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Sustainability ...the bigger picture In this issue: • Sustainability perspectives: how do different organisations approach sustainability • Sustainable skills • Bio-LPG: the off-grid fuel of the future • Enabling our energy future: a tale of elephants, inertia and innovation • The benefits of cost efficient, collaborative and streamlined street works
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OUTPUT
Welcome
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to this issue of OUTPUT
EUA HQ in Kenilwor Kenilworth th (W (Warwickshire) arwickshire) has excellent meeting room room facilities with capacities ranging from from our smallest rroom oom for 1 to 8 people to our largest room room which can hold up to 60 people theatre theatre style. EUA members rreceive eceive a 25% discount on our standard standard rates. This includes Fairtrade Fairtrade tea, coffee coffee and biscuits as well as use of our A/V equipment.
Sustainability is something that affects us all on a daily basis, whether it be turning down the thermostat to reduce your energy bills, sorting the recycling for collection every other week or figuring out how big your car engine is so you know how much road tax you need to pay. In this issue we take a look at sustainability.
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We hear from Alan Whitehead MP about his work on green gas, as well as from Calor who discuss Bio-LPG as the off-grid fuel of the future. As a past winner of ‘Responsible Business of the Year’ Jaguar Land Rover are perfectly placed to offer advice on how companies should approach sustainability; Jonathan Garrett, Director of CSR at the company discusses the car manufacturer’s successes to date as well as its future targets. We hear from the sustainability team at Coventry University about how they make sure they meet their sustainability targets. Energy Innovation Centre also shed light on Project Futurewave, an online energy hub that aims to help people find and install the best energy solutions for their homes through communities of trusted installers. We also focus on sustainable skills, with Yasmin Damree-Ralph, the Equality and Diversity Officer for JTL telling us more about the JTL Ambassador Scheme and what we need to do to attract young talent as well as more women to apprenticeships. Energy and Utility Skills also bring us up to date on a new scheme that aims to improve gas competence management across our industry.
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Hollie Franklin, Editor, OUTPUT EUA President Ian Hughes (Kingspan Hot Water Storage)
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Chief Executive Mike Foster HHIC Director Stewart Clements ICOM Director Ross Anderson
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Contents
Editor/enquiries Hollie Franklin hollie@eua.org.uk Energy and Utilities Alliance (EUA) Camden House Warwick Road Kenilworth Warwickshire CV8 1TH
Regulars 2 UN 4 HHIC 6 ICOM 7 HWA & MARC 8 NGV Network 9 President’s Column 12 Leading Voice – Yasmin Damree-Ralph 15 View from the House – Alan Whitehead 23–24 New Members
Features 10 More companies sign up to a new scheme revolutionising gas competence management across the industry 11 Training programme to cater for utility customers with varying abilities 14 The benefits of cost efficient, collaborative and streamlined street works 16 EUA’s green credentials 16 A university’s approach to sustainability 18 Sustainability lessons we can learn from the car industry 20 Bio-LPG: the off-grid fuel of the future 22 Enabling our energy future: a tale of elephants, inertia and innovation 1
UTILITY NETWORKS NEWS
ROAD AHEAD CLOSED
Utility Networks News
OUTPUT
Smart Connected Homes and Buildings group launched
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air quality. Subscan’s John Robinson asked ‘what are the dangers from underground services’ and reviewed PAS128 for utility records, mapping and verification. The morning session came to an end with final speaker Bob Gallienne from NJUG. Bob looked at where and how growth would be delivered and how legislative issues would impact on this.
The first session entitled ‘Policy, Regulation and Strategy’ was chaired by Nicole Metje from the University of Birmingham and welcomed the Department of Transport’s Anthony Ferguson who asked ‘how can Following a lively Q&A, Session 2 ‘Installing delays be reduced for road users?’ and Maintaining Critical Infrastructure with Discussion centred on penalties versus Minimum Impact’ chaired by Bob Gallienne incentives with the consensus of opinion kicked off. Robert Huxford from Urban settling unsurprisingly on incentives to Design Group looked at the streets of the reduce delays. The audience believed 21st century; he was followed by Stuart penalties increase bureaucracy and costs Donaldson of National Grid. His subject, for all involved. It was pleasing to hear that medium pressure gas mains replacement a consultation will be issued to help settle and customer/stakeholder engagement, on a course of action that meets the needs was a topic many of the delegates could of all concerned. Transport for London and identify with and was taken a step further Kent County Council’s pioneering lane by James Harris from Elgin who looked at rental schemes were also highlighted to minimising the impact on stakeholders. demonstrate lessons that had been learned and to see if this type of scheme After a hearty lunch, Session 3 ‘Technology, would have traction in other areas of the Innovation and Best Practice’ chaired by country. Dave Stewart and Angela Shane O’Neill from Elgin took delegates on Dobbin from Transport for the next step of the street works Greater Manchester journey. Graham Bond from followed and talked Wales and West Utilities about multi-modal discussed For me this was a responsibilities, revolutionising the unique event that brought specifically the customer experience together many different facets of the Metrolink, during gas highways and distribution street utility and highway industries with cycling and works, followed by the common goal of providing mains abandonment how these excellence of service and proactive technology from work together approach to innovation. Northern Gas with bus, rail John Robinson, Networks. This talk and freight. They Subscan Technology Ltd addressed the innovative also touched on the approaches currently being challenging issues of
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The concept of the ‘Internet of Things’ is not a new one, we all recognise that we need to understand the detail and undoubtable impact it will have on both our businesses and indeed our lives. Figures from networking specialist, Cisco, suggest there will be 25 million devices connected to the internet by 2020. We have already seen the emergence of apps that allow homeowners to remotely control their heating and, as end users demand more benefit from smart technologies, we as an industry need to be ready.
Sponsored by
Utility Street Works: new approaches for critical infrastructure Members from across the Energy and Utilities Alliance came together on 16th March for the annual Street Works seminar which took place at the Cavendish Conference Centre in London.
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Exhibitors:
used to reduce disruption in the street. Dexter Hunt from the University of Birmingham questioned whether multi-utility tunnels are Tom Lambert, the sustainable Balfour Beatty and economic future with Steve Richmond from REHAU questioning the impact that heat networks will have on street works if, as anticipated, they become more commonplace in UK towns and cities. The day closed with frank and lively discussions.
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Energy management will require us to think beyond the energy needed to power the interconnected devices that comprise the smart home or building and think about how this energy will be measured, controlled and managed.
Excellent
event, presentations exceptionally informative and relevant.
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Who are NEEG? The Network Engineering and Equipment Group (NEEG) are part of the Utility Network division of EUA. Membership of the group includes the Gas Distribution Networks (GDNs) and companies from across the supply chain that provide engineering services and components for the UK’s national infrastructure and utility providers. The group, chaired by Andy Vine of ALH Systems, Many thanks for meet quarterly to discuss the invite to the NEEG sector meeting, there were some challenges good questions from the floor and and some things I need to take understand topical issues away and think about. facing the Head of Gas Distribution – industry. Many Ofgem meetings offer an insight into working
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The smart meter roll-out will create an unprecedented new platform for innovation in energy services – 53 million smart electricity and gas meters will be installed by energy suppliers in homes and small businesses by the end of 2020, each storing a consumer’s consumption and tariff information. It is this platform that provides the stimulus for the development of new technologies and services in the Consumer Home Area Network (C HAN) and empowers consumers to take energy saving measures. The smart meter roll-out places a strong emphasis on consumer benefits and the pace of market demand for consumer engagement solutions in the UK is greater than anywhere else in the world. We have already witnessed significant innovation in consumer energy management as part of the C HAN, and we fully expect this to continue following the roll-out of smart meters.
In order for manufacturers of ‘intelligent’ products to fully explore what their respective technologies could deliver in the smart connected homes and buildings arena, EUA launched the Smart Connected Homes and Buildings group. The very nature of the connected homes industry requires businesses to connect in order for the potential to be realised. This new group, made up of members from across all of EUA’s divisions, will look at how we can improve interfaces and interoperability to give greater control to individuals to manage their environment, exactly as they require.
with the GDNs and support business planning. Most recently, the group reviewed the midpoint regulatory cycle as part of their ongoing work on price controls and performance of RIIO-GD1 and the forthcoming GD2. Peter Day, EUA Manager with responsibility for the group, said “GDN engagement and collaboration is critical to all NEEG members and we are fortunate that senior GDN staff attend to share best practice and provide thought leadership, which in turn enables GDN partners and the supply chain to focus their own development. The meetings also offer an opportunity for members to network with key stakeholders and with one another. Understanding the current market and perhaps more importantly having an insight into future markets make NEEG meetings lively and thought provoking. We are extremely lucky to have all of the major players within this sector of the industry represented and this is why NEEG can speak with one voice on the many issues affecting us.”
