Tag: solar energy

VCSE organisations – do you qualify for a free energy saving assessment?

Posted on by Phil Beardmore
charity woman working in co-working area

 

 

If you manage a voluntary, community or social enterprise building you might qualify for a free energy saving assessment.

I am one of the expert advisors on the VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme, funded by central government, for organisations in the East and West Midlands.

If you qualify for the scheme you can choose me to carry out your energy assessment.

Please contact me for an initial discussion.

You can find out here if you meet the eligibility criteria here.  If you don’t qualify for a free assessment, then contact me for a bespoke quote.  

 

£31m energy saving funding for charities announced – how will you spend yours?

Posted on by Phil Beardmore
charity energy grants

Energy confidence

 

Third Sector magazine has announced that £31 million in dormant assets will be released to charities to fund energy saving measures.

If you are a charity, I can help you decide where to start with making best use of this funding.

I give honest, practical, jargon-free advice to:

  • Charities
  • Social Enterprises
  • Cooperatives

In all building types including:

  • Offices
  • Theatres
  • Libraries
  • Swimming baths
  • Leisure Centres
  • Co-working spaces
  • Educational establishments
  • Churches, mosques, synagogues, mandirs, gurdwaras, Quaker meetings

and many more.

My recent clients include:

  • Jericho Foundation
  • Moseley Community Development Trust
  • Rep Theatre
  • Moseley Road Baths
  • Plus dozens of places of worship.

I can give you energy and environmental advice across all aspects of your operations including:

  • Energy efficiency
  • Renewable energy including solar, heat pumps
  • Water saving
  • Your “scope 3” emissions such as procurement, transport, waste
  • Monitoring your progress so you can prove your impact.

 

Working with me will give you:

  • Clarity on where to begin
  • Confidence that you are taking the right actions for your building
  • Cost-effective use of your money and resources
  • Carbon savings by implementing the right measures and monitoring their effectiveness.

 

Contact me now to discuss how I can help you show your community, your funders and donors that you are ethical and sustainable.

 

 

learn more

 

https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/charities-31m-release-dormant-assets/finance/article/1815422 

My business rents a space – how can we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions?

Posted on by Phil Beardmore
working in bar

 

 

If your business rents an office or shop premises from a landlord, then don’t worry, there are still many things you can do to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions.

And most importantly, however much or little you are able to do, you must tell your customers what you are doing.  People like to buy from businesses that are ethical and sustainable.  

Here are my top tips for improving the environmental performance of your business if you rent:

  • Turn off lights, computers and other machines when not in use.  Put up stickers, particularly in parts of the building that are intermittently used – e.g. kitchens and bathrooms.
  • Make sure doors and windows are closed in cold weather.  The Close the Door campaign shows how you can do this without losing trade.
  • Can you reduce the number of journeys made by car or van?  Where journeys are unavoidable, are your staff aware of eco-driving techniques?  Has home working and remote working had a positive or negative impact on your environmental performance?
  • How local is your supply chain?  Can you buy local?
  • If there are heating and air conditioning controls that you have access to, have you reviewed how you use them?  Better control of heating and air conditioning is one of the most effective ways to reduce your energy consumption.
  • Are there any empty fridges or freezers?  Are they turned off?  Where there are fridges that have stuff in them, are they kept full and frost-free?
  • Devise a simple monitoring strategy to show how you are getting on.  Take photos.  Tell your customers via your website, social media, in your window.  They will feel good about buying from you if they know you are an environmentally business.

Can you think of any others?  My workbook (pay as you feel) will help.

If you need expert help with taking environmental action then check out my energy advice packages for small businesses.  Tell me what makes your business great and we’ll make it greener and more profitable.  #EnergyConfident

 

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Energy confidence

 

 

Solar electricity – my top tips

Posted on by Phil Beardmore
solar

 

The price of solar panels is falling and the price of electricity is rising.  This is good news for solar electricity in homes, businesses, caravans, canal boats.  Here are a few things you should think about before you invest in solar electricity in your home or business.

 

  1. How much electricity do you use?  An average household uses 3,600 kWh a year, or 36 kWh per square metre a year.  If you are using less than this then solar electricity is less likely to be a viable investment (at the time of writing – August 2021).
  2. What time of the day or night does your building use electricity?  If there is daytime electricity use then solar might work for you.  If your electricity use is mostly at night, then it might not be worth it.  You can store solar electricity in a battery for use at night, but only if you use electricity at night.
  3. Remember that common household appliances such as fridges, washing machines, TVs, computers, kettles are becoming more and more efficient and need less electricity.  The appliances in use in a typical household might not use enough electricity to make solar electricity worthwhile.  There is no public subsidy for solar electricity and so correct design of your solar system is key to making it financially viable.  The days when people put solar panels on roofs willy-nilly are over.
  4. There are certain appliances that you might have in your home or business that will take your electricity consumption well above the average household use of 3,600 kWh a year.   An immersion heater can use several thousand kWh a year; a heat pump will use at least 5,000; air conditioning will use several thousand; an electric vehicle will use at least 2,000 kWh a year.  If you have any of these appliances, then solar electricity becomes more viable.  You can make the most of the sunniest times of the day to store water in an immersion heater or heat pump; in an electric vehicle battery, plus of course air conditioning uses most electricity when the sun is shining.
  5. If you use a gas or oil boiler, or immersion heater, for hot water, then solar thermal is an alternative to solar electricity.  If you use a lot of hot water, for catering, washing, showers, or manufacturing processes, then solar thermal could work for you.
  6. You will need a south-facing pitched roof ideally; solar can also work on flat roofs or south-facing walls.  With solar electricity you will usually need a modern electricity meter and consumer unit; and space for a battery if necessary.  If you are having solar thermal you will need an airing cupboard sized space for a hot water cylinder.  

Solar energy in the right building gives you cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.  In some circumstances it will also be cheaper than fossil fuels.  You should consider solar energy as part of a whole-building approach to energy saving.  Even if solar doesn’t work in your building, there is always something you can do.  

 

learn more

 

If you need expert advice on energy saving in your home or business, check out my energy advice packages.  If you are within 50 miles of Birmingham, you will get a site visit, a thermal imaging survey and a comprehensive written report that includes a costed assessment of the suitability of solar electricity for your building.  I will also show you what to look for when you are choosing solar products and installers, and help you to interpret quotes you receive from installers.  

Energy confidence