When the bills bite

Thrift’s big comeback is heating up the world of energy saving.

The Energy Saving Trust (EST) has long spread the good news of loft insulation and low-energy light bulbs. But public interest in the message shot up last year when sharp hikes in energy bills hit home. By October, advice centre phones were buzzing with two, three times the volume of enquiries. “Somewhere along the way, some sort of consensus had come together about environment and economy,” says Fraser Winterbottom, the organisation’s director of delivery.

The surge of interest coincides with a revamp both of the scope of EST’s advice, and how it’s delivered. A year on from the launch of environment secretary Hilary Benn’s plan for a nationwide ‘green homes service’, it has put a network of 21 advice centres in place to make that happen. The Trust has ventured beyond its comfort zone of energy efficiency advice into the wider world of sustainable living for the whole home. It has even taken its first steps on waste, in tandem with the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

“Between June and November we spoke to well over 10,000 people, in four regional pilot schemes, about waste reduction alongside energy and CO2  saving – proper, in-depth conversations,” says Winterbottom. Adding rubbish to the mix of topics covered in EST’s marketing material has generated more response to campaigns than the old energy-only approach, he says. But while people may have a sense of responsibility for their household contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, they hadn’t necessarily thought of the contents of their dustbins in that context. “Often people have been surprised to find out how much waste adds to their carbon footprint.”

In fact, WRAP estimates that 20% of the UK’s emissions are associated with the distribution, production and storage of food – and a third of all the food we buy just gets binned. So, picking up on WRAP’s ‘Love food, hate waste’ campaign, EST advisors suggested ways in which planning meals, shopping thoughtfully and using up leftovers can reduce food waste – and save on both money and carbon.

The next topic on EST’s expanding menu of advice is water. Winterbottom accepts that this may be more of a challenge. With only a minority on water meters, the power of the money-saving argument will be limited. It’s only in times of drought that we tend to think about using this precious resource carefully, and there’s not much general awareness of the massive amount of energy invested in delivering clean water to our taps.

Meanwhile, however, EST has some new strings to its bow for getting the message across. It is in consultation to gain access to the database of homes that have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), which every would-be seller must obtain for inclusion in the new Home Improvement Pack – and hopes soon to be to able contact anyone who’s bought a property with a poor energy efficiency rating.

Winterbottom sees this as especially valuable because it will enable his advisors to suggest improvements, and signpost sources of finance, just when new owners are in the right frame of mind to make alterations. Simply by insulating the loft to a depth of 270mm, for instance, they can improve their property’s EPC rating at a stroke, and cut an average of £205 off annual heating bills.

Also in the pipeline is the rollout of the Home Action Plan (HAP) scheme. Recently piloted with 40 households in the southeast, this involves independent advisors carrying out energy audits, then making detailed recommendations for changes to both the home and its inhabitants’ lifestyle. EST estimates that implementing these will save households an average of £600 – and two tonnes of carbon – per year.

While the upfront cost of £99 risks putting people off in tough economic times, Winterbottom believes the solution could lie in persuading local authorities, or even employers, to pay for a HAP on a householder’s behalf. As he says, new circumstances will require new thinking – but the revived interest in thrift is definitely an opportunity, a corner turned. “Now we can focus less on persuading people that the environment is important, and more on getting things done.”

Julian Rollins 

The Energy Saving Trust is a Forum for the Future partner.

13 February 2009

Julian Rollins