households to install with no need for any subsidy. So we want to use the Energy Company Obligation to target older, harder to treat homes and provide extra help for the fuel poor.”

We can all do our bit to hit EU targets, says Total-Home

2011-06-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

The clock is ticking closer towards the European Union’s target of achieving 20% energy efficiency by 2020, and it’s looking increasing unlikely that this figure is going to be met.

By the EU’s own recent calculations, this would require a drop in consumption of 368 million tons of oil equivalent (mtoe), while current estimates place this reduction at 164 mtoe by 2020 – a fall of just 9%.

However, many of the new measures brought in by the European Commission to combat this focus on businesses and the public sector. At Total-Home, we believe that there is also a great deal that individuals can do to help the environment and save money.

One thing we can all do that goes a long way towards saving energy is to install energy efficient windows. Having the right windows in your home will reduce your carbon footprint and bring down your energy bills, while also making your home quieter and more secure. There are a large number of products on the market, and that’s why when shopping around it’s important to make sure that your windows are supplied and installed by someone with the right certification.

Total Home (www.total-home.co.uk) ensures that all of its windows are rated by the BFRC, the UK's national system for rating Energy Efficient Windows. We are also registered with FENSA, the governing body for home improvements, guaranteeing that any windows you get installed will meet current building regulations and legislation.

These marks of quality ensure that customers get what they paid for – in Total Home’s case, this means stylish, energy efficient products brought together from market leading components and installed by expert craftsman.

“We fully back the drive to achieve a 20% fall in energy consumption by 2020,” says Total Home Managing Director Peter Graves.

“It’s not an unachievable goal, but it’s going to take a huge effort from everybody across the EU, not just big businesses and the public sector.

“We all now that energy savings windows can make a big difference. Together with other improvements, such as extra insulation, households all over the UK can help reduce their energy usage all while saving money.”

Background:

The European Commission's proposal follows calls for action by the European Council on February 4, and the Energy Council on June 10 and the European Parliament to reduce the EU's anticipated energy consumption by 20% before 2020. The latest estimates show that the EU is still far from achieving this goal, leading to the drafting of the new Energy Efficiency Plan.

Total Homes have been manufacturing and supplying top of the range home improvement products, including conservatories and double glazing, to customers in Norwich and Norfolk for over 15 years. With its new design and installation service the company’s expert craftsmen are now able to bring their work directly to the customer.

Total Home

A trading division of Ultraroof UK Ltd,
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Hurricane Way,
Airport Industrial Estate,
Norwich NR6 6HQ

Telephone: 01603 411722
Email: sales@total-home.co.uk
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Home Improvement Doctor

The Green Deal- Will it Work?

We can all do our bit to hit EU targets, says Total-Home