Tag: cop26

Can heat pumps solve fuel poverty?

Posted on by Phil Beardmore
house losing heat

 

One of the weaknesses of the government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy is that the grants available for heat pumps are most likely to be taken up by better-off households, and that fuel poor households are at risk of missing out.  Suddenly, fuel poverty is in the news, and the internet is full of self-proclaimed experts who claim that heat pumps are no good for the fuel poor.

Let us never forget that our reliance on gas for heating homes is one of the main reasons why fuel poverty is on the increase.  Even the most efficient gas boilers are only 95% efficient, whereas heat pumps are at least 300% efficient.  Gas boilers are frequently over-sized, and incorrectly designed to run at high temperatures, which means they operate at much less than 95% efficiency.  Gas is part of the problem.

Fuel poverty is a complex social issue.  It is caused by poor efficiency of buildings and appliances; lack of understanding of how to use appliances efficiently; low income; all compounded by the fact that the fuel poor are most likely to be on the worst tariffs and use the worst payment methods.   People with cold and damp related medical conditions are at greater risk of fuel poverty.

There is no magic bullet to solve fuel poverty.

Effective fuel poverty interventions include some or all of the following:

  • Improving the thermal efficiency of a home;
  • More efficient heating appliances;
  • Income maximisation;
  • Supporting fuel poor households to find the cheapest payment methods and tariffs, which is difficult in a time of price volatility.

Successive governments have failed to implement strategies that achieve a holistic approach to solving fuel poverty.  Heat pumps are right for some homes and not right for others.  What fuel poor households need is a whole-house plan to make their homes more efficient, starting with improving the building fabric.  

Proper design is key to the successful installation of a heat pump in any home.  The UK is short on heating engineers who understand how to design and install heat pumps.  This needs to be addressed urgently.

Read a report I wrote about a project in Birmingham to help vulnerable fuel poor households.

Here is a video of the successful use of heat pumps to help fuel poor households.

Featured image by Amy Purdie for Saltley Community Association.

 

 

 

What environmental goals does your business have?

Posted on by Phil Beardmore

 

COP26 is approaching and many you’re probably thinking about the environmental performance of your business.

But what environmental goals and targets should you set?  Zero carbon? Net zero? What do these phrases mean for your small business anyway?

If you are responsible for improving the environmental performance of your business, then you are an environmental leader.  

With time running out to limit the devastating effects of climate change, every business leader needs to be an environmental leader too.

I specialise in coaching environmental leaders like you to set environmental goals that are realistic and achievable for your business, whatever its scale or scope.  Every business can make a difference, as long as we aren’t thrown off course by buzzwords from giant multinationals and political leaders.

Goal-setting is my coaching superpower.  I particularly enjoy helping other environmental leaders to set and achieve goals.  Setting goals helps you to reframe something from a problem into a triumph for your business and for the planet.

What will it mean to you if you can:

  • transform the reputation and profitability of your business through being recognised for environmental leadership?
  • turn your good idea into a profitable and successful environmental business?
  • put your environmental and ethical values into practice?

I will coach you to take ownership of your environmental problems in order to solve them, and achieve your goals.

 

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“Coaching is the universal language of change and learning.”  author unknown

 

Coaching with
PHIL BEARDMORE 
ENVIRONMENTAL LEADER
  • Decades of experience of environmental leadership
  • Voted as one of the West Midlands top Green Leaders by my peers
  • Mentor on the Uprising Birmingham environmental leadership programme
  • Mentor on the Business Innovation at Staffordshire University Programme

 

Proof House

COACHING

FOR ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS LIKE YOU

WHAT GOALS WILL YOU ACHIEVE?

Join my one-to-one coaching programme for environmental leaders.  Use my knowledge and expertise as an environmental leader to help you turn your environmental goals into achievable actions.

You should join my one-to-one coaching programme if you are:

  • a leader in an environmental business
  • aiming to set up an environmental business, charity or cooperative
  • a leader in any business and you are responsible for improving its environmental performance.

What will it mean to you if you can:

  • transform the reputation and profitability of your business through being recognised for environmental leadership?
  • turn your good idea into a profitable and successful environmental business?
  • put your environmental and ethical values into practice?
  • set, monitor and achieve realistic goals?

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