newsletter
Issue 9 Summer 2010
MEA’s Director named one of
the Top 50 Green Leaders
in the West Midlands’
Richard Davies, Director of
Marches Energy Agency, has
been named one of the top
50 Green Leaders in the West
Midlands. The competition,
run by Sustainability West
Midlands, aimed to identify the
50 individuals who were most
likely to take the region forward
to achieve a low carbon and
more sustainable future.
Richard was chosen by an
expert judging panel from
over 70 nominees who are all
in this issue
MEA Technology:
p2 WeSave Launched
p3 Historic homes
research
making a difference for the MEA Training:
West Midlands. At a celebration p4 Co-operative Energy
event earlier this month all Saving Champions
the Green Leaders were
MEA Events:
presented with their certificates
p5 Fantastic Home
by Jonathon Porritt, writer,
Coming Soon
broadcaster and commentator
p6 Bolsover Event
on sustainable development.
MEA Media:
The Green Leaders competition p8 Top trumps -
sought to address the ‘Exemplar Project’
“leadership gap” between
the knowledge and skill of
its current leaders and what
is required to create a better MEA staff have being doing,
future for the Sustainability West Midlands
region. It aimed will begin profiling the people,
to achieve this projects and the organization
by highlighting with their media partners. They
and celebrating will also offer support to MEA
the top 50 networking events and levering
individuals who with partners so that we can
have made continue working towards the
significant Low Carbon Vision for 2020.
contributions
towards a more 300 years ago, men and
sustainable women in the West Midlands
region. started the Industrial
Revolution. Now Richard has
In recognition been named as one of the
of the work leaders who will start the new
that Richard green revolution that we all
and his fellow require.
1.
 MEA Technology
WeSave - Guiding Voluntary Organisations
in their Carbon Descent
Climate change is recognised as
being one of the most important
issues to be addressed over
the next decade. Scientific
opinion is almost universally
agreed that we must cut man
made emissions of carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse
As the English
romantic
painter John
Constable said
“We see nothing
truly till we
understand it”
gases to prevent irreversible
damage to the ecosystem of
the earth. The cuts required are
big, and will need every person
and organisation to make their
contribution. Be Birmingham and
BVSC (the Birmingham Voluntary
Sector Council) acknowledge
this and are demonstrating this
by championing WeSave, the
groundbreaking online carbon
management tool developed by
Marches Energy Agency.
Voluntary sector organisations
are leaders on acting for the
greater good .Within these
organisations there is a
willingness to act to minimise the
effects of climate change and
to lead in their communities in a
better use of energy and in the
use of renewable technologies.
Material exists but those working
in the voluntary often don’t know
the best way to interpret all the
various options for their particular
building(s) and with respect to
their organisation. Energy audits
provided by consultants are an
effective way to recommend
to the organisation what they
should do, although often these
recommendations are not
taken up and stay as just that,
recommendations.
WeSave supplies the voluntary
sector with the tools to perform
their own energy audit through
the wesave.org.uk interactive
website, accompanied by its help
screens and guide book. This
process gives the organisation
ownership of its carbon descent,
increasing the involvement of
those within the organisation and
resulting in large impacts on the
organisation’s or group’s carbon
descent. WeSave then continues
to interact with the organisation,
showing them how their energy
consumption decreases over
time and assisting them with
any future changes. In addition,
the tool incorporates various
behavioural change elements
which can then be disseminated
to the members of the
organisation and those who visit
their premises.This resource is
intended to enable a person who
is not an energy expert to work
through a step by step process to
build up an action plan to be used
by their organisation. The work
can be carried out in manageable
chunks, and the workbook and
online tool are linked together so
that you can keep track of what
stage you have reached.
WeSave aims to be a bit
different; to be inspiring, to
2.
be empowering. But more
importantly it seeks to help all
that use it to get from aspiration
to planning practical action.
There is certainly no shortage
of information on sustainable
energy and climate change,
although there does seem to
be a sizeable amount of carbon
illiteracy. As the English Romantic
painter John Constable said
“We see nothing truly till we
understand it.” WeSave helps you
and those around you truly see
the challenge and the opportunity
of sustainable energy and climate
change. One way or another, this
generation - that’s you and me -
have this awesome responsibility
of delivering low carbon lifestyles
in our communities. So log on
to the website (www.wesave.
org.uk) , read the workbook and
spend an important hour or so
This generation
- that’s you
and me - have
this awesome
responsibility
of delivering
low carbon
lifestyles in our
communities.
as a carbon accountant and low
carbon building planner and
engineer. This isn’t a guidebook
to read, it is a workbook to do
and an interactive tool to use
- so get reading, entering, and
planning - the future is in your
hands.
 English Heritage research carried out
on Shrewsbury homes
Representatives from English
Heritage Building Conservation
