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The Government launched an initiative called the Green Deal earlier this year, but it appears the public are not interested. Not one household has registered to take part in the scheme, according to a report in the Telegraph this week.

If you are now thinking, what is the Green Deal, then you can read What is the Green Deal? in our Green Living Section, (as ever we try to keep it simple).

In a nutshell the scheme is designed to make our homes more energy efficient without having to pay for work up front, instead the work is carried out by approved contractors who have an arrangement to collect the money back in small increments via your fuel bills.

The idea being that the energy saving will decrease your bills so the energy saving work will ‘pay for itself’. It is worth noting that when your home is assessed for the work the contractor will have to prove that the expected savings will be equal to, or more than the cost of the work, which is known as the ‘Golden Rule’.

These assessments have been available since 1 October prior to the launch of the scheme in January 2013, but the tumbleweed must be blowing through the offices of registered contractors as they wait for customers.

The Climate Change Minister, Greg Barker had to admit that “no assessments have yet been lodged” on the Government’s official register. The shadow minister described the situation as a “shambles”.

So why are people not getting engaged? We would really like to have your thoughts on the Green Deal, which we can then feed this back to Greg Barker.

In our Green Living section you will also find a free energy assessment tool. It is easy to use, you just answer some very simple questions to get a report on what energy saving measures your home could benefit from. This will help you decide if you might benefit from making changes to your property, which may be covered by the Green Deal scheme if you are interested, or they may just be very simple DIY improvements such as improving insulation or even just changing your lightbulbs.

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The Government has announced cashback deals for householders who intend to carry out energy-saving home improvements, under the Green Deal, from January next year.

Money will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis so providers should encourage customers to take up the deal sooner rather than later, in order to take advantage of this deal.

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Government Energy Secretary Ed Davey said “The Green Deal also presents a great opportunity for businesses of all sizes to take advantage of this transforming market – and now is a critical time. Whatever your business does in this sector, the Green Deal will have an impact. So I say to businesses large and small – gear up, get training and get ready to take advantage of the Green Deal.”

Companies and Individuals who are interested in becoming authorised assessors and installers under the Green Deal Scheme can find out more by following this link to the Green Deal Oversight & Registration Body website or through one of the certification bodies.

Further details are available on the DECC website.

Hopefully this initiative will encourage consumers to commission work for the providers which in turn will save them them money on their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient.

To find out more about Green Deal and service providers click here.

For other Green Deal blog posts from DIY Doctor click here.

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The Government is pushing the Green Deal as a way of reducing our energy usage (and therefore our bills) as consumers. It also wants us to become much more aware of our buying power, advising consumers to use comparison and switching information to get the best deal on our fuel. Energy Secretary Edward Davey said: “With prices rising and temperatures dropping, we want to make sure we are doing all we can to help vulnerable householders keep warm this winter.

There will be £40 million available in a competition to reduce fuel bills and increase energy efficiency. The competition, run by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), has three strands, each with a separate pot of money up for grabs:

• £25million to help householders keep warm this winter

Local councils in England can bid for up to £25 million to help improve thermal efficiency of homes in their area. This is aimed at helping low income and vulnerable people stay warm over the winter and aims to help cut heating costs by installing efficient new (and replacement) boilers plus loft and cavity wall insulation.

Davey states “This funding will put local councils at the heart of action to get energy bills down, for instance helping low income householders upgrade old inefficient heating systems and insulate draughty homes”.

• £10 million to kick start Green Deal projects

£10 million is being made available for Green Deal ‘pioneer’ projects. Councils in England can apply to use this money for schemes aimed at promoting the Green Deal. It could include whole house retrofits and community engagement events to raise awareness of what can be done to improve energy efficiency. This Pioneer Places scheme builds on the investment made in seven Green Deal Low Carbon Cities, read more about his on our blog.

