Cornwall Council

Home Energy Conservation Act report 2013

ACTION / EXAMPLE / TIMING
i) LOCAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY AMBITIONS AND PRIORITIES
Current statistics from DECC Fuel poverty 2010: sub-regional data
CO2 emissions from domestic (kt/Co2) est. / 2005 / 2007 / 2009 / 2010 / % reduction
Cornwall / 1,461 / 1,421 / 1,323 / 1,412 / 3.35%
South West / 13,157 / 12,726 / 11,610 / 12,454 / 5%
UK / 155,230 / 150,649 / 136,393 / 146,525 / 6%
Fuel Poverty / 2006 / 2008 / 2009 / 2010
cumulative % of households / 17.6 / 21.4 / 25.6 / 19.1
In September 2011 the Council became signatories to the Covenant of Mayors, committing to meet and exceed the European Union 20% CO2 reduction objective by 2020.
Our adopted ‘Sustainable Energy Action Plan for a Green Cornwall’ (SEAP) sets a 30% energy reduction target from the SEAP sectors, (including the domestic sector) by 2020 on 2009 levels.
Consideration will be given to signing up to the LGA ‘Climate Local initiative’ in 2013.
Cornwall’s Private Sector Housing Condition Survey 2010: identified the key features of Cornwall’s housing stock and population compared with national averages.
Cornwall suffers above average fuel poverty with some areas exceeding 30%. We will work to reduce these levels by targeting efforts towards those in high fuel poverty areas and to vulnerable groups. / 2020
2020
2013
ii) MEASURES WE ARE TAKING TO RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS OF OUR RESIDENTIAL ACCOMODATION
Cornwall Housing Ltd / The new Cornish Housing Standard will be our new benchmark for the quality of our houses, raising the bar above the level originally set by the Government’s Decent Homes Standard in 2001. The new standard will apply both to the Council’s existing council housing stock of 10,700 homes, as well as to the new homes Cornwall Housing plans to develop in the coming years.
Our Cornish Housing Standard Affordable Warmth Strategy will aim to improve the ability of its tenants to be able to afford their fuel costs and therefore reduce the number of tenants who may experience fuel poverty.
The Feed in Tariff income from the solar pv installations will be used to recruit two energy advisors to help and advise tenants on the best way to use their heating appliances and how they can reduce their energy bills. This will enable us to collect ‘real’ data on fuel poverty. / Ongoing
Ongoing
2013
Green Deal and ECO / As the officially endorsed ECO investment partner and Green Deal provider for Cornwall, British Gas has ring-fenced a initial £50m to deliver the ECO initiative in the first two years, as well as help to access a further £50m of Green Deal funding.
The programme will seek to offer loans provided by The Green Deal Finance Company totaling c.£50m to private sector residents, and will involve marketing, surveying, inspections, customer engagement and the funding application process through to installation. The programme will deliver a range of Green Deal-eligible energy efficiency solutions to these properties delivered by local businesses.
Of the £50m ECO funding £32 million will be in the form of Affordable Warmth funding which focuses on eligible private customers. The remainder will be services utilised ECO Carbon Saving Community Obligation (CSCO) budget which targets housing in multiple deprivations focusing on the 15% poorest post codes. / 2013-2018
2013-2018
2013-2015
Feed in Tariffs scheme / Our Cornish Housing Standard Affordable Warmth Strategy acknowledges ‘There is potential for installation of solar photo voltaic systems to be installed and this will be considered in the future Asset Strategy.’ Cornwall Housing has completed 151domestic solar pv installations and three communal systems.
We support the Wadebridge Renewable Energy Network (WREN) Solar Club that provides competitively priced solar panels to local homes and businesses through partnerships with local installers. WREN raises awareness and local demand for the technology, and endorses the partner installer. Similar technology buying clubs will be set up for solar hot water, biomass heating, and other appropriate technologies. / Ongoing
Ongoing
Renewable Heat Premium Payment / Within our Cornish Housing Standard Affordable Warmth Strategy actions includes: ‘Install renewable energy heating systems in off network gas areas where possible.’ Ground source and air source heating systems have been installed and performance is being monitored with encouraging feed back both statistically and anecdotally from tenants. / Ongoing
Zero Carbon Homes / Policy 14 of Cornwall’s draft Local Plan includes ‘ Take advantage of any opportunities to minimise energy consumption, with an emphasis on the fabric of buildings, for example achieving high levels of insulation, use of natural lighting, ventilation, heating and orientation. This should achieve at least Zero Carbon new builds from 2016 for domestic buildings and from 2019 for non-domestic buildings. ‘
Following on from the draft Local Plan our Planning and Regeneration Service are developing a Cornwall Residential Design Standard to provide clear guidance to developers on a range of issues including opportunities to minimise energy consumption, achieving Zero Carbon and decentralised low carbon heat networks. / Ongoing
2013-2014
EPCs / Within our Cornwall Housing Standards Affordable Warmth Strategy targets for improvement include :
  • Achieve a combined SAP average of 60 for all properties.