department visited Shrewsbury
three times during February
and March in order to carry out
energy monitoring on Victorian
Housing within the town. They
were on the hunt for case study
buildings as part of an on-going
project and it was suggested that
they use some of the buildings
already being studied by MEA as
part of the SECHURBA project
(which investigates ways of
making historic buildings more
sustainable).
The English Heritage research
is to measure heat flow through
typical historic buildings, and
in particular through solid brick
walls. It will help to understand
and predict the behaviour of
individual construction types
and the thermal performance of
buildings as a whole.
MEA Training
Accredited Training for Construction Professionals
Richard Hammerton in
the Carbon Forum team is
expanding the delivery of
accredited training courses.
In addition to the Level 2
course he has developed for
Accord Housing Association
in partnership with Walsall
College, he is now contributing
two units to the development
of a Level 3 course for the
MEARS group (building
construction professionals).
Thermal image of one of the
sample houses
Three houses in Albert Street,
Shrewsbury were chosen
for the study, using a new
method developed by Glasgow
Caledonian University. Each
house had three small sensors
Fitters, plumbers, electricians,
carpenters and builders from
the group are being trained to
be energy and climate aware
as part of Accord’s Fit for the
Future project.
As part of a larger programme
of training Richard is running
four in-depth sessions
on energy efficiency and
climate change which he has
developed for the course. The
aim is to provide practically
3.
attached to either side of the
exterior walls for two weeks and
an infrared thermograph of the
exterior was also taken.
Once the results have been
evaluated they will be included
into on-going research being
carried out by MEA through the
SECHURBA project. Project
coordinator Nicole Solomons
said: “We are very pleased to
have the expertise of English
Heritage involved with the
SECHURBA project. Our reports
and recommendations will be
distributed to the homeowners
concerned and a workshop will
be organised to publicise our
findings to other homeowners
within the area. We hope this will
help to highlight the interventions
that can be made to improve the
energy efficiency of older homes,
even when they are situated
within a Conservation Area”.
focused but scientifically
rigorous knowledge as a
means of addressing the
knowledge gap around energy
in the construction industry.
At the end of the course all
successful participants receive
nationally
recognised
Qualifications
Credit
Framework
Level 3 credits.
 Co-operative Food Group Training completed
MEA were commissioned by the
Energy Saving Trust (EST) to
deliver household energy training
to Area Energy Champions of the
Cooperative Food Group. The
result was informative, engaging
and stimulating advice and
training. Twenty sessions were
delivered to the Area Energy
Champions, District Energy
Champions and Operations
Managers across the UK - from
Belfast to Broadstairs, Inverness
to Nottingham. The training was
delivered to them with a view
to cascading the training to the
store managers, store energy
champions and ultimately to all
Co-op retail staff.
The basis for the
training was the
understanding that
through undertaking
energy saving
measures in the home,
staff would be able to
apply these techniques
in the work place, and in
some cases vice versa.
The Co-op group has
an overarching ambition
to cut energy use by
25% by 2012 and
has made significant
inroads to achieving this
target. However, they
acknowledge that they
are only going to be able to do this
with the assistance of a motivated
and fully trained group of energy
champions.
The training thus developed was
delivered to twenty groups of Area
Energy Champions numbering
258 participants. Each, now fully
trained in home and store energy
efficiency, will between now and
autumn be cascading the training
to all staff. They are tasked with
assisting the Regional Energy
Managers delivering on the 25%
target reduction in energy use. It is
the opinion of the trainers that this
is now well within their grasp.
The training was well received and
appreciated by both the Regional
Energy Managers (who delivered
it in tandem) and the attendees,
some of whom were quite
skeptical of the impact that they
could have. All are now ‘energy
literate’, fully trained to achieve
major savings, both in the home
and in store.
On the store energy side we had a
rather hilarious ‘airing dirty laundry’
session revealing several energy
gaffes - a suspended ceiling that
was removed to reveal another
lighting rig full of working and lit
T12 tubes; a water heater left
permanently on but not used for
three years, two floors above the
trading floor and lastly; a spare
extractor fan that was turned
off to save the store £5,000 per
year. It was also useful to note
that although many stores have
been refitted recently and had
upgrades, most of the energy
savings that have been made in
this district have been through
the housekeeping actions of the
energy champions network, not
through the installation of clever
kit.
Some of the attendees were
experienced energy champions.
Their previous work in this area
4.
had brought them into contact
with the Energy Saving Trust
before and some had undertaken
measures in their own home.
Many of the age old myths were
busted, like timing your heating
rather than leaving it on all day
- one energy champion had saved
over £500 in the last quarter by
doing so!
We hope to work with the EST and
Co-op again in the near future and
