There are other organisations that have similar aims to us: we think this is a good. We’re going to need to attack on a lot of fronts to tackle the UK’s housing stock and change people’s behaviour towards a much more sustainable future.

Carbon Census are one such organisation – and also like us, they’re a social enterprise. Their ambitious aim is to survey 100,000 homes and make a 50 per cent carbon cut in each. But before they get out there in a big way, they wanted to make sure their hands-on approach was ticking the right boxes.

Ultimately, getting improved, more efficient heating, managing our love of gadgetry against our electricity consumption, making smarter use of water and all the rest require collaboration. Bringing experience to widest effect – it’s what our Endorsed Advice service is about. See what you think.

By Zoe Holliday

I’m not much of an athlete. Don’t get me wrong, I try. But over the past year, my sporting attempts have led to two broken fingers, rope burns behind my knees, and a serious ankle sprain from tripping over my own feet. 

So when I managed to jog a reasonable distance last weekend without either stopping or breaking myself, I felt that I deserved a reward. When I got home, I ate half a bag of cookies and a packet of smarties. Then I realised that by piling on the calories just after burning them off, I had pretty much negated the point of going on the run in the first place. 

Similarly, the intended carbon savings from energy efficiency measures are often not realised in practice, because people spend the money they save on other goods or services that require an energy input. This is the so-called ‘rebound effect.’ The effect was illustrated perfectly in 2009, when Tesco introduced their ‘Turn Lights Into Flights’ campaign – encouraging shoppers to use the clubcard points they earned buying energy saving light bulbs on airmiles. Not a campaign to win over the Guardian readers. 

Pinned to the partition in front of my desk is a postcard with the poster from the Second World War that’s above these words.  I bought it a few years ago because I thought it was amusing from an energy saving perspective. ‘My,’ I thought to myself, ‘how times have changed.’ Turned out to be maybe not so much.

The rebound effect is well-documented (we’ve covered it in previous articles on this blog) and is even taken into account in the Energy Saving Trust’s savings calculations. What is less well documented, however, is the reason why we rebound. But getting to an understanding of these values and motivations will be crucial if we want to minimise the impact of rebound on potential energy savings. 

The most common explanation is simply that increased energy efficiency makes energy cheaper. And if this is the case, then we need to be looking at how we market energy efficiency measures – if we persuade people to act because of financial savings, it should come as no surprise that they want to use their savings on other energy-consuming services. Likewise, if we tell people that their homes will be warmer after installing insulation, it should not be a shock when they turn their thermostat up after the measures have been installed. 

A less well documented theory for the rebound effect is ‘moral self-licensing’ – the idea that by doing something for the environment, people feel ‘morally licensed’ to make less environmental choices in other domains. In a recent study by Verena Tiefenbeck, half of the residents in a 200 block apartment block in Boston were given weekly feedback on their water consumption and how it compared to their neighbours’. As expected, those who received feedback reduced their water consumption by around 7.4% compared to those who did not – but a more surprising result was that these households also increased electricity consumption by 5.7% relative to the control group during this time. 

Interestingly, there is evidence that this moral licensing may even extend outwith the environmental domain. A 2009 study by Nina Mazar and Chen-Bo Zhong suggested that the actual act of purchasing green products may have the counter-intuitive effect of licensing asocial and unethical behaviours. In a series of experiments, Mazar and Zhong showed that after buying green products, participants appeared less willing to share a set amount of money, and were more likely to cheat, lie and steal than those who had bought conventional products. (Maybe this explains the fact that Antony Worrall Thompson, a passionate advocate of organic farming, was recently caught shoplifting?!)

 It’s worth noting that a number of concerns have been raised about the validity of these experiments, as the participants were not actual green consumers and were under lab conditions. But I do believe that if we are to maximise the effectiveness of energy efficiency campaigns (and reduce petty crime), there is a real need to understand what motivates the rebound effect.