The group’s objectives include:
• To fully explore how and where smart meters fit into the intelligent and connected controls within a home or building.
• To understand how all the various elements of the smart and connected home or building monitoring and controls fit together, and what the various communications protocols are.
• To identify how EUA and its members can best influence and improve the consumer journey.
• To ensure clear and concise information on the systems and possibilities is available to the consumer, and to empower them to make the right purchase decisions.
Over the coming 12 months the Smart Connected Homes and Buildings group aim to be recognised as the group that provides industry and consumers alike with clear advice and information on all things in the connected homes and buildings market. The nature of the online arena means that we can’t plan for exactly what’s around the corner, as no-one really knows. But it is also likely that the drive for more efficient buildings and carbon reduction will give rise to legislation. Energy and technology have changed the way buildings are both constructed and managed and we need to be ahead of the curve; our new group will enable this to happen.
For more information contact Gary Cottrell: gary@eua.org.uk
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The NEEG meeting was an enjoyable event and I am genuinely impressed by the attitude of the attendees to want to innovate and keep innovating.
Topics covered by NEEG include: • Business intelligence and financial forecasting with GDNs and Innovation Portfolio Manager industry peers. – National Grid • Regulatory engagement – Ofgem, RIIO-GD1&2, OFWAT, AMP6, ED1. • Innovation and route to market. • Industry standards. • The development and role of unconventional oil and gas, including shale, hydrogen and biogas. • Cross sector learning with electricity DNO and water companies. • Street works – Street permit scheme, street works commissioner, challenges. • National Infrastructure projects – HS2, The Northern Powerhouse. • Current topical areas of interest – Internet of Things, circular economy, Building Information Modelling (BIM), house building, smart energy including 3 metering.
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HHIC NEWS
HHIC News Roger Webb, Director
The change to building regulations in 2005 remains one of the most successful Government interventions in the residential energy market. By mandating that all new domestic gas boiler installations should use a condensing boiler, the Government improved the energy efficiency of the residential heating sector at little additional cost to consumers and to Government. Today 99 per cent of all new boilers sold are condensing and there are over 10 million installed in UK homes. However, since 2005, Government and the heating industry have been searching for the next ‘condensing boiler’ equivalent. To date there have not been any suitable products that could be mandated to save energy. The problem is often unit cost or complexity of installation. In some circumstances product development has not materialised as expected. The result is that 10 years after the mandating of condensing boilers, Government has not been able to introduce further legislation to increase the efficiency of heating installations. Industry and indeed the Government know that further savings are possible, and so using the condensing boiler policy as a precedent, HHIC have identified further improvements that can be made to the efficiency of residential heating systems by mandating Boiler Plus systems.
Boiler Plus is defined as “a condensing gas boiler with an additional unit that optimises the performance of the heating system”. In the last few years manufacturers have started to come to market with more innovative products to help reduce the gas used by boilers to heat a home. These controls don’t just turn the heat on and off; they manage heat production in the boiler and reduce energy consumption. HHIC defines these systems as ‘Boiler Plus’. 4
New policy put forward by HHIC has a promising start The Boiler Plus research paper presented to DECC in 2015 begins by considering eight classes of advanced heating controls. By assessing the applicability, cost effectiveness and impact of each of these classes it recommends that all new boilers should be installed alongside Class VI controls, consisting of weather compensation and a room sensor, which provide +5 per cent efficiency improvements. Simple regulation using the Energy related Products Directive (ErP) to mandate a step change in heating efficiency could result in significant avoided emissions at no net additional cost to homeowners. It would also help reduce carbon in line with the UK’s 2050 carbon objectives at no additional cost to the UK Government. According to DECC figures, approximately 77.6MtCO2e are emitted each year by the residential sector. Installing Class I controls alongside 8 million new boilers would reduce annual carbon emissions in 2020 by 183,377 tCO2e (0.2 per cent of current residential emissions). Class II controls would reduce annual carbon emissions by 362,793 tCO2e (0.5 per cent) and Class VI controls would result in 710,246 tCO2e (0.9 per cent) of avoided emissions. Stewart Clements, Director, HHIC said; “Since presenting the concept of Boiler Plus to DECC we have been encouraged by the level of interest shown in our research paper. It has become increasingly clear that the Government is concentrating on fewer
areas of energy policy, given what policies they have scrapped or downgraded. That, in itself, is not a bad thing. Much better to do several things right, than a dozen things halfheartedly, or even worse, wrong. So to have the response we have had to Boiler Plus confirms that the industry could be on to the next ‘big thing’.
At the Inaugural meeting of the Domestic Heat Strategy Group in November 2015, Boiler Plus was high on the agenda with DECC requesting evidence to further support the findings identified.
We are confident that DECC understand the need for a sensible gradual improvement in system efficiencies. Boiler Plus is a practical way to nudge the efficiency of a heating system upwards, without majorly increasing costs to consumers or to installers.
We are looking forward to continuing to work with DECC to make this policy model a reality in 2017.” Replacing an old boiler, the infamous ‘zombie boilers’ with a new, high efficiency one saves between 10 and 30 per cent (depending upon use); advanced controls another 1 to 4 per cent. They may only be marginal gains, but as Dave Brailsford (Team GB’s cycling guru) maintains, these marginal gains add up to bigger picture success. The other advantage of mandating heating controls is that it requires little or no additional training of the 122,000 heating engineers currently operating in the UK. It is part of an existing boiler installation process and does not require consumers to make conscious changes to how they live with their heating.
HHIC to launch new website Following a brand refresh, work has started on a new member’s website for HHIC. The new site will have a password protected dedicated members area, which will allow the sharing of documents, technical bulletins, minutes of meetings, presentations etc. The new site is expected to go live in the summer.
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New London Boiler Cashback Scheme gets a ‘thumbs up’ from HHIC London Mayor, Boris Johnson, has the support of the UK heating industry following the announcement of a new Boiler Cashback Scheme.
The Boiler Cashback scheme will provide 6,500 owner occupiers and private landlords with £400 cashback when they replace an inefficient boiler with a new 90 per cent efficient gas boiler or renewable low carbon heating system. HHIC has long championed boiler scrappage schemes, we have been working with DECC in recent months on their revival, so when news came that the Boiler Cashback Scheme was back, HHIC and its members were delighted.
There are approximately 9 million inefficient boilers operating in UK homes. Old inefficient boilers are not necessarily a priority to replace for homeowners, but these boilers have higher operational costs and so lead to higher bills, and they use more energy, creating more carbon emissions. The scheme will be marketed via the local boroughs’ existing referral mechanisms, ensuring that those in fuel poverty and with seasonal health needs are targeted. Gas Safe Registered installers will be able to undertake the installation work without being
forced to gain additional and costly accreditations. The Mayor and his team have clearly done their homework and are pulling out all of the stops to deliver a first class programme; local authorities across the country should watch closely.
Boris Johnson
The demand and need for schemes of this kind is present and they could be just what the UK needs to get us firmly on the path to carbon reduction. Gas boilers, of all energy efficiency measures, have delivered the biggest savings in UK homes since 2005 and the scope to do more is considerable.