wish the Co-op the best of luck
with achieving their targets - we
are sure they can do it.
Here is a selection of the feedback
from the project:
“I just want to say a big thank you
for the vital role you
played in delivering
the training in a very
professional and
knowledgeable manner,
whilst being amiable
and engaging with the
district and area energy
champions.”
“Thanks for all your
hard work and effort in
delivering this project in
so many different area.
I now happy that my
whole region has been
covered from Scotland
to Ireland and the IOM.”
“Thank you very much for the
great job you have done in our
first two energy champion training
sessions.”
“My belief is that we have really
set the champions we have
worked with up with the tools to go
and continue the cascade process
of a sustainable, self perpetuating
package which will benefit all
the recipients at home, at work
and for the general good of the
environment.”
“Thanks a lot Kris, I enjoyed it and
learnt a lot.”
 MEA Events
MEA Honda Insight goes to School
Team Leader Kris McGowan
from MEA’s Carbon Forum
team took our Honda Insight
hybrid to Castle Business and
Enterprise school in Walsall
recently for a show and tell with
the whole school.
The Castle School were
having a whole week on
Fantastic Home - It’s Coming Soon!
Our Carbon Forum team are
busy planning the follow up to the
highly successful Light Fantastic
project. The new updated version
- to be called ‘Fantastic Home’
- is a mobile exhibition, which
visits communities and schools.
It showcases energy efficient
technology and techniques,
behavioural changes and
renewable technology. It will
have interactive elements such
as a carbon countdown game
for children, the energy bike and
interactive aspects throughout
the display. It will signpost
visitors to local information and
grants as well as carry generic
sustainability, which also
included visits to local farms
and delivering assemblies
on energy efficiency. Kris
used the Insight to stimulate
discussion on technology as a
response to climate change and
transportation. Pupils young
and old were challenged to
identify what made the car so
information on all aspects of
energy saving and generation.
It will also be able to sign
people up for home visits from
professional energy efficiency
installers and well as give away
free energy efficiency items.
Fantastic Home is designed to
bring these elements to people,
rather than relying on people
seeking them out. Its purpose
is to actively show visitors
practical measures that they
can take themselves. It provides
an engagement and education
opportunity for many thousands
of people that will not be reached
5.
efficient, and what could be
improved about it. They were
introduced to issues such as
peak oil and climate change.
The older pupils then discussed
other transport options for the
future as we face reducing
oil stocks and the need to
take responsibility for our
environment.
The pupils ranged in abilities
and age from 5 up to 18 and
it was a real joy to work with
such a cross section in one day.
While the focus of the day was
new and exciting technology,
emphasis was placed on how
we make a difference through
our own actions and the most
important aspect of the car
was the driver and how they
behaved. Kris left the teachers
with follow up activities and
resources, and the pupils got
Eco Vehicles Top Trumps
games to play as well.
by traditional means at the
disposal of stakeholders.
Fantastic Home will allow people
to touch, feel and interact with
technology and techniques that
may otherwise be surrounded
in myth and mystery or simply
be outside of their sphere of
experience. It will enable people
to fully appreciate the costs,
benefits, savings and logistics
of taking action on reducing and
generating their own energy.
We hope to have it ready for the
end of August - watch this space
for updates!
 Sizzling Summer - Super Savings!
MEA was open for business
at the Three Counties Show in
Malvern last month. Alongside
the attractions of the region’s
premier agricultural and
countryside event, there was
a great deal of interest in Low
Carbon Enterprise, MEA’s
technical team at our stand in the
Rural Enterprise Pavillion.
Low Carbon Enterprise’s team
of sustainable energy experts
offer a range of services to help
you and your business generate
an income from the recently
introduced Feed-In Tariffs (FITs),
Bolsover Event Proves Popular
We visited Bolsover last
month to give information and
advice about climate change
and home energy efficiency.
Employees of the Bolsover
district council, as well as the
general public, were given the
opportunity to work out their
individual carbon footprint
using a simple carbon
footprint calculator.
On average the people of
Bolsover were doing well with
their efforts. Nearly everyone
we spoke to was doing
something to reduce their
carbon footprint, however
they still had an average
carbon footprint of 11,212kg.
There is always something
that could be improved to
get those footprints down
even lower and the 5-section
carbon footprint calculator
showed each individual
the area that could best be
improved for them. This could
be anything from reducing
save money on energy bills and
help reduce carbon emissions.
Question marks over energy
security and costs will
increasingly bear down on
business energy use so now
is the time to benefit from FITs
and cut energy costs. As if
businesses didn’t have enough
to contend with there is also the
challenge posed by the Carbon
Reduction Commitment which
will increasingly impact on
businesses in the next few years.
Tristan Haynes, MEA’s Technical
air travel less to buying more
locally produced or organic
food.
