A successful project has reached its conclusion, after tackling two of society’s biggest problems – unemployment and fuel poverty.
Project Achieve was managed in the UK by Severn Wye Energy Agency, an energy charity based in Gloucestershire, in partnership with Wiltshire Council. It was part of a larger European project which has seen free home visits to more than 1,700 households across the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, France, Germany, and Slovenia.
Over the last two years, Project Achieve tackled the ever present spectre of rising and unaffordable fuel bills and by training people who have been unemployed to provide energy efficiency home visits in their local communities.
Nine advisors were recruited from the Wiltshire area over the two year period of the project and more than 200 visits were carried out, where they offered simple ways to reduce their fuel costs and installed simple energy saving devices.
One of those employed as part of the project was Gary Hardman of Trowbridge, who first became interested in Achieve through his local Job Centre Plus in the summer of 2012. Since he was employed, Gary has now undertaken more than 100 visits. He said:
“I have thoroughly enjoyed working on Project Achieve; I get a great deal of job satisfaction and have learned so much about energy efficiency and how to communicate this to people.
“My clients are always so please to be able to try out technologies like LED lighting which they would not normally choose to buy because of the high initial investment. Everyone is pleased with the devices and the visible savings that they make.”
Gary, takes a resident through the energy saving advice and devices for their home Photograph: Matthew Rees/Severn Wye Energy Agency
Jon Clarke is a Senior Project Manager from Severn Wye and managed the project. He said:
“Achieve has been a very interesting experience for us. It’s shown the value of energy advice that does not include a technical survey like the Green Deal and we are able to quantify the value of the intervention in financial terms.
“That is something that has been very difficult to do in more traditional behavioural programmes. We are excited to see how this experience may add value to advice provided under programmes like the Green Deal and take it one step further.”
Each visit consisted of an initial survey of the property to find out how the household were using their energy and identify where the largest savings could be made. The advisors then returned for a second visit where they delivered a report based on the clients energy use and bills, and installed simple energy saving devices at no cost to the customer. Devices such as TV powerdowns and reflective radiator panels were fitted.
In the UK, approximately 1,320 energy saving devices have been installed including LED lighting, reflective radiator panels and draught-proofing, with savings of around £45 a year being made by households. While households can of course expect year on year savings from these devices, the initial investment on the devices is paid back well within the first year.
In some cases the project has been able to go further and help the households to access funding toward heating and insulation measures.
One client in Melksham (who did not wish to be named), commented on the project: “Top service. Thanks to your report, our housing association funded our switch from Economy 7 storage heaters to full gas central heating; making savings of about £45 a week.”
As well as helping those in fuel poverty or with high fuel bills, the second element of Project Achieve was to recruit people who had been unemployed for an extended period of time in order to enhance their skills and increase their future employability.
As Gary added, “I had never thought of working in this area, but I'm finding it really exciting and I have already found loads of ways to save in my own home.”