In particular, we need to understand that decisions aren’t made in isolation but are shaped by people’s values. If energy saving is marketed by appealing to extrinsic values like popularity, image, conformity or wealth, then it should come as no surprise when they choose to make use of their greater wealth, or to compensate for the fact that they have behaved better than others in one way by self-licensing more indulgent behaviour in another way. 

If we are to counter-act the rebound effect, energy saving messaging needs to convey not extrinsic values but a sense of our moral duty to help meet the climate change challenge and make sure we all have a stable, sustainable future.

Energy has left the building: but how much?

One of the biggest obstacles in taking on the UK housing stock’s leakiness is the lack of robust data on the minutiae of what the effects of doing the energy efficiency stuff actually are. But things are changing.

Last year, the Energy Saving Trust and Communities and Local Government (CLG) funded a programme to test the energy efficiency of four new-build homes some time after their construction.

The results were good. Three out of the four properties exceeded the targets that were needed at the time of their planning approval. There was still a whole-house heat loss at an average of 14 per cent higher than designed. A small gap, but a gap nevertheless. Another study, in 2008, showed a performance gap of an alarming 60 per cent.

This data is crucial to the UK’s attempts to meet carbon reduction targets, and it also pinpoints areas that drain a household of cash.  If heat is lost through the fabric of a house, then people will turn up their thermostats, and boilers will be switched on for longer. When the bills drop through the door the excitement of moving into a new home can be quickly dampened.

The homes that we tested are a start – but there’s more to be done, that’s for sure. The Good Homes Alliance is now calling on the government to encourage the construction industry to test samples of all new homes. They would also like to see a feedback mechanism so that lessons can be learned and acted upon by builders and suppliers.

Data has to be accurate and credible, while modelling and calculation tools also have to be periodically and systematically reviewed. The industry standard tool is the Standard Assessment Procedure, or SAP, developed by BRE for the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

To simplify a fairly complex story, it assesses a new-build’s compliance with part L of building regulations in England and Wales (and the equivalent in Scotland and Northern Ireland), acts as a basis for Energy Performance Certificates, and forms the basis of other tools, such as the Energy Saving Trust’s Home Energy Check. 

But on this front, change is a afoot too. A consultation on SAP is taking place just now, which will take a look at such things as the carbon dioxide emissions factors, changes to the use of regional weather data to help to calculate running costs, the means of assessing hot water, the treatment of water loss and setting standard values for heat pumps. 

By continually collecting, assessing and improving data, tools and calculators such as these, we can keep an eye on how to improve the UK’s carbon reduction targets and help householders to save a few bob on bills.

Of course, the fabric of a building is only part of the story. The way a householder uses heat, insulation and water is just as crucial. GHA is gathering feedback from homeowners to see the impact of their behaviour on energy performance.

Smart meters will also help us to keep an eye on real-time energy use. And of course, our advice service is only a call away if you want to check your own home energy behaviour.

Soaring energy prices have long been in the news. Now it’s water’s turn to take up some of the unwanted limelight. The dreaded words ‘postcode lottery’ have even been out in force across the media. And it’s not just that: there’s talk of droughts across some areas too, to compound the bad news.

With water up the news agenda, despite the worries, it might be worth holding that thought rather than it becoming the clichéd chip paper of tomorrow. We do think water, and conserving it, needs to retain a higher public profile.

Water and energy are inextricably linked. We use and take for granted both every day.  We’re working on making the link between water and energy clearer – across the UK and Europe, no less, through our EU Life+ project. Just 8 per cent of people in our research areas initially made the link that their water use also contributed to their energy bills: worrying, but it also tells us we need to up our game.

The figures tell their own story: six per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions in the UK come from water use, with nearly 90 per cent of this coming from hot water use in the home. If every UK home reduced their hot water use by just five per cent, the carbon dioxide savings would be equivalent to taking nearly 600,000 cars off the roads.

In the UK, approximately 30 per cent of an average home’s energy bills can be attributed to heating and using hot water.

