No solution to reducing carbon emissions works in isolation, and the end user is the most critical and most often overlooked key to successful implementation. All our solutions are tested against the following criteria before adoption.

 

Whilst the BRE are still gearing up their own acceditation proceedures for new technologies, most assessment software still allow manufacturers' performance figures to be used. These are always going to be on the optimistic side of reality if not so far removed to be fundamentally unreliable. This is not entirely the fault of marketing material, as these projections are often based on flawed base figures from the BRE itself, with the fuel factor being one of the most misleading and least defensible factors in the process. Either way, it is essential that any proposal for new technologies is researched beyond the surface level claims, if future claims are to be avoided.

 

Pay back times vary enormously and need to be considered along with life expectancy and maintenance costs. This will only ever be an estimate, as future fuel costs and climate conditions are two unpredictable variables in the equation. What we can do, however, is make a comparative study of different solutions, which tends to promote the least exciting solutions every time. It's the light bulbs again. And draft excluders, and the often unmentioned reflective panels behind the radiators.

 

Certainly for HAs, this is a major factor when chosing an energy saving solution. We insist upon a ten year guarantee on all of our installations, and back this up with our own 6 monthly visits to assess their performance.

 

The changes in the building industry required by the new Code for Sustainable Homes are a big ask, but not as big as the changes we expect from the public in how they live. None of this is going to happen overnight, and it is important to realise that and make any new technology easy to understand and as unobtrusive as possible. Little research has been done to date of user satisfaction with their new heating regimes, let alone the savings they have brought about. We are working closely with Nottingham University Dept of the Built Environment and the Good Homes Alliance to gather this information from the developments we have recently completed.

 

Affordable Housing should be affordable to live in, and running costs are an important part of this.

But there is a danger that improved insulation and the promise of cheap renewable energy results in a desire for warmer houses, rather than lower fuel bills. To counter this, it is important the end users get to see the potential savings they could be making over a period of time. Some smart meters are smarter than others when it comes to this, based on a recognition of how big the savings need to be before they get taken seriously.