UK Green Streets project reduces carbon footprint and energy bills

Paul Eccleston, The Telegraph 23 Jul 08;

Families taking part in a greener living experiment have made big cuts in their carbon footprint.

They managed to reduce their energy use by 30 per cent and CO2 emissions by 20 per cent.

Organisers of the Green Streets challenge say if all UK households did the same the UK could save £4.6bn on energy bills.

Green Streets, a year-long social experiment in energy saving, is organised by British Gas and monitored by the think-tank Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), and involves 64 families in eight different cities.

Interim results based on the first five months of the Challenge reveal the best performing households managed to achieve savings on gas of more than 50 per cent.

Families who live in the Green Streets - a mix of British Gas customers and other energy suppliers - were given a budget of £30,000 per street to spend on energy efficiency measures, with advice from British Gas energy experts.

The street which produces the best energy and CO2 savings figures over a year will win £50,000 to spend on making a community building more energy efficient.

The savings they have produced so far are a result of installing energy efficient technology such as better insulation, solar panels and modern boilers working alongside simple energy saving behavioural changes.

British Gas and ippr claim the success of the experiment points the way to how the UK can reach the legally-binding government target of reducing CO2 emissions by 20 per cent on 1990 levels by 2010.

Analysis of the results so far found:
# The highly-motivated households almost halved their energy use;
# Expert advice on energy efficiency helped lead to sustained interest and behaviour change;
# Behavioural change can be as important as new equipment - one London household reduced its gas use by 45 per cent by installing loft insulation and thermostatic heating controls;
# Green Streets produced better community spirit and neighbourliness, bringing together neighbours who hadn't met before and creating both peer pressure and support to maintain energy efficient behaviour.

The success of the Challenge has led to organisers making three specific recommendations:

1. The adoption and extension of neighbourhood energy advisers scheme with one adviser for every 20 streets. IPPR say 10,000 advisers would cost £500m per year but would produce potential savings of £4.6bn.

2. The creation of new green mortgage packages by banks and energy companies to pay for the installation of energy saving technology. A £524 package for cavity wall and loft insulation, paid for under a 7 per cent APR finance package on a three year loan, would pay for itself within the three years and generate a £395 return on the investment every year after that.

3. Communities rather than individual households should be offered incentives to change their behaviour possibly through a £4m annual national energy saving prize-fund.

A clear policy framework and Government funding would be needed to underpin the recommendations and providing regulation and incentives for energy companies to invest in making them happen.

The report's author Matthew Lockwood, Senior Fellow in the Climate Team at the IPPR, said: "If the UK is to meet its target of reducing CO2 emissions by 20 per cent from 1990 to 2010, and by 60 per cent by 2050, radical new approaches to public policy will be needed.

"We need to recognise that three in four of the homes we will live in by 2050 have already been built. If we want householders to make up front investments in energy efficiency equipment that will curb bills and emissions for years to come, we will need creative approaches to financing the installation of energy efficiency measures in our homes."

Phil Bentley, managing director, British Gas, said: "The UK now buys energy on the world market and competes toe to toe with countries prepared to pay higher prices than we've seen before. Reducing energy consumption is the single most important thing households can do to reduce bills and cut emissions.

"With our advice and assistance, Green Streets households have saved up to 30 per cent on their energy use in just five months. The challenge for everyone is to see if they can do the same, and this report shows what we can all achieve."