But here’s the rub: you can cut your water and energy bills, and of course reduce your home’s carbon footprint through simple measures and behaviours changes. What’s more, water efficiency is one of the cheapest ways to save big.

Simply changing to a water-efficient shower head can save over £70 off average gas and water bills. Using a sink of water to wash up twice a day rather than having the hot tap running could save around £34 a year on your gas bill and around £25 on your water bill.

Metering is another part of the perfect storm of watery newsworthiness. According to Water UK, in regions where water is scarce, companies are looking to meter 80 per cent of homes by 2020 and a further 10 per cent by 2030. BusinessGreen also recently reported the potential growth in the market for smart water meters, as utilities look to get water-efficiency ingrained their plans.

As long as metering is combined with greater awareness of how important behaviour is in reducing water and energy use, we think this could bring as many benefits to householders as it does to the companies themselves. But it’s the education, and the actual small changes, that make the difference here.

We’re proud of our Water Energy Calculator tool – and it seems like others appreciate it too. It’s increasingly going on tour for water companies to help their customers make the water/ energy link – and make a change or two. Wessex Water has just signed up to use the tool, following in the footsteps of the likes of Southern Water, South East Water, Yorkshire Water and United Utilities.

We’re also very keen for water to be considered a central energy efficiency concern for major retrofit projects. There’s a lot more to be done here, but a positive attitude to water and energy has already prevailed in some schemes – London’s RE:NEW being a prime example. Water is a staple of our lives – but we all need to give it more TLC if resources are to be managed, and household emissions and bills reduced.

Winter’s had a late show of teeth, leaving us all dreaming of the first blooms of spring, the baby rabbits skipping through fields and all that other idyllic stuff.

Sunlight slanting through the new-fledged leaves – that’s another one. Coincidentally, this tidily makes for the perfect metaphor for our own Leaf – the Local Energy Assessment Fund.

At a time of high bills and worries about how to keep warm while minimising costs, we’d like to think that the funds awarded are going to provide that shaft of brightness to make people see the benefits of sustainable change.

And of course, local schemes getting money to do interesting things make for good local news, and we’ve seen lots of items dotted about the papers up and down the country.

The Halifax Courier has reported on Calderdale Community Energy getting just over £45,000 to support a community hydro scheme and survey homes, and the BBC’s Shropshire newsroom saw merit in Transition Town Shrewsbury and their own hydro ambitions.

In Bolton, funding’s helping green community champions do more, and way down south, Wadebridge’s energy group are hailed as visionaries in the Cornish Guardian. Meanwhile in Bath, they’re soaking in success (pardon the awful pun), and the Chronicle reports it all: Energy Efficient Widcombe’s surveying of old and listed properties and Bath Leading Lights living up to their name by showcasing LED advancements.

Of course, we’ve left lots of schemes out of this round-up, so apologies to all the other equally worthy bidders. It’s now down to you all to deliver. No pressure, then…

Not many people know this, but St Valentine liked to moonlight as Patron Saint of energy-savers. Don’t look that up on Wikipedia – you know how every click costs carbon…

His day says it all about the man – it’s tailor-made for cutting carbon and cash off those energy bills. Candles, blankets, walking hand in hand, getting all hot and bothered – we’re talking low carbon comfort all the way.

Cooking a meal for your beloved needn’t be a green headache – source local ingredients, have a look at our kitchen energy tips, then put vegetable and fruit skins into a compost heap and look forward to a natural fertilizer to use in the garden. There you go, it’s easy honoring old Valentinus’ memory.

If you’re cuddling up to a DVD or a bespoke love songs compilation, remember to switch your appliance off afterwards: standby energy consumption wastes up to £35 every year,

Once things are really hotting up, turn the heating down by 1 degree, then get so lost in passion that you leave it there, saving £60 a year.

Then there are the material gestures to consider. Well, you can make them immaterial, literally, with an e-card, or e-tickets for that concert, theatre trip or break away. On the latter, keep that travel responsible – cuddle up on a ferry or in a train cabin, then wake up refreshed at the destination.

