Petersfield Climate Action Network (PeCAN), the local environmental charity helping Petersfield and surrounding villages to reduce carbon emissions and protect nature, has been offered funding to help up to 150 local households make their homes more energy efficient.
PeCAN’s Energy Efficient Homes programme aims to connect households with funding streams and services that can help them to make their homes warmer, greener and cheaper to run.
The new funding is for Petersfield Area SuperHomes, a project that PeCAN will run in partnership with the National Energy Foundation (NEF) and Winchester Action on Climate Change (WinACC) to offer subsidised whole home retrofit assessments to local households on a non-profit basis. These tailored assessments normally cost £750 or more but households will be able to get them at a fraction of that cost thanks to generous subsidies provided to NEF and its partners by the Energy Redress Scheme.
Measures that can make homes more energy efficient include insulation, draught proofing, replacing poorly fitted doors and windows, and switching to a low carbon heating system, such as an air source heat pump. Many of these measures can also be obtained at subsidised costs, through a variety of schemes such as GHG LAD, ECO3 and RHI.
Greg Ford, chair of PeCAN, said:
“We are thrilled to be partnering with the National Energy Foundation and Winchester Action on Climate Change on this project. The funding will enable us to hire a Project Officer and help up to 150 Petersfield area households begin their journey to living in a NEF-approved SuperHome. Each participating household will receive a low-cost tailor-made energy efficiency plan that explains which measures will work best in their home. We will also help households to find accredited installers as well as grants and subsidies to pay for the measures recommended in the plan.”
Louise Bevan, PeCAN trustee, said:
“People should be able to live at a comfortable temperature even in the middle of winter and no household should struggle to pay their utility bills to keep their home adequately warm. The project seeks to address comfort and fuel poverty, as well as reducing carbon emissions.”
Paul Ciniglio, NEF’s Refurbishment Lead and SuperHomes Project Manager, said:
“We’re excited to be working with both WinACC and PeCAN to create new SuperHomes communities over the next two years. These retrofitted homes will lead the way locally in demonstrating how existing homes can be made more sustainable and the host of benefits this brings to owners.”
PeCAN is hosting a stall at the Petersfield Farmers’ Market in the Town Square on 6 June 2021 to mark its public launch.
===
For more information, please contact Greg Ford at [email protected].
Details of PeCAN’s job vacancy for a full time Project Officer can be downloaded from www.petersfieldcan.org or www.facebook.com/PetersfieldClimateActionNetwork.
===
Notes to editors:
The UK Government is expected to publish its Clean Heat strategy this summer with details of how it will reduce carbon emissions from the UK’s housing stock, which is among the least efficient in Europe and accounts for a fifth of the UK’s current carbon emissions.
The International Energy Agency last month called for gas boilers not to be replaced beyond 2025 if the world is to meet the targets set in the Paris Agreement.
The average Petersfield home emits 2.5 tonnes of carbon a year from gas central heating, equivalent to running 1.5 additional petrol cars. The national average is currently 1.7 tonnes. https://impact-tool.org.uk
In 2018, the proportion of UK inhabitants unable to keep their home adequately warm was 5.5% and the share of total population falling behind on utility bills was 5.4%. https://ec.europa.eu/energy/eu-buildings-factsheets_en
The National Energy Foundation
The National Energy Foundation is an independent domestic energy and sustainability charity that has been at the forefront of improving the use of energy in buildings for more than 30 years. Our passionate and experienced team are focused on reducing fuel poverty, cutting household carbon emissions and creating healthier communities through innovative projects and community integration.
SuperHomes
SuperHomes was initially set up in 2007 by the Sustainable Energy Academy (SEA), and won an Ashden Award in 2009 and a Sustainable Energy Europe Award in 2014. In 2014 SEA merged with the National Energy Foundation (NEF), helping to ensure that SuperHomes continued to grow and thrive.
PeCAN
Petersfield Climate Action Network is a registered environmental charity (1192778). Our mission is to help Petersfield and surrounding villages reduce their carbon emissions and protect nature. We work with local people and organisations to create the changes to our buildings, transport, natural environment, understanding and behaviour that our community needs to live sustainably.
WinACC
WinACC (Winchester Action on Climate Change) is a registered charity, charity number 1150754, and a company limited by guarantee, company number 08013043. Our action groups, volunteers and small team of staff organise campaigns and projects to inspire and enable action to create a net zero carbon Winchester district.
Energy Redress Scheme
The Energy Saving Trust has been appointed by Ofgem to distribute payments from energy companies who may have breached rules. Registered charities can apply for funds to deliver energy-related projects that meet the scheme priorities and benefit people in England, Scotland and Wales. The Energy Saving Trust will be administering the scheme until 2022.