Using energy efficient light
bulbs was a popular method
that people reported already
doing in their home to keep
their carbon emissions down
and we aimed to encourage
this by giving out free energy
saving bulbs to all that wanted
them. Each bulb gives out 100
watts worth of light using only
18 watts of electricity!
We received queries
about energy
monitors for the
home, local wind
farm plans, low flush
toilets and energy
saving lighting.
Many people were
keen to look at our
light bulb library
and were pleased
to see that a new
range of energy
efficient lighting is
6.
Adviser, says: “For businesses
there has never been a better
time to evaluate energy use and
potential for renewable energy.
The government’s Feed-In
Tariffs are designed to deliver an
approximate rate of return of 5-
8% for well-sited installations. As
the tariffs are linked to inflation
in this rate of return could then
be considered even higher at
some 7-10%. We have a track
record with small to medium
sized enterprises in the West
Midlands and are keen to deliver
even more benefits to local
businesses.”
being brought out. There
was some discussion about
issues people were having
with the traditional low
energy bulbs and we were
able to give advice on these
issues.
Overall, the carbon footprint
calculators were very
popular and often people
were pleased to learn that
their efforts were having a
significant impact on their
carbon emissions.
 New Policy on the Historic Environment
March saw the release by
the Government of PPS5, a
new policy statement aimed
at simplifying existing policy
on the Historic Environment
and containing important new
guidance related to heritage
assets and climate change.
PPS5 recognises
that the historic
environment has an
important role to play
in addressing climate
change through
reuse of existing
assets and as a
source of inspiration
and information for
new sustainable
development.
The new policy
encourages local
planning authorities to identify
opportunities to enhance
heritage assets by improving
energy efficiency, improving
resilience to the effects of
climate change and allowing for
greater use of renewable energy
without harming their historical
significance.
MEA Media and Publications
Make money while the sun shines
April saw the introduction of
the Government’s Feed-In
Tariffs which offer businesses,
householders and third sector
organisations the opportunity
to make money while the sun
shines (or the wind blows or
the river flows!). Payments are
guaranteed for every unit of
electricity generated by wind,
solar, hydro power or anaerobic
digestion.
Baroness Andrews, Chair
of English Heritage, said:
“The publication of PPS5 is
a milestone in the positive
and proactive management
of the historic environment. It
represents a major leap forward
for England’s programme of
Heritage Protection Reform and
will help to make better, more
sustainable places.”
English Heritage guidance
on the new statement urges
local planning authorities to
“keep abreast of up-to-date
information on the efficiency
One of our volunteers, Bill Kirby,
has has produced a factsheet to
explain how the scheme works
in more detail. This is available
from the resources section of
the MEA website. Bill has also
produced a number of other
factsheets and this newsletter.
Our team of sustainable energy
experts also offer a range of
services to help you and your
7.
and sustainability of historic
buildings and the best means of
improving their performance” and
“identify exemplars that can be
shared with potential applicants
to increase the likelihood of more
sustainable proposals being put
forward.”
Nicole Solomons,
Coordinator of MEA’s
SECHURBA project
which looks at ways
of improving the
sustainability of historic
buildings, recently
visited St Silas Church
in London (left), the first
church in the UK to install
solar PV tiles made to
blend in with the other
slate tiles:
The PV tiles are expected
to yield an estimated 11,800 kWh
pa, providing 47% of the church’s
energy needs and cutting over
7 tonnes of carbon dioxide
emissions a year.
More information on SECHURBA
can be found at sechurba.eu or
phone 01743 277109
business generate an income
from the Feed-In Tariffs (FITs),
save money on your energy
bills and help reduce carbon
emissions.
To find out more about the
technical services we offer,
Low Carbon Enterprise (MEA’s
technical team) has its own
website at lowcarbonenterprise.
org.uk
 MEA Media and Publications

Top Trumps Named Exemplar European Project

Carbon Forum’s Top Trumps the globe. The pack is now use. In the meantime you can
project has been hailed as an out of print and has become view the accompanying Green
‘exemplar European project’. something of a collectors’ item! Driving Guide at carbonforum.
Kris McGowan, Carbon Forum We will shortly have the pack org/content/guide
Team Leader, recently spoke to available electronically for
delegates from across
the West Midlands who
are currently planning
their own pan-EU
projects. Kris gave tips
and advice, inspiration
and assistance to
help steer applications
from the University
of Birmingham,
Staffordshire University,
Herefordshire
Council and the
Birmingham and
Coventry Chambers of
Commerce.

The Eco Vehicles Top

Trumps pack was
developed by Kris in
2008 and has been
distributed to over
2500 schools and also
to individuals across

Marches Energy Agency is a

registered charity #1070942

Main website:
www.mea.org.uk

MEA team websites:

www.carbonforum.org
www.rethinkenergy.org.uk
www.lowcarboncommunity.org
www.keepshropshirewarm.org
Switchboard: 01743 246 007
Email: info@mea.org.uk
The Pump House, Coton Hill,
Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY1 2DP

8.