Is loft insulation really an unromantic gesture? Well, yes, probably. But few could argue that it’s the ideal statement to the age of austerity pragmatist. Who, after all, can argue with savings of £175 (loft insulation) and £135 (cavity wall insulation)? When the bills come in, no doubt you’d be even more in the mood for love.

Altogether now: love and lagging, love and lagging…

We advise companies and organisations on how to give the best advice these days.

Advice on advice? you may well exclaim. That’s right.

The logic’s clear, though: with more players in the energy efficiency market, especially with the upcoming Green Deal, there needs to be someone who’s got the experience to put a metaphorical hand on the shoulders of those players who wish to give robust, credible guidance that really helps their customers. And we’d like to think that we’re that someone.

We’ve made some video case studies on what Endorsed Advice is all about. We’ll start with this one alongside our client Good Energy.

By Gary Hartley

And now the end is near

And so I face the final curtain

My friend I’ll say it clear

I’ll state my case of which I’m certain

They say that all good things come to an end. Indulge the cliché, not to mention the somewhat fatalist choice of headline.

There are, though, not so many endings that come with a call to arms: mostly ends are not seen coming, so you don’t get the chance to specifically petition people to make the most of the moment they’re in.

Enough rambling – we’ve got several good things ending soon, and we’d like to try and let as many people who might benefit know as possible.  Sinatra did put it best, so I guess it’s down to this blog to state the certain case for action.

First up, the Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP). Around 4,000 vouchers have been claimed so far, and there’s more to go round before the last two months are up.

If comfort, warmth, spiralling bills or making your home more future-proof have been a concern, £300 off your bill for solar water heating to £1250 for a ground source heat pump, and biomass and air-source heat pumps in between might pique your interest – especially when we’re presently all being reminded of how cold our winter can be when it feels like it.

North of the border alone – sorry, everyone else – the boiler scrappage scheme is also still open, but it’s only on while the money’s still there. With a quarter of a million Scottish households having the least efficient types of boiler, it’s a good move – but obviously true success depends on people actually taking up the £400-a-boiler offer. Get in before the end creeps up on you.

If the heating’s creaking, the bills are rising and you’re already leaning towards change, this might be the thing to push you there. And if you’re a private landlord, you can get a voucher for every property you replace a boiler in – pretty logical really.

One thing we sadly can’t rave about the benefits of getting involved with is the LEAF scheme. The second round of community energy applications has now closed – but it could be said that this only serves to highlight the importance of getting in there sharpish. We’ll be announcing the successful bidders shortly; the first round success stories can be found here.

Green is at the forefront of Ankara's ambitions

By Tom Lock

Ankara is a thriving, rapidly growing city. A new four-lane motorway slices the town open revealing, on one side, the beautiful ancient buildings the capital is famous for and, on the other, the more recent additions; the gleaming tower blocks and new public plazas that have sprung up in response to rapid industrialisation.  Growth, a concept currently unfamiliar to western economies, is taking hold in Turkey.

It’s a fact that economic growth equals rising energy use through higher consumer consumption. Simply put, as standards of living grow the workers inhabiting these new skyscrapers are earning more, consuming more and thus using more energy. Here in Ankara it’s an increasing trend. As an expert in Energy Efficiency, I’m here to assist the Turkish authorities implement EU legislation that will not only assist in cutting carbon emissions, but could prove vital in Turkey’s bid for EU ascension. My work is sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme, an organisation that promotes development through knowledge sharing; something I hope to do much of while I’m here.

It’s my job to assist with implementing two main EU Directives: the Energy Labelling Directive and the Eco-design for Energy related Products Directive. The EU directives work from the top down: the EU sets the legislation; the Turkish government has to implement the legislation; Government departments have to apply the details to their remits.