• ‘Cheaper Energy Together’: £5 million to set up collective switching schemes

This aims to encourage groups to bilk-buy their energy. Councils and third sector organisations in England, Scotland and Wales can take advantage of this initiative by setting up local collective switching schemes. Collective purchasing and switching enables consumers to group together (using a trusted third party) to use market power when negotiating lower energy bills.

Davey explains  “As well as helping even more councils showcase the benefits of energy efficiency, this funding will support the launch of initiatives to enable local residents to save money by clubbing together to get a better energy deal.”

Potential bidders can apply for money under all of the competitions using a single application form. Each bid will be judged separately using a range of criteria including: impact on fuel poverty; value for money; and the potential for generating further investment in the future.

The closing date for applications is 30 November 2012.

Find out more about energy efficient products on our Green Living section which we have produced in conjunction with our partners Be Energy Smart.

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Image by: Kirsty Hall

More and more of us are becoming concerned with living a sustainable existence after so many years of just taking from our Earth. Gone are the days where you simply threw your trash in the trash can – this is the time of recycling, upcycling and reusing!

However, green living doesn’t have to be a chore. Yes, it’s a little more effort, but there are some simple DIY projects you can use to decrease your carbon footprint and increase your positive effect on the environment around you.

Bigger Projects

1.       Build a Compost Heap

Composting is one of the simplest ways to ensure your food and garden waste is put to good use, and won’t end up in landfill. Make sure you’re only composting fruit, vegetable and garden waste, as any animal produce (meat, dairy, eggs) can attract pests.

It’s best to keep your compost heap to a size of 5ftor less so it can heat up and decompose evenly, and so you avoid any putrification. Compost needs good air circulation, so start your heap off on a base of reclaimed bricks, in rows spaced 4in apart. Wooden pallets work especially well as the sides of your compost bin, as the gaps allow the air to circulate – just make a 4 sided frame, connecting the 3 of the 4 pallets with L-brackets, and then the last with hinges to make a door.

Then simply fill with your compost materials and let it mulch down into great food for your garden.

2.       Make a Recycling Sorter Bin

Recycling can often be forgotten purely for the fact that there’s nowhere to hand to keep recycling – unless you spend a lot of money on a plastic store-bought one. Instead, create one yourself out of a triple compartment metal-framed laundry basket.

Simply take the measurements of the laundry basket frame, and create a four-sided box – preferably out of reclaimed wood – to contain it, securing with sturdy L-brackets. Create a split lid with the same wood, ensuring that it will allow you to access each basket individually, and attach each of the three parts of the lid with 2 hinges. Put your laundry basket in, and label each lid ‘Metal,’ ‘Plastic’ and ‘Paper.’

The laundry bags can be removed individually to empty the contents, and can also be washed when they get grimy.

Smaller Projects

1. Remove your home’s window screens when the winter comes. Screens shut out a third of the sunlight from your home, so removing them can mean your home gets warmer with the solar radiation, and you use less energy for heating.
2. Sew a thick backing or blackout material onto the back of your curtains – it will help your home retain temperature in the nights.
3. Clean you boiler or furnace’s heat exchanger before the cooler season. Grime builds up on this over the year and makes it far less efficient.
4. Fill your fridge or freezer to the brim, as when they’re full they work far more efficiently. Cutting your weekly shop down to once a fortnight also means less petrol if you have to drive to your local supermarket!

What have you done to your home to supplement a greener lifestyle?

Estelle Page is an interior designer with a love for green projects. She blogs whenever she’s not running around after her kids, or deciding where her oak dining table should go in her new kitchen.

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In a bid to find innovative bioenergy solutions the DECC have announced a £2 million fund that is available for developing new schemes, particularly in Wetland areas where they feel that the plant life could be used for energy production in ways that would benefit the environment.

So Dragons’ Den style you should submit your Environmentally Friendly energy generating and harnessing ideas to DECC and if they like the idea they may agree to fund it.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) website.                   

“wetland areas produce a diverse mix of clean green energy sources which in many cases are currently going to waste.”
Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker

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