HHIC joins the debate on building regulations enforcement HHIC and representatives from across the industry recently joined the Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors (APHC) at the House of Lords to address the issue of building regulations enforcement. The plumbing and heating industry is one of the most regulated areas of construction, and non-compliance impacts the businesses of those who do comply and puts lives at risk. The meeting aimed to review the current position on the enforcement of building regulations and to establish a range of key priorities to bring about change to benefit bona fide plumbing and heating installers. Proceedings commenced with a consideration of the current position on the enforcement of building regulations, with the emphasis being that the purpose of the meeting was to improve current standards rather than to replace those already existing. Identifying the need to improve the enforcement process, delegates considered whether inspectors have the required background knowledge to enforce
regulations and whether systems were in place to inform customers about a rogue trader as a route to enforcement. Discussions then moved on to whether or not an appetite for change to building regulations exists within Government. From a political perspective it requires the industry to present a strong case for change. Industry knows that wilfully ignoring regulations in order to win work happens. There is also the issue of the interpretation and understanding of regulations, coupled with the lack of enforcement supporting regulations, suggesting that whilst installers usually have the best of intentions, bona fide installers are under pressure to compete with contractors pricing for works that are often bending the rules. Feedback on current trends indicates that this situation is worsening rather than improving. The meeting also included a presentation by Professor Rudi Klein, CEO of the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ (SEC) Group. Beginning by presenting a case for the refinement of enforcement policy, Professor Klein posed several key questions to be considered in achieving this goal. Raising
Neil Macdonald
the issue of the high cost of enforcement faced by businesses as a result of the many different competence schemes, Professor Klein asked whether one single scheme could be the key to effective enforcement and also whether responsibility for enforcement should be removed from local authorities in favour of creating one national enforcement agency. He also asked whether responsible authorities should be placed under greater pressure to deliver on enforcement and suggested that there needed to be more high profile enforcement cases. He concluded with the suggestion of joining forces with the electrical industry in combatting issues regarding enforcement. The meeting generated some highly constructive discussion, which made it clear that we are not about reducing standards but improving on the delivery of current standards. In moving forward we need to be solution focused in considering key issues of non-compliance and how to get the regulations properly enforced. The group has since started work on a plan of action with the support of the wider industry. If you have any feedback or ideas about this area of work please get in touch; 5 neil@hhic.org.uk
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ICOM NEWS
ICOM News As well as setting performance criteria for specific products, the Ecodesign Directive also addresses issues that can affect the performance of a range of products. ICOM considers the role of Lot 33 in setting standards for ‘smart appliances’. By now the influence of the Ecodesign Directive on various aspects of product performance will have become familiar to most readers. What has not received as much coverage, however, is the Directive’s focus on what are described as ‘horizontal modes or functions’, such as exhibited by the ‘smart appliances’ in Lot 33. These are the subject of a study that began in September 2014 and will continue for around 2 years. This study will follow the general framework required for ‘Energy related products’ before creating an implementing measure, or Lot, but will differ in two key aspects. The first of these is that the studies for most Lots are product specific; however, the Lot 33 study employs the less common ‘horizontal modes or functions’ as its criteria. This means any products within the scope of the Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Framework which have ‘smart’ functionality will be studied. In other words, the definitions, analyses and policy measures related to this study will be applicable to all existing and future appliances. The second is that the study will consider any positive environmental impacts generated by smart appliances – not at the product level but at the overall energy level. The study into smart appliances is still in its early stages and has been split into various ‘Tasks’. Task 1, which defines the scope of Lot 33, was published last year, as were Task 2 ‘Economic and Market Analysis’, Task 3 6
Can appliances be ‘smart’?
‘Users’ and Task 4 ‘Technical Analyses of Existing Products’. The next draft reports to be published are Task 5 ‘Base Cases (environmental and economic)’, Task 6 ‘Design Options’ and Task 7 ‘Scenarios’.
So what is defined as a smart appliance in Lot 33? Task 1 defines a smart appliance as an appliance that supports Demand Response (DR) by automatically responding to external stimuli, where the response is a change of the appliance’s electricity consumption pattern. This change to the consumption pattern is referred to as the ‘flexibility’ of the smart appliance. The DR does not require devices to either measure or communicate their changes in energy consumption pattern. The Lot 33 study focuses on ‘end devices’, which are appliances that are directly controlled and can alter their own electricity consumption, as opposed to devices that control other appliances or end devices. This is best illustrated by an example in the final Task 1 report. Consider a situation where 50,000 houses are served by heat pumps all linked to a ‘home energy gateway’; if the central electricity generating body anticipates a peak load at a certain time but needs to reduce generating capacity, it can send a signal to each heat pump requesting they do not switch on for an hour. If the average load per house is reduced by 1kW during this time, there is an overall reduction of 50MW in required generating capacity, thereby reducing the environmental impact of starting up additional power generation units. Task 2 focuses on the market and trends of smart appliances, and outlines a significant expected growth potential, whilst highlighting
that the current population of existing smart appliances is rather limited. With regards to heating, Task 2 looks at electric boilers, electric heat pumps and circulators. Task 3 deals with the current typical user behaviour for several types of appliances. Heating appliances are shown to have a more cyclic operation pattern than other appliances, with an increased demand in the morning and evening. Seasonal changes in operation patterns are also shown to play a part. Finally, the Task 4 report focuses on the technical aspects of various appliance types and discusses how existing appliances can best be made DR-enabled, based on their current operating pattern, with all smart appliances having communication capabilities as a must. There are currently still a number of concerns about these studies, one of the main ones being the marked lack of available market data especially in the HVAC sector. There is also a general opinion that the Commission needs to clarify whether its objective is to increase energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions, or to level out peak demands in the grid. Cost, data security and clarification of whether requirements will be voluntary or mandatory are also issues that need to be addressed. ICOM is actively monitoring progress in this area and will be issuing updates as and when further progress is made. All these task reports can be found on the dedicated smart appliances website: http://www.ecosmartappliances.eu
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Isaac Occhipinti, Head of External Affairs Last year, the UK’s solar energy generation ability grew by 62 per cent. It is pretty clear, even at a casual glance that solar PV adoption has been largely driven by subsidy and strongly affected by the Feedin Tariff (FiT) scheme. As of January 2016, there were 853,158 FiT commissioned installations. Of these 98.9 per cent were solar installations, accounting for 83 per cent of installed capacity. That’s almost 844,000 households now being paid for the electricity they generate, even when they use it themselves, and any surplus electricity is being exported to the grid. And of course they are also saving money on their electricity bills. On average a domestic consumer pays about 15p per unit from their energy supplier. Solar PV users of course benefit from free energy, and then export any they cannot use to the grid, for around 3p per unit. But they still use energy from the grid at times when their solar system is not producing energy, i.e., when the sun isn’t out.
HWA & MARC NEWS
HWA & MARC News Energy storage is top priority for HWA HWA recognise that it makes sense to maximise all of the energy produced rather than putting it in the grid and then paying 15p per unit to take it back out. We believe that people could get more from their solar PV systems. Consequently one of HWA’s priorities for 2016 is to explore the UK’s potential to locally store the energy generated, using hot water storage as the mechanism. Excess electricity can be used to power an immersion heater and store the energy in the form of hot water in a cylinder. By directing surplus energy to the immersion element, homeowners can utilise up to 100 per cent of self-generated green energy – even when they are not at home.
There are now a few systems on the market which homeowners can connect to their immersion heater and use to heat domestic water when there is excess solar-generated energy available, which would otherwise be exported to the grid. These units monitor the amount of electricity generated as well as the amount that a home is using. When there is a surplus this energy is diverted into the immersion heater instead of being exported to the grid. The message from HWA is clear; storage of some sort is essential to harvest renewable energy, and hot water storage is the only practical solution.
Trade association membership recognised by Public Procurement process Winning local authority contracts for supply of goods or services is the holy grail for many businesses. Over the past few years there have been significant changes to the public procurement process brought about by the EU Public Contracts Directive (2014). The legislative package in the field of European public procurement includes three new directives: the procurement directive, namely Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement, the utilities Directive 2014/25/EU on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors, and for the first time a directive on the award of concession contracts, Directive 2014/23/EU. The European procurement reform aims at ‘simplification and flexibilisation’ of
procurement procedures. In most cases they require competition. The EU rules reflect and reinforce the value for money focus of the Government’s procurement policy.
All sounds fair and simple? As with any change there comes trepidation. But change is a business reality, so like many other manufacturers seeking to obtain public procurement contracts, members of MARC have been closely monitoring the changes and taking the necessary steps to ensure they improve their chances of getting a piece of the action. Isaac Occhipinti, Head of External Affairs, MARC, said; “With the pressure on local authorities and other public bodies to make savings, more and more are using buying groups for their procurement processes. If manufacturers want to secure public contracts it is vital that they are engaged with this process.
Tendering is not just a box-ticking exercise; it's about selling your services. One of the biggest hurdles for a business to overcome is how to differentiate itself in the sales process. But in the public sector, when so much of the process is ‘on paper’ companies need to stand out from the competition. One way you can achieve this is to have all relevant industry standards and accreditations. It takes significant resources and commitment to get these badges of excellence, such as membership of a trade association, but if you're serious about winning public sector contracts it's a necessity. It proves to the outside world that your company is credible. The new procurement processes recognise the value of industry membership and accreditations. This is great news for trade associations and even better news for their members.” For membership information please contact Isaac Occhipinti on 01926 513742. 7
NGV Network News
EUA gets 6th Division Natural Gas Vehicle Network Following a successful tender, EUA is delighted to welcome the Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) Network as its sixth division. The NGV Network represents participants from across the NGV industry supply chain that play a role in the use of gas as a transport fuel, including network operators, infrastructure providers, vehicle manufacturers, fuel providers and logistics companies. The network aims to raise awareness of the benefits of gas as a transport fuel for trucks and buses, and promotes NGVs as a transport solution to help lower transport emissions. The network also works with Government and other agencies to develop the framework within which the industry will operate, all work in which EUA has extensive experience. The arguments for switching to gas as a transport fuel are compelling. The UK has to meet its legal commitment of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050 as well as improving air quality. In addition, the UK has a shorter term EU commitment to reduce GHG emissions by 10 per cent across all transportation fuels by 2020. NGVs offer considerable carbon emission reductions over diesel. Estimates suggest that reductions could be as much as 10 to 30 per cent on a well-to-wheel basis and as 20 per cent of the total transport sector GHG emissions come from the UK’s 208,000 HGVs, there is a real opportunity to tackle the transport sector’s GHG emissions.
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NGV NETWORK NEWS
There is a cost saving available with NGVs. Gas offers a 40 per cent fuel cost saving compared to diesel, and fuel duty has been fixed at 24.7p/kg until 2024, which means all the savings won’t be absorbed by increased taxes. Although NGVs can be more expensive to buy or convert, the investment can pay back in 2 to 5 years. NGV engines can be up to 50 per cent quieter than diesel engines, leading to a reduction in noise pollution. This means larger vehicles, such as delivery vans and refuse trucks, could operate earlier in the morning and later in the evening without causing a disturbance.
Currently the transport sector is almost exclusively fuelled by oil, and natural gas is the only practical alternative for larger vehicles. The UK currently imports 55 million tonnes of oil, meaning that £25 billion is being spent abroad, this could be significantly reduced by swapping oil for gas. Shale gas is expected to be the same price as imported natural gas; however, because shale gas is produced in the UK, around half of that cost comes back to the UK in the form of taxes, so the net cost of shale gas to the UK is only a quarter of imported oil. Together with helping lower carbon emissions, these arguments make a strong case for NGVs. An increasingly comprehensive network of gas refuelling stations is currently being built. The UK now has a combination of publically accessible filling stations and dedicated fuelling depots, some of which are being shared between operators. The UK’s largest natural gas filling station has recently opened on the M6 near junction 28 in Leyland, and the first major customer signed up to use the facility is the John Lewis Partnership for the Waitrose distribution fleet. The station was built in close collaboration with National Grid and is connected to National Grid’s transmission network. It has the capacity to fuel 500 vehicles daily. Also, Europe’s largest LNG filling station, DRIFT, has been in operation for several years near junction 18 on the M1 near Daventry, and new LNG and Bio-LNG stations are also opening in strategic locations; the most recent example is the LNG refuelling station in Huntingdon, which opened in September 2015. We now have a good selection of NGVs available in the UK and across the EU there are over 1.2 million gas vehicles in operation (both dedicated and dual fuel). This includes over 21,000 trucks and buses, of which more than 700 are operating in the UK. Drivers of NGVs have reacted positively, as they experience reduced noise levels, less fumes and an easy refuelling process. Using the existing high-quality gas pipeline infrastructure already in place coupled with the reduced operating costs and lower GHG emissions, natural gas looks ready to take its rightful position as the fuel of choice for industrial and commercial vehicles and EUA will be there to steer its journey.
For more information visit www.ngvnetwork.co.uk
Ian Hughes, EUA President
Everybody knows that we need to be building new homes. The Government has made numerous pledges to build more in recent times and has set the ambitious target of building 1 million new homes by 2020; this means a minimum of 250,000 new homes will need to be built per year, which is a huge challenge for the construction industry. But what will the next generation of homes look like?
PRESIDENT’S COLUMN carbon technologies to be adopted that could include a heat network, heat pumps, solar thermal, hybrid heating, gas absorption heat pumps and micro-CHP. So what can we as members do? Is retrofitting, such as installation of insulation and double glazing, a sensible and viable option? The most recent DECC Public Attitudes Tracking survey suggests that homeowners aren’t interested in increasing energy efficiency around the home. Therefore, these new homes should also be built to the highest levels of efficiency so as to avoid costly retrofits; especially since the Government scrapped recent schemes such as ECO, the Green Deal
to policy over the last year have had a big effect and it’s now time for the Government to establish a clear policy framework to support businesses and homeowners to take action. In addition, a recent report from The National Policy for the Built Environment Committee recommended that the Government should reverse its decision to do away with the zerocarbon homes requirement and Code for Sustainable Homes.
Why do our homes need to be sustainable? While plans to build more homes are very welcome, and indeed was one of the asks within the EUA manifesto, the Government needs to make sure that they are ‘renewable ready’. Building new homes offers a unique opportunity to design and build sustainable developments that make use of all of the different technologies available to benefit homeowners. These new properties should include a hot water cylinder or at the very least space to install one in the future so that these new builds are in fact renewable ready. Currently, hot water cylinders, which heat and store hot water, are the only practical solution for turning energy produced off-peak or by renewable technologies into something useful and banking it for when it is needed. This will not only help reduce household energy bills but also reduce carbon emissions. A plan to build new homes is also good news for the heating industry, manufacturers, contractors and installers alike. However, Government need to ensure that the heating systems fitted in these homes are as efficient as possible; for example, they should include heating controls installed to help control any heat generated. And if we’re serious about tackling fuel poverty and cutting our carbon emissions then new homes need to be able to support a low-temperature heating system. The construction of garden cities is also a welcome announcement and will provide an opportunity to build truly sustainable developments that are free from the usual barriers of connecting to existing wider structures. They would allow a mix of low
and the zerocarbon homes standard. Despite the apathy, is there a way we could engage homeowners to carry out home energy efficiency improvements in our already established housing stock? The much anticipated smart meter roll-out programme, expected to start in late 2016, plans to install a smart meter into each and every UK home, showing consumers real time information on just how much energy is being used. This could be just the catalyst needed to reinvigorate energy efficiency among homeowners. In a recently published report, the CBI called on the energy industry to work with Government in establishing a policy framework for energy efficiency. In the report the group discusses the action needed to tackle the barriers homeowners face in taking up energy efficiency measures. The report suggests that the energy industry has an important role to play in incentivising consumers to consider energy efficiency measures when undertaking home improvements. It blamed the 'hassle factor', the time and effort it takes to find accurate information or appropriate finance, for a lack of consumer investment in energy efficiency of their homes. The report also suggests that the already mentioned changes
We know our homes need to be sustainable but what about our commercial buildings? There are often news stories reporting of NHS trusts installing a new renewable technology leading to improved energy efficiency and savings on energy bills, which is fantastic news as the money can then be better spent on essential care. In addition, a recent report from the World Green Building Council (WGBC) claims that retailers can boost their profits by providing greener healthier stores. The report suggests that evidence shows greener healthier retail stores, typically with high levels of natural light, fresh air and greenery, are becoming more appealing to consumers and potentially more profitable for retailers as well as increasing employee productivity. The WGBC World Green Building Trends 2016 survey also recently confirmed that green building is now a mainstream concern; the number of green certified building projects being completed is continuing to rapidly increase, with the market doubling every 3 years. The survey further revealed that the proportion of building companies planning to secure green certification for over 60 per cent of their projects will increase from 18 per cent to 37 per cent by 2018. So it looks like building green will be the way of the future.
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FEATURE: SUSTAINABLE SKILLS
OUTPUT
SPRING/SUMMER 2016
More companies sign up to a new scheme revolutionising gas competence management across the industry
Ensuring that employees are competent and work safely is the number one priority for all gas companies. Making sure staff operate to the highest standards and how they maintain their gas safety competencies is an essential part of this. The Group Competence Scheme (GCS) has been developed in collaboration with gas companies and Energy & Utility Skills to offer an alternative solution for maintaining the competence standards of employees. To comply with their responsibilities under the Health & Safety at Work Act many gas companies already had existing processes designed to keep their engineers up to date and working to current standards. The GCS was developed in response to a number of those employers who wanted a robust scheme that enabled them to use these systems and processes to demonstrate their commitment to maintaining a competent workforce. The change from CORGI to Gas Safe Register provided a real boost to achieving this, with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) welcoming the introduction of an alternative approach for the renewal of Gas Safe competencies. The Gas Safe Register holds a record of all engineers deemed competent to work on specific gas appliances and installations. Before the GCS was introduced, the only way that competencies could be renewed every 5 years was via the Accredited Certification Scheme (ACS) route. Fully endorsed by the Industry Standards Setting Body, supported by the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) and the HSE, the GCS is an innovative alternative to ACS. It is available to businesses with typically more than 25 engineers.
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The scheme utilises existing systems and processes to confirm the competence of Gas Safe Registered staff. Evidence is collected from the workplace and other sources to
Training programme to cater for utility customers with varying abilities Receiving a home visit from a utility company can be intimidating for customers of varying abilities. Many may struggle to communicate, for others simply getting to the door can be a challenge. In the UK, 9.4 million individuals are registered as having a disability and with the roll-out of smart meters due later this year Actavo Network and In Home Solutions, formerly known as Sierra Support Services Group, has invested in the utility sector’s first programme to train field-based engineering and frontline contact centre teams in recognising the needs of customers with varying abilities.
gain a detailed insight into the environment surrounding employees and forms the basis for continual assessment, removing the need for additional assessments. It is also a sustainable way of managing skills competence, as engineers are assessed on the job, reducing down time and the costs of additional assessments.
Ann-Marie O’Donnell, customer strategy director at Actavo Network and In Home Solutions, explains, “We recognised the need to develop specialist training schemes and the power of partnering with specialist organisations representing those with vulnerabilities. They advised Actavo on how the training facility could be used in a way which accurately portrays the everyday difficulties a customer may face.
British Gas successfully completed a pilot for the scheme and was the first organisation to have their GCS certificated in 2015, leading the way for other organisations to follow suit. Bob Kerr, Head of HS&E and Compliance, from British Gas commented: "We are delighted with the results of the GCS pilot scheme and are pleased to have a viable alternative to ACS for registering our engineers. As we bed the process in, GCS will become business as usual for British Gas and we are already experiencing the benefits amongst our engineer workforce. We have worked hard to develop our own systems and processes to ensure our engineers are competent in all matters of gas safety and the GCS gives these further recognition. We would encourage the industry to seriously consider implementing their own GCS and are proud to have been involved in leading such a ground-breaking pilot with Energy & Utility Skills." The scheme is proving popular and a number of businesses across the UK are transferring to GCS. Following in the footsteps of British Gas, Aaron Services, part of the Lakehouse Group, Avanti Gas and DencoHappel are working towards operating their GCS and are expecting to be certificated in May 2016. With just over 250 Gas Safe registered engineers, Aaron Services are well prepared for the switch as they operate an internal comprehensive competence management approach at present. GCS is a way of formally capturing the work that is being done and using it to achieve GCS Certification.
John Posey, Commercial Director, commented: “The switch is really gathering momentum. Assessing competence is so important to our engineers and to us as an organisation. We need to get it right and with GCS we are confident we have the best system to do that.” Avanti Gas, one of the leading national LPG supply companies in the UK are also committed to continuous improvement and development of competence for their engineers and are preparing to make the switch to GCS. Ian McCluskey, HSSE and Engineering Manager said: “GCS allows our engineers to demonstrate competence in their normal working environment which is far more realistic than an assessment centre and allows them to be assessed against our existing operating procedures with which they are familiar. GCS confirms the continued competence of our engineers rather than relying on a snapshot once every 5 years. I am confident this will deliver long term business benefits for Avanti Gas.” Energy & Utility Skills launched GCS in June 2014 as an innovative alternative for gas employers to renew the Gas Safe Register competencies of their employees.
Kev Sankar, Commercial Director at Energy & Utility Skills, commented: “The pilot went very well so we are now focusing on creating awareness across the industry, establishing consistent standards and proving an alternative to traditional methods of assessment. It is important to remember that the scheme is available for businesses of any size, not just the biggest companies but medium sized businesses as well. We are ready to provide guidance and help businesses implement this alternative approach.” The GCS scheme is ideal for companies like Aaron Services, Avanti Gas and DencoHappel where there is already a high level of competence compliance, something that all responsible businesses may already be doing. Gas Safe Registered businesses large and small, all with very different ways of managing their businesses, are now seeing how GCS can work for them; why not join them?
Find out more about GCS at www.euskills.co.uk/group-competencescheme-gcs or contact Lucy Ritchie on 07850 203755 or lucy.ritchie@euskills.co.uk
Actavo’s state-of-the-art training facilities include a house complete with all working utilities replicating obstacles and structural
constraints of a typical customer’s home, thereby enabling interactive training which surpasses role-play.
The programme centres on our ability to recognise individual customer needs and subsequently do whatever we can to make customers feel at ease. Knowledge and training are the key to success here. Give your frontline team the skills they need to help make a home visit go well and you’ll be amazed with the ingenious ways they find to overcome formidable challenges for customers. The programme gives our field engineers new life skills and, in turn, a certainty that they have delivered service excellence for customers facing challenges on a daily basis.” The programme helps engineers to better consider customers with a variety of needs
such as the blind and deaf, elderly, parents with young children, wheelchair users or those with other mobility issues. Tailored exercises and training now enables engineers to learn how to sympathetically and effectively meet the requirements of all individuals, giving field service teams confidence to develop and maintain superior customer–engineer trust.
Ann-Marie O’Donnell
Engineers can practice different methods until they are confident in using them during real home visits and use a blend of theory, practice and interactive exercises. The aim is that engineers are confident in transferring theory-based learning into real-time practice before applying what’s learned for actual home visits.
The methods covered in the programme include reading basic sign and body language signals which are key for interacting with hard-of-hearing customers. Engineers also appreciate the need to agree where new equipment should be located before installation and know the importance of not moving existing furniture during a visit for the visuallyimpaired whilst still communicating in a clear, concise yet friendly manner at all times.
Understanding what constitutes superior service to meet the needs of the customer is what differentiates service delivery partners. Simply meeting customer expectations doesn’t ‘cut it’ with measures of satisfaction and experience such as Net Promoter Score (NPS).
Actavo’s intention to continue to invest in the programme is supported by its evaluation using NPS, which measures likely recommendation from customers based on actual service experience.
Ann-Marie O’Donnell concluded, “We want to surpass our customer’s needs and wants and this starts with understanding what constitutes superior service and ends with customers trusting your business more than your competitors.”
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OUTPUT
FEATURE: SUSTAINABLE SKILLS
strategy
Leading
voice
time
business
people
performance
background
personal
opinion
speak growth words
comment
viewpoint feedback
answers In this issue OUTPUT hears from
Yasmin Damree-Ralph the Equality and Diversity officer for JTL to learn more about the JTL Ambassador scheme What does your career history allow you to bring to your current role?
Yasmin has over 15 years’ experience in equality and diversity. She has worked in the public, private and voluntary/third sectors, developing policies and strategies for implementing equality and diversity into the core business. She has delivered equality, diversity and inclusion training to various organisations across England, ranging from local authorities to small charities, and delivered bespoke training in consultation with clients’ needs. She has produced a short training film for learners on unacceptable behaviour and has designed equality and diversity training for apprentices. Yasmin is currently the Equality and Diversity Officer for JTL, working in the Building Services Engineering Sector, here she has embedded equality and diversity practices throughout the organisation, developing processes, procedures and practices to ensure that staff and learners have a robust mechanism for accessing support, information and guidance. She has introduced JTL’s Single Equality Scheme, managing and overseeing projects to encourage under-represented groups into apprenticeships and gaining trade skills. She is currently managing the Apprentice Ambassador Initiative which was launched in July 2013 and is also part of the Quality Improvement Team, which oversees the business processes and needs. 12
I was an Equality and Diversity Consultant prior to joining JTL in 2007, working with many public sector organisations on addressing issues affecting minority groups. All good experience for this more dedicated role at JTL.
How do you ensure that you stay current?
Regular training courses, conferences and the like, and constant updates and discussions through our professional body the IEDP -Institute of Equality and Diversity Professionals, in which I take a leading role.
What do you do differently and bring to the organisation?
It’s actually quite rare for the role I have to be a dedicated one – it’s often tacked on to another job just as a range of additional responsibilities, so I am fortunate to be able to dedicate my whole working life time to equality and diversity. I’m lucky that JTL see the role as important enough to have a dedicated officer managing it within the business. It allows me to understand the law and how it relates to the issues, to be proactive in the role rather than reactive which would be the case if it was one of several areas of work for which I was responsible, and it allows me to bring these issues as mainstream ones to the management of the JTL business.
What was the last thing you changed your mind about?
I don’t tend to change my mind about things. If you research issues properly you tend to find a stance that you feel comfortable with
and stay there.
If you woke up and had 2,000 unread emails and could only answer 300 of them how would you choose which ones to answer?
I’d read the first line or two in the subject line and if it didn’t have anything of value I’d pop it in my delete box or flag them as deal with later, and work through the priority emails.
What should we be doing to help avoid future skills shortages?
We should be training more and more people, engaging with more and more young people and teaching them real skills that are valuable in today’s world. We need to educate young people and parents that we desperately need quality young people to be taught practical skills – going to university and more academic skills may be right for many young people but for many more it’s not. They need to be allowed to follow the right path for them which may well be to take an apprenticeship that prepares them for a trade and a fulfilling career in something like electrical or plumbing, the areas that JTL specialises in delivering into the workforce. There is little point in delivering huge numbers of young people with, for example, media degrees when there are no jobs for them to do!
What can the engineering sector do to attract young talent (and specifically more women) to it?
More of what we do as a business at JTL! Provide quality training opportunities that are attractive to young people who do not want to continue in academic pursuits and who
LEADING VOICE: JTL
SPRING/SUMMER 2016 prefer the lure of practical training that will open doors for worthwhile lifelong careers, without the burden of huge student debt to pay off in the future.
University or an apprenticeship? What advice would you give to a young person facing this choice?
University is the right path for a lot of young people. But equally for many more it isn’t. We have to continue to develop the awareness that university isn’t for bright kids and apprenticeships are for less able young people. We attract a large proportion of extremely able young people who simply can’t face university. Parents, teachers and even careers advisers need to become more aware and more open minded to the practical opportunities that may be right for their young people. Simply driving young people to university as the ‘obvious’ choice is doing many of them and the universities no favours at all.
Tell us a little about the JTL Ambassador Scheme?
We who work in the Building Services Engineering sector know that whilst it is overwhelmingly male dominated, it doesn’t need to be. We have a large number of very able young women who have qualified or who are currently taking their apprenticeships with a view to becoming an electrician, a plumber, a heating and air conditioning installer or who work in engineering
“I never imagined being a plumber”, says Gina... Gina Mann, a plumber, is one of JTL’s newest Ambassadors, joining the now 22strong group of young women in 2016. She works alongside her fellow Ambassadors to spread the word about the opportunities that exist for young women in the Building Services Engineering sector. Gina is 29 years old and lives in Faversham in Kent with her 6 year old daughter, Loki. When she left school, Gina was unsure what career she wished to pursue and worked in various roles, including waitressing and running a lively rugby club. Becoming a
maintenance. And the women are every bit as good at these jobs as their male counterparts! They do have to overcome the initial concerns about working in what many see as a ‘man’s world’ but once they have addressed this, most women report back that far from being a negative, their gender is seen as a positive, by employers and fellow workers. The important thing for women who consider taking apprenticeships in these sectors is to have good role models, women who have done it before and who are willing to help them to see beyond the initial issues. I devised the Ambassador programme at JTL to encourage women who are already in the sectors to work with us to encourage other young women to consider the options available to them. And it’s working. In the first 10 months of 2015 we had 782 female applicants for apprenticeships in the Building Services Engineering sector – far more than we’ve ever had before!
With a new Government in place, do you have any specific asks in terms of support for apprenticeships?
Resources – which are clearly in short supply – to help educate young people, their parents and teachers about apprenticeships and their value to the young people and the country. In many cases there is now equality between university study and apprenticeships.
single parent at 23 gave Gina the impetus she needed to make some changes and led to her enrolling on a plumbing apprenticeship in 2014 in a bid to build a better standard of living for herself and her daughter. She is now in the second year of her course, studying for an NVQ Level 2 Diploma, working 4 days a week on the job with Swale Heating and spending the remaining day at Canterbury College. An average working day sees Gina preparing sites, installing pipework, radiators and valves and carrying out general repairs and maintenance. Gina says: “If you had asked me 13 years ago what I would be doing as a profession I would never in a million years have thought I would be working within the plumbing industry. However, my perceptions have been proved wrong and the opportunity to take on an apprenticeship has been a positive one for me – it’s a great route to a practical qualification and it also allows you to gain experience at the same time. “There are other benefits too. I’ve matured and become more reflective since I started as an apprentice. I’ve become really motivated and, above all, the social experience of dealing with various professionals and clients has improved my
They need to look at and address the barriers to access to apprenticeships for many young people and make it possible, particularly for those from challenging backgrounds, to access these quality work-based training opportunities. And we could do without worthy individuals discrediting apprenticeships with general comments about their value! Not every training provider is as competent as JTL I appreciate, but to make broad brush statements criticising quality is unfair and very negative for those of us who strive for quality.
What do you think the future holds for apprenticeships and the JTL Ambassador Scheme?
I think the Government and all other parties are very positive about apprenticeships in general terms. It’s just important that they all recognise the need for quality as well as quantity. The JTL Ambassador scheme will go from strength to strength and as well as trying to attract more young women to these sectors we will in future be addressing the same scheme to attract more applicants from the black and ethnic minority groups and then other groups as well. It will simply grow and become more important year on year.
confidence – so much so that I’m now a JTL Ambassador, with a skill that I previously thought was far beyond my reach and of which I’m really proud.” Gina’s apprenticeship is ongoing and she hopes to continue to NVQ Level 3 and beyond. She’s interested in gaining experience in gas work, as well as tutoring and potentially running her own business. There have been some challenges along the way for Gina too. Sometimes she’s struggled with long hours and she’s had to build up her physical strength – as she says, “carrying water tanks takes beef!” She is still enjoying the reactions she receives from some clients when she arrives at their homes – they’re not always expecting to see a female plumber but she reports that the feedback and reactions have been really positive. In Gina’s own words: “An apprenticeship is hard but it’s rewarding and it gives you direction and focus – one thing I wish I had back when I was younger. Apprenticeships in the construction industry in particular are mentally and physically challenging but they are well suited to anyone who wants a flavour of what it means to be a professional in your chosen industry. You can tap into a valuable source of support too on the way to gaining professional qualifications of your own”. 13
FEATURE: STREET WORKS
OUTPUT
Amey, who have a 10-year strategic partnership with Staffordshire County Council, have moved one step closer to solving these challenges by introducing a smart city platform that will cleverly coordinate infrastructure projects to reduce disruption, mitigate adverse environmental impacts and improve the sustainability and quality of works.
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The new 18-month collaborative project known as the ‘Staffordshire Heineken Project’ (named after the iconic advert for Heineken beer where we see utility companies collaborating to share the
same site) will see seven partners Amey, Staffordshire County Council, CSC, Staffordshire University, Elgin, Future Cities Catapult and Tenshi design, prototype, develop and trial a new spatial planning service with support from non-funded utility companies. The smart city platform from lead technology partner CSC allows for the analysis of a diverse set of data sources including future plans and maintenance information and presents the results on a map to allow the planners to see the context in which the works will be carried out. The platform will highlight where it thinks opportunities for joint works could be, allowing the planners to scale the number of delivered joint works beyond what can be achieved manually. Once the platform is in place, Amey will work with Staffordshire County Council to explore how the social, environmental, economic and infrastructure data it contains can be used to better inform the Council’s own decision-making and planning; and Tenshi will run an SME engagement programme helping local small businesses and innovators take advantage of this new resource to support Staffordshire’s information economy. In this way it is hoped that the platform will support ‘smart communities’ in Staffordshire, not just smart infrastructure. Richard Nickson from Elgin, the producers of ‘roadworks.org’, the national roadworks database, will be supporting the project with their web service driven applications. He said: “Providing clear, authoritative data on our intuitive and portable platform delivers information seamlessly either directly to customers through the roadworks.org
HOUSE
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The benefits of cost efficient, collaborative and streamlined street works As the population of cities and places continues to grow, so too do the demands placed on local infrastructure. In a time of austerity, local authorities and their service providers are facing the growing challenge of maintaining the quality and lifespan of the highway, as well as accommodating the increasing volume of telecoms and utility company works required to satisfy citizen needs. According to roadworks.org, during 2015 details on 2,336,569 roadworks were completed with utilities accounting for 67 per cent of these.
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from the
but more difficult for the retrofitting of existing stock. The CCC itself has previously suggested that the answer might be to go all-electric – to replace our boilers and gas networks with domestic electrical heating, and with ground and air source heat pumps. However, their ability to take on the massive load is coming into question and the load range on a daily and seasonal basis for domestic and commercial heating would mean that an enormous investment in additional low carbon electricity generation would be required to provide the necessary capacity and backup. And what about the position of our gas networks and boiler installations: would we really junk all of them within a couple of decades to go all-electric? It certainly sounds an improbable task.
House By Alan Whitehead MP portal, or, via our API service, and in doing so holds the potential to catapult the street works sector towards real-time management and communication of potential disruptions, whilst powering a revolution in longer-term planning through collaboration and joint working. We are really excited by the opportunity to contribute to this ‘smart city’ project.” As part of the project, the Future Cities Catapult will be leading a research stream which will deliver an economics white paper and further research to inform how to make this collaborate environment the norm, rather than the exception. Rick Robinson IT Director, Smart Data and Technology from Amey said:
“By combining cross-industry collaborative working with smart technology we can truly revolutionise the way works are programmed across the infrastructure network. Maintaining the physical highways network hasn’t changed much over the last decade, however, our ability to access analytics and data is allowing us to profoundly change the services we deliver, providing economic, environmental and social benefits to our clients and end users.” Works on the highway are undertaken to allow the general public to receive essential services such as electricity, gas water and communications as well as ensuring the network remains fit for purpose. The Staffordshire Heineken project has identified a clear opportunity to deliver repairs and improvements in a more cost efficient, collaborative and streamlined way, which positively impacts the economy, environment and improves citizen experience for the residents of Staffordshire.
Here’s a conundrum. In the Fifth Carbon Budget (for 2028–2032), the Committee on Climate Change says that we’re going to have to be using far less gas in our energy systems if we hope to achieve our climate change targets. The Committee envisages the power sector producing less than 100g CO2 emissions per kilowatt hour: present gas-fired power stations come in at about 350–400g. But that prospect is not looking good currently, with the Government apparently determined to build many new gas-fired power stations to fill the gap left by coal coming off the system in 2025. A danger could be that such stations, in order to make their own investment back, will have to continue to produce gas-fired power for 40 years – way past the point at which the Committee suggests that we should be on a downward curve on gas, let alone continuing with unabated coal. But then there’s the other part of the conundrum: gas in our domestic and commercial heating systems, which constitutes 50 per cent of our overall use. How can we feasibly decarbonise the boilers, domestic and commercial, that provide most of our heat? Some ground can be made up by district heating schemes, though this route has important but limited application, certainly in terms of where suitable heat loads are to make CHP and district heating viable. Besides, you often have to start from scratch on new heat networks; good for new-build
Perhaps with a more careful analysis of the components we’ll need for power generation we can avoid locking ourselves into a high carbon, gas-fuelled future, but the decarbonisation conundrum seems to remain firmly seated on heat. However, I think that quietly, and with far less attention and resource than it merits, at least a partial answer (and we know by now that there are no ‘silver bullet’ solutions for low carbon energy) is shaping up in the form of green gas. That is, instead of ripping out all our networks and boilers, we start looking at how to refuel them more sustainably. ‘Green gas,’ after all, has, in one form or another, been with us for some time. Hydrogen was a substantial component (up to about 30 per cent) of ‘town gas’ supplied to every household pre-natural gas. And natural gas is essentially just methane, substitutable at least in part by biomethane produced from anaerobic digestion of waste material and from energy crops. Biomethane, with a little cleaning-up, can essentially be injected into the gas mains as they stand, or bottled and used off-grid where necessary. Indeed, with little fanfare, some 50 anaerobic digestion plants are now actually, or in the process of, injecting biogas into the grid, accounting for close to 5 per cent of gas supplies for heat.
All of this is certainly not a magic bullet. Biomethane is presently substantially constricted by the amount of feedstock that could be put to work producing it, although some newer techniques such as Ecotricity’s proposed ‘grass mills’ may extend the feedstock range further, but let’s say, a ceiling of about 15 per cent of gas for heat might be reasonably easily achieved. Hydrogen, on the other hand, probably has less constraint on what can be produced. In the longer term, substantial production could be achieved through using surplus electricity produced by generators that would otherwise have to switch off due to system constraints – for electrolysis of water for hydrogen manufacture or more long term, as a byproduct of carbon capture and storage. But hydrogen can only be injected directly into existing mains systems (to about 5 per cent of supply) without necessitating a refit of existing boilers and mains. But then, what about running local mains systems on hydrogen? Experiments into how local systems might be run on far higher mixes of hydrogen and methane are currently under way: running local ring networks largely on hydrogen is certainly a feasible proposition. So no one size fits all solution, but perhaps with a combination of the contribution that CHP and district heating can make, alongside direct injection and adaption involving biomethane and hydrogen, a realistic alternative route to the substantial decarbonisation of heat can be charted. This will take time, because whilst we know the destination, the route remains clouded in uncertainty and in possible solutions that, on analysis, pose more problems than they solve. Nevertheless, biogas as an alternative decarbonising agent for heat, has, in my view a bright future ahead of it. One final thought: gas in boilers is already far more carbon-efficient than its counterpart in electricity production: estimates put it at half the intensity, partly because of the advances made in boiler efficiency. Put the various ’10 per cent’ solutions that I have outlined together with that thought; and maybe we’re not too far away… 15
OUTPUT
FEATURE: SUSTAINABILITY PRESPECTIVES
Sustainability perspectives
SPRING/SUMMER 2016
A university’s approach to sustainability
Sustainability is something that makes up part of our daily lives, but how do various organisations make sure they meet their sustainability targets? Here OUTPUT gathers together different perspectives on sustainability. First, Mike Foster talks us through EUA’s take on how a small organisation can make a contribution. Opposite, we hear from the sustainability team from Coventry University to learn about how a centre of learning tackles sustainability. Finally, Jonathan Garrett, Director, CSR at Jaguar Land Rover, tells us how a global brand approaches sustainability.
EUA’s green credentials
The University currently has one operational 300KW biomass boiler located in the BREEAM excellent rated Engineering and Computing building which is used to heat the building and helps to save 40,000kgCO2/year.
Tell us a little about ‘The Carbon Challenge’; how does this help to engage staff and students?
The Carbon Challenge is an award winning completely self-funding competition which encourages a healthy rivalry to be the ‘greenest’ between the University’s various campus faculties. It has resulted in huge savings in carbon, increased recycling rates and better space utilisation. There has also been a large increase in the transparency of sustainable initiatives and projects across the University being reported, resulting in strengthened links between faculties and the Environment Team. The scheme relies on a network of submeters which monitors each campus building for changes in electrical consumption. Over the 7 year period from the beginning of the Carbon Challenge, the scheme has saved in excess of 1,940 tonnes of CO2 and financial savings in excess of
In a previous role, I saw first hand the impact melting glacial lakes in the Himalayas have downstream on some of the poorest people in the world; the plight of families in Bangladesh trying to make a living on flood-prone low lying land and I’ve worked for the charity WaterAid providing clean water to millions. So I take climate change and sustainability seriously. And as CEO of EUA, I’m determined to do my bit with our organisation – walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
Mike Foster
One of the first things I did as CEO was to change our tea, coffee and biscuits to Fairtrade products only. The rationale of Fairtrade is simple, and it isn’t simply charity. If farmers growing coffee, tea and cocoa beans cannot get a fair price for their work then they will simply give up and like so many thousands move to urban centres to earn a living. Then who will grow the crops? And with lower supply, any economist will vouch that prices go up. So Fairtrade is partly self-interest, partly an ethical choice or what I call “enlightened self-interest”. This is the logic I applied when EUA became one of the first organisations in the energy industry to become a Living Wage employer. Little did I know then, that the Government would take steps to encourage what they now call a National Living Wage. I also wanted to send a signal on behalf of the smaller members of EUA, by signing up to the BIS recognised Prompt Payment Code. This is designed to protect the cash flows of small businesses and I’m more than happy to ensure our suppliers are paid on time.
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How does a centre of learning approach its sustainability? Is it different to big business? To find out OUTPUT hears from Selina Fletcher, Sustainability Manager, and Jenny Forsyth, Carbon and Environment Coordinator, from the Sustainability Team at Coventry University
As we are in the energy business, it is right we do our bit in this field. At the start of the year, we had solar PV panels installed on the roof at Camden House. We are doing our bit to reduce carbon emissions, but we are Tell us about your also achieving a return many times greater than the sustainability targets for cost of capital. So good for the bottom line too. In our 2016? reception you will also see our Display Energy With a large staff and student Certificate. Government has been slow in forcing population and owning significant real public bodies to display theirs, but what better way estate, Coventry University has an of raising awareness of energy use for both users important responsibility to minimise the and managers of buildings? If this means our environmental impacts of its activities. In members get more business, as awareness order to meet this, we have the following grows and greater levels of energy efficiency are demanded, then who is going to complain? sustainability targets for 2016:
• Achieve a 20 per cent reduction in carbon emissions per student from the 2005/06 baseline. • Maintain an 80 per cent recycling rate. • Maintain the ISO 14001 accreditation and commence implementation of ISO 50001. • Achieve Fairtrade accreditation. • Deliver and grow community engagement through encouragement of recycling and donation of goods to local charities. • Increase uptake of cycling and car sharing for staff and students commuting to the University. • Build inclusivity in the Responsible Futures programme aimed at embedding sustainability in the curriculum and maintain the NUS Responsible Futures kitemark. • Achieve BREEAM excellent rating for the new Science and Health building.
What measures do you intend to take to meet these targets?
Many of the targets will involve ensuring we have buy-in from the relevant departments,
staff and students across campus. We work closely with different groups from across the University and we also hold regular engagement events such as our annual Green Week to encourage people to get involved.
How will you measure success?
We track progress against KPIs on a monthly or quarterly basis to ensure we are on track to achieve our targets. Other monitoring methods include attaining accreditations for relevant standards.
What do you think the Government needs to do to help universities meet sustainability targets?
Universities are currently in the unique position of being at the forefront of driving the sustainability agenda; through the beneficial research and partnerships we create and their great international reach. Students are our future leaders and the values and ideas they develop whilst studying at university will be taken with them into the future world. We look to the Government to support the University in ensuring sustainability remains high on the agenda.