They have to work out who has to know what, and then they have to let them know what they have to do. Retailers, for example, have to understand their responsibilities and have to be able to talk to customers and suppliers about energy efficiency. It is a complex chain of operation where one small weakness can lead to disappointing results. A myriad of different cultures, different languages, different mind-sets, new legislation, and a sharing of knowledge – I feel privileged to be here at the start of something so worthwhile.

Turkey’s export market already understands the legislation that applies to them; now the domestic market now has to do their bit. Fifty per cent of television sets sold in Turkey are manufactured in Turkey and there is currently a low appetite for energy-efficient products. The hope is that greater awareness will cascade down from the EU directives which will, in turn, lead to increased consumer demand for the most energy-efficient goods.

When presented with two televisions, similar in all respects except that one is more energy-efficient, it is likely that a customer will choose the set that is cheaper to run. There are other aspects of energy-efficiency to learn – not leaving a device on standby, not falling into the trap of buying dozens of gadgets because you think you’ve saved energy on another gadget, and so on.

As mentioned before, knowledge exchange is a vital part of this work. When my Turkish colleagues visited the UK in November 2011 we went to the Intertek Laboratory in Milton Keynes, where technicians test white goods for energy efficiency as part of the Energy Saving Trust’s Recommended Certification scheme. It’s an excellent benchmark as Turkey doesn’t have a lab quite like this yet – but they were keen to learn.

Data is a crucial component of energy efficiency – measuring just how much energy a product uses and how much can be saved is vital. We at EST have spent years compiling and refining our evidence-based database in partnership with specialists. For Turkey, this reconnaissance mission is only the beginning. They will soon expand their own facilities and will no doubt share their experiences in due course. We also popped into the EST office at Dartmouth Street, so they could see the UK’s own energy-saving enthusiasts diligently at work.

I am due to return to Turkey for five weeks across April, May and June 2012 to continue the work. There is much yet to complete, I have to train 300 government officials in Energy Efficiency. My work is scheduled to run until the summer. Until then, I will enjoy every second I work with this wonderful country and wonderful people.

There isn’t much to write about the issues involved in living ‘off-grid’ that our tech man Steven Harris didn’t cover off in his pretty awesome blog back in March last year. All in all, it’s a complex area, filled with issues about energy storage and alternative generators – but there are new innovations that intend to make the whole gig somewhat easier.  

First up, the water-powered phone charger. We’d be the first to admit that the Daily Mail got to this one, er, first, but nonetheless, it’s a mouth-watering, or should we say phone-watering concept. Sorry.

A tablespoon of water gets you 10 hours of battery life, so say the Swedish manufacturer myFC – so you wouldn’t have to be immediately reaching for our Water Energy Calculator.

We did suggest this might suit the adventurous type, and there’s no fear for the mucky here – saline and puddle water will do, if you must. It’s all a chemistry matter: water versus sodium silicide equals hydrogen fuel cell, more or less.

But here’s the punchline – it doesn’t come cheap. 199 Euros a pop at the minute, to be precise, but as with any ‘new to market’ technologies, once it’s piqued a few people’s interest, then a few more, then a few more, the price starts to incrementally decrease.

From the North Sea wing of the UK to the Irish sea in search of off-grid ideas. Electrical energy in liquid form is the aim of the game for a company called Red-T, who say the long electrical storage times for their ‘flow battery’ could be a godsend to those in remote locations – particularly for those using solar PV.

It’s all about holding on to the electricity you generate for when it’s needed, and in this case it’s achieved through a vanadium electrolyte which transports electrons through the cell.

In an interview with the Engineer magazine, the chief exec of the company John Ward expands:

“Once the sun sets, you would then draw off the Red-T system for your power requirements. So, for this system, you would have a completely standalone power system off grid. At one cycle day, the battery would have 365 charges a year, so it would last for 18 years.”

Not having had our Technologies team here test those claims, we’ll have to take John at his word for the time being, but what’s clear from developments like this pair is that off-grid is becoming more of a mainstream concern for the tech-minded, and what’s more, companies are willing to put their research and development budgets where their mouths are.