  • All properties to have a minimum Energy Performance rating of E or higher by April 2013.
  • Properties that are below SAP 39 Band E will be improved to a SAP level of 65 where practicable within budget.
The Council is aware that data is available from Landmark regarding the energy efficiency of residential accommodation within Cornwall. The Council will consider the process for gaining bulk access to the published EPC data and whether it can make use of the data. / 2018
2013
2014
2013
Improving standards in the private rental sector / We aim to improve standards in the Private Rented Sector with the introduction of new systems of accreditationand where necessary additional regulation. Work on this project will be carried out during 2013 to determine the most appropriate course of action to take. A primary focus of the project will be to ensure that the new systems and regulation put in place reduce the number of category 1 hazards (Housing Act 2004 Part 1) relating to excess cold and drive private sector landlords towards improving the thermal efficiency of their properties.It is hoped that a strong partnership can be formed with both landlords and tenants in the private rented sector similar to ensure affordable warmth for increasing numbers of private sector tenants. / 2013-2014
Smart meters / As the officially endorsed ECO investment partner and Green Deal provider for Cornwall, British Gas will ‘promote the benefits of Smart Meters and facilitate their installation’. They will also create “smart” tariffs for Cornwall which will help develop a smart grid across Cornwall – designed to work in conjunction with the Cornwall Together scheme. / 2013-2018
Mains gas connection programme / The Private Sector Housing Condition Survey 2010, identified just under a half (47.7%) of dwellings are off the mains gas network. We are working to achieve a conversion from fuels such as oil to natural gas for many thousands of properties across Cornwall. This will include Cornwall Housing, as well as a number of other registered providers. / 2013-2017
iii) MEASURES WE PROPOSE TO COST EFFECTIVELY DELIVER ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS IN RESIDENTIAL ACCOMODATION BY USING AREA BASED/STREET BY STREET ROLL OUT.
The Private Sector Housing Condition Survey 2010 identified 2,400 Park Homes, which represented 1.1% of the overall private sector stock. We are retrofitting 60 park homes, targeted at vulnerable clients on protected sites that would benefit from insulation measures. The pilot explores the viability of running future park home insulation programmes.
We have completed a pilot retrofit project with 78 typical Cornish homes to inform future Green Deal and ECO delivery. Monitoring continues and findings will be reported early 2014.
We will work with a wide range of partners including British Gas, Cornwall’s officially endorsed ECO investment partner and Green Deal provider, Community Energy Plus and registered social landlords to leverage maximum uptake of both ECO and Green Deal and to identify the right customers in the right areas.
Wadebridge Renewable Energy Network’s (WREN) objective is to reduce the Wadebridge area’s energy consumption by 5% by 2015 and tackle the area’s high fuel poverty rates. In August 2012 WREN launched a town wide insulation program to ensure the Wadebridge area achieves maximum benefit from the remaining funded subsidised insulation offers, and is well positioned to secure future insulation offers under the ECO (Energy Company Obligation) scheme and the Green Deal.
We are leading a Winter Wellness multi-partner project funded by the Department of Health that aims to reduce the levels of preventable winter deaths. Close co-ordinated working provides joined up practical advice on how to alleviate fuel poverty and to encourage take up of grants available for insulation and heating to make homes warmer and healthier.
We have secured £331k DECC fuel poverty funding that has enable 149 vulnerable households to benefit from insulation and heating improvements, delivered in conjunction with free advice on saving energy, tariffs, switching, benefits eligibility, fuel debt, healthy indoor temperatures, damp, mould and condensation.
The Cornwall Together collective purchasing group ran a street campaign covering towns and villages most severely affected by fuel poverty across the whole of Cornwall, with an estimated combined population of roughly 100,000 households i.e. 50% of the entire population. Information provided to these 100,000 households through the Cornwall Together campaign included information andsignposting to Winter Wellness and the Green Deal. / 2013-2014
2012-2014
2013-2018
2012-2015
2013 – ongoing
2013
2013
iv) TIME FRAME FOR DELIVERY AND NATIONAL AND LOAL PARTNERS
Our adopted ‘Sustainable Energy Action Plan for a Green Cornwall’ (SEAP) sets a 30% energy reduction target from the SEAP sectors, (including the domestic sector) by 2020 on 2009 levels.
As the officially endorsed ECO investment partner and Green Deal provider for Cornwall, British Gaswill establish their Customer Operations Team in Cornwall creating new job opportunities for local people to join British Gas. In addition they will deliver the measures offered under the Scheme through locally recruited people and businesses to enable the highest levels of investment in Cornwall’s economy.
Community Energy Plus is a key partner in delivering the ECO obligation, and will ensure that we can access the most vulnerable and fuel poor households. Community Energy Plus provide a one stop helpline that diagnoses people’s needs and refers them for home energy advice visits, insulation and heating grants and to partner organisations for additional help. / 2020
2013-2018
Ongoing