The sustainability team from Coventry University
Tell us a little about your CHP and biomass infrastructure? How does this help the university reduce carbon emissions
The University’s existing network of Combined Heat and Power infrastructure consists of decentralised CHP engines. These generate and supply heat and power through cogeneration, and along with a campus heat distribution network, make a significant positive contribution to reducing the University’s carbon emissions. To achieve our carbon reduction targets we are currently looking at the implementation of a long term decentralised energy strategy to include refurbishment of the University’s existing CHPs and potential for its expansion and interconnectivity. The refurbishment of the Charles Ward energy centre for instance has led to a 15 per cent improvement in system efficiency reducing carbon emissions. As further systems are upgraded additional energy and carbon savings are anticipated.
£300,000. The size of the savings made is still significant year on year without any capital expenditure needed on new buildings or technology. A network of energy champions in each building administers the management and promotion of the scheme, empowering students and staff to take responsibility for their own actions on the environment.
If you could ask students to do three things to help achieve your sustainability goals what would they be?
• Recycle absolutely everything they can and help us maintain and improve upon our 80 per cent target. • Consider how sustainable their method of transport is to the University and take advantage of all the different sustainable travel options which we offer. • Get involved in the sustainability agenda and think about your carbon footprint.
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OUTPUT
FEATURE: SUSTAINABILITY PERSPECTIVES In the energy industry we’re often told we can learn many lessons from car manufacturers, so OUTPUT hears from Jonathan Garrett, Director, CSR at Jaguar Land Rover, to see how the leading manufacturer and world renowned brand approaches sustainability
Jonathan Garrett
delivering “Experiences our customers love, for life”. Our customers have high expectations so we simply have to lead in our field, through our great products, in the experiences customers have around them, and in playing a positive role in strengthening the societies and environment around us. • For Jaguar Land Rover to succeed over generations, not just years, we need to understand and plan for a world that is different. • Our view is that the world around us is changing and this will have profound implications for all types and sizes of organisations. Significant changes will occur over the next 30 years. The world’s population will grow to 9 billion by 2050, 75 per cent of whom will live in cities. This will have profound impacts on infrastructure, congestion, pollution and control on cars.
positive impact on society through ‘Environmental Innovation’. By 2020, we will achieve the following ‘Environmental Innovation’ key objectives: • Reduce water use by 30 per cent per vehicle produced. • Achieve carbon neutral operations through energy saving projects and carbon offsetting. • Send zero waste to landfill across our sites by treating waste as a resource. • Maintain operational CO2 emissions at 30 per cent lower than 2007 baseline and emissions from in-bound and out-bound logistics at 0.39 tonnes per vehicle despite significant global growth in vehicle volumes. • Be amongst industry leaders for tailpipe CO2 emissions, fuel economy and cost of ownership by 2020. • Create opportunities for 12 million people through our Global CSR programme
The UK’s Largest Rooftop Solar Panel Array At Its Engine Manufacturing Centre Range Rover Hybrid Models Take On Epic 'Silk Trail' To India
SPRING/SUMMER 2016 the regulatory landscape, as long as this is not at the expense of increased costs and reduced industry competitiveness. We would also like to see a greater focus on rewarding innovative new energy efficiency projects and there should be greater flexibility around the definition of qualifying assets in order to further boost business investment. Providing R&D support for closed-loop recycling processes would similarly help to accelerate advances towards a more sustainable, circular economy.
What role does innovation play in sustainability?
Innovation is a critical element in sustainability. So important in fact that Environmental Innovation is one of three passions in our business strategy.
CO2 emissions of just 99g/km. Land Rover’s world’s first luxury diesel SUV Range Rover and Range Rover Sport hybrids are 400kg lighter and achieve 26 per cent lower CO2 emissions than the outgoing models. We have developed a closed-loop recycling process for aluminium and created a special alloy through the REALCAR innovation project (RC 5754) that is capable of taking high recycled content. In 2015, we captured over 40,000 tonnes of press shop aluminium scrap and returned it to our supplier Novelis for reuse. Recycling aluminium requires 95 per cent less energy in production relative to primary aluminium therefore we saved 400,000 tonnes of manufacturing CO2 emissions compared to using primary/virgin aluminium (roughly the equivalent of the operational carbon footprint of our UK manufacturing operations). During 2016, we will continue our research to increase the
from one part of the life cycle to another. This means addressing supply chain impacts, our own operations and the use of the product by the customer.
If you could ask employees to do three things to help achieve your sustainability goals what would they be?
• To deliver breakthrough thinking in sustainability, we have to step outside of our comfort zones and work more collaboratively. This means finding new ways of working, identifying colleagues in other departments who can add value and thinking widely to engage the right person at the beginning of a project or task. • Reduce your own footprint. If we all make small changes, they soon add up to a big difference so play your part to save energy and resources. For example, some of our employees recently participated in a ‘Better Miles’ pilot and were challenged to change their driving style to achieve the lowest emissions possible.
The new Jaguar XE: Aluminium-intensive monocoque -- the first in the class
Pioneering Low And Zero Emissions Powertrain Research
Sustainability lessons we can learn from the car industry About Jaguar Land Rover • Jaguar Land Rover is the UK’s largest automotive manufacturing business, built around two iconic British car brands – Land Rover, the world’s leading manufacturer of premium all-terrain vehicles and Jaguar, one of the world’s premier luxury sports saloon and sports car marques. • The company achieved global sales of 487,065 vehicles in 2015, nearly a third of all cars produced in this country. Sales have more than doubled since 2009. • The company has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past 5 years, trebling revenues, doubling profits and doubling its workforce, taking on 20,000 new hires. • In the Financial Year to March 2017 alone, the company will invest over £3 billion in new product creation and capital expenditure, making it the UK’s number one R&D investor in the advanced manufacturing sector.
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View on sustainability • Jaguar Land Rover took a long hard look at its business and the world around it, and created its Blueprint for Lasting Success, in effect our strategy for a truly sustainable business. Our purpose is focused on
Consumers are also changing, looking to rent and pay as you go rather than car ownership. This all means there will be transport innovation. Jaguar Land Rover is conducting autonomous driving trials around its base in the West Midlands. • To remain successful in the long term, our business needs to evolve. Not only are we developing the next generation of ultra-low CO2 vehicles, we are examining what premium mobility services our customers will need in this changing world. As demonstrated in Paris at COP21, efforts to tackle our changing climate will only intensify. New business models built around the circular economy will help innovative companies survive and thrive.
Tell us about your sustainability targets for 2016? What measures do you intend to take to meet these targets?
Jaguar Land Rover’s ambition is to achieve long-term responsible business growth by placing sustainability at the heart of our business strategy. We will do this by reducing the environmental impact of our products and operations and making a
Jaguar Land Rover will invest more than £3 billion on new product creation and capital expenditure in the year to March 2017, including the development of new technologies and innovations which will reduce the environmental impacts of our products and manufacturing operations. We’re driving energy efficiency improvements, investing in recycling and the generation and use of renewable energy at our UK facilities.
How will you measure success?
We measure success through KPIs on our balanced scorecard at a corporate and functional level. In addition, we use our annual employee engagement survey (PULSE) to listen to our staff and what they think of our progress in delivering our vision for environmental innovation.
What do you think Government need to do to help businesses meet sustainability targets?
Retaining the current approach to Climate Change Agreement delivers the right incentives for businesses to make clean energy investments. We welcome the Treasury’s energy efficiency review and desire to simplify
In order to remain commercially successful over the long term, we need to push the boundaries on Environmental Innovation, in terms of our products, our operations and how we engage with the communities of which we are part, around the world. Over the past 5 years, Jaguar Land Rover has invested £11 billion to transform its business, delivering new lower CO2 emitting vehicles and more efficient manufacturing facilities in the UK.
How do you make sure you remain a sustainable and industry leading manufacturer?
We take a long-term view to identify megatrends affecting the automotive sector and the world we are part of which helps us to identify the critical areas to focus on in our sustainability roadmap. We’ve invested £11 billion in R&D over the past 5 years which has helped us reduce average CO2 emissions from our EU fleet by 25 per cent since 2007. For example, the lightweight Jaguar XE body is over 75 per cent aluminium content and delivers best in class
recycled aluminium content in our cars from 50 to 75 per cent through the use of postconsumer waste such as drinks cans.
• Challenge thinking and innovate. Dare to try and actively challenge current thinking and practices to find a more sustainable solution.
What can the energy industry learn from car manufacturers regarding sustainability?
Jaguar Land Rover believe that delivering nine billion sustainable lifestyles by 2050 is the greatest challenge facing society. We don’t have all the answers but urge all businesses, Governments and academia to come on the journey with us and other liked minded organisations to find those innovations and breakthroughs. We call this the