Yorkshire Energy Services who oversaw the Insulate Hampshire Scheme has won the highly acclaimed Climate Week Award 2013, in the ‘Best Local Initiative’ category, fighting off stiff competition from 3 other finalists. The runners up in this category included The Greater London Authority, London Borough of Camden and the Lake District National Park Authority. The Insulate Hampshire scheme was managed by Yorkshire Energy Services, on behalf of Hampshire County Council and 11 Local and District councils across Hampshire with funding from Scottish Power.
In the judge’s view Insulate Hampshire triumphed as a result of “The work they are doing to support the local community is a fantastic example of a simple yet effective solution to climate change, that not only is having a direct impact on thousands on residents, but equally has facilitated the dissemination of information on energy efficiency among the wider public”. The Climate Week awards are held annually they recognise the achievements of individuals, business and communities with their efforts to combat climate change. Climate week is Britain’s biggest Climate change campaign.
Sarah Thomas, Project Manager for the Insulate Hampshire Scheme is delighted with the news: “This is excellent news and a testament to the great teamwork involved in making this scheme as success, well done everyone”
Over the course of the scheme 18,500 measures of cavity wall and loft insulation were delivered. Together Hampshire residents are predicted to save £2 million in energy bills and over 9,000 tonnes of CO2 in the first year alone. The winners of the 14 different categories were announced at an awards ceremony on the 4th March 2013, this was held at the House of Commons. Climate Week is a yearly event this year it runs from 4th March until 10th March for more information on the Climate week awards visit www.climateweekawards.co.uk
Yorkshire Energy Services is the first community interest company (CIC) in the UK to become an official Green Deal Provider.
The company passed its accreditation on the 4th February 2013 and is now in the process of delivering key Green Deal demonstrator programmes across the country through its two subsidiary companies, YES Projects and YES Renewables.
From April 2013, Yorkshire Energy Services will be able to manage Green Deal finance and process both domestic and non domestic Green Deal plans on behalf of installers, advisors and householders.
Yorkshire Energy Services was authorised by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey MP, the Green Deal Oversight and Registration Body (GD Orb) and was formally certified by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
Yorkshire Energy Services’ project management division, YES Projects have been appointed to deliver three Green Deal demonstrator schemes across Leeds, Kirklees and Calderdale.
Each project offers homeowners and private renting tenants access to energy saving grants and loans that cover or contribute to the installation of effective home improvements.
Private residents from Kirklees, Leeds and parts of Calderdale can now access a broad range of energy efficiency services including: solid wall insulation, insulation for narrow and uneven cavity walls, boiler replacements, gas central heating and double glazing.
Free technical surveys and occupancy assessments will be carried out to determine the level of grant funding available to each resident. Interest free loans will be provided where appropriate and work to the Green Deal golden rule, where repayments will never exceed the money saved on utility bills through each home improvement.
If you live in Leeds, Kirklees or Todmorden and Illingworth in Calderdale and are looking for free or discounted home energy saving services, follow the links below to register on the relevant scheme:
National energy efficiency consultants, Yorkshire Energy Services have relocated to Holywell Green in Calderdale.
Formally based in Huddersfield, the community interest company has developed a strong reputation after helping thousands of householders reduce fuel bills through a series of dynamic area based initiatives.
The move to Calderdale has gone hand in hand with company’s recent developments, providing a larger premise for a fast moving organisation.
Yorkshire Energy Services specialise in managing carbon reduction programmes on behalf of Local Authorities and have delivered some of the largest council endorsed home insulation schemes in the UK. The company has just fulfilled the final stage of Leeds City Council’s ‘Wrap Up Leeds’ scheme, implementing over 9,000 free cavity wall and loft insulation installs in Leeds homes.
After being selected as one of the Government’s pioneer Green Deal Providers, Yorkshire Energy Services is busier than ever and is in the process of developing bespoke programmes in partnership with Energy Providers and Public Sector Bodies.
Small to medium sized installer organisations now have the chance to compete with the big boys and access lucrative Green Deal Contracts.
Yorkshire Energy Services has launched ‘Green Deal Installer Hub,’ a new website designed to help SME installers gain Green Deal accreditation and join a growing installer network.
Installers can registered their details on the site, create a user profile and get the chance to connect to Yorkshire Energy Services as a pioneer Green Deal Provider. As and when public and private sector contracts develop, Yorkshire Energy Services will select relevant installers through the Hub to carry out the work.
The UK Government has released its most ambitious conservation initiative to date, aiming to revolutionise energy efficiency standards for both homes and businesses.
Representatives of the award winning community interest company, Yorkshire Energy Services, explain how Green Deal intends to transform the UK’s sustainable energy industry for the better.
Green Deal in practise
Green Deal is an innovative programme set to reduce or eradicate the upfront costs of energy saving products and services. Homeowners and businesses can improve the efficiency of their properties with a broad range of installations without straining their financial resources.
The scheme offers a finance mechanism, where customers can access a loan to pay for energy efficiency improvements such as insulation, heating or renewable technologies. Repayments are then split into instalments and tied to the property’s electricity meter.
What makes Green Deal different to other finance programmes is that repayments are set at a lower rate than the money saved on fuel bills through the related products. Therefore customers will always be financially better off for taking part in Green Deal, reduce their fuel bills and reap the benefits of a warmer and more efficient property.
Are you an installer interested in Green Deal?
Do you want more insight into the whole Green Deal process?
Are you concerned about the certification procedure?
Yorkshire Energy Services is working with the Green Deal Skills Alliance to offer support to installers wishing to partake in Green Deal.
To help the Green Deal Skills Alliance get a real understanding of the current installer landscape and how this will affect the launch of the scheme, the organisation has produced an online survey.
The results of this survey will offer insight into the current capabilities of installers and provide a real understanding of the support installers require in the run up to the launch of the scheme in October.
If you’re an installer…help the Green Deal Skills Alliance help you…and complete their questionnaire before the 14th September 2012:
Here’s a short film to help homeowners get to grips with the Government’s forthcoming Green Deal scheme. Find out how Green Deal aims to help families get energy saving home improvements installed for little or no upfront costs.
For more information call YES Projects on 0800 052 7496.
Key players from across the sustainable energy industry will be gathering in York on the 21st September 2012 to attend NEA’s annual Fuel Poverty Forum.
The event, held at York Medical Society will be focussing on Green Deal and ECO (Energy Company Obligation) policy and will demonstrate how both schemes will attempt to aid fuel poor communities across the country.
Emma Kovaleski, Manager of the CEO’s Office at Yorkshire Energy Services will be speaking at the event and offering delegates’ insight into the Government’s Green Deal and ECO strategies. As one of the pioneer Green Deal Providers, Yorkshire Energy Services have been directly involved in the pilot programme and aims to offer support to small to medium sized enterprises (SME’s) wishing to join their Green Deal network.
The UK’s second largest energy supplier, SSE plans to increase its rates by 9% in October 2012. Householders from across the country fear the domino effect as other major utilities review their tariffs.
SSE’s charge will add a further £8.53 a month to the average customer’s direct debit. If the rest of the ‘big six’ energy suppliers follow suite, thousands of families will feel the squeeze in time for yet another cold winter.
It’s no surprise that rising energy costs directly effects England’s most vulnerable. There are still thousands of householders living in the grips of fuel poverty and making critical sacrifices as they strive to keep warm in their homes.
Having worked within a multitude of fuel poor communities, energy efficiency consultancy, YES Projects is doing everything it can to help vulnerable householders combat rising fuel costs. In March 2011 the company launched a national free home insulation scheme, available to all homeowners and private renting tenants in England (subject to survey). Already hundreds of residents have benefited from the scheme and have reduced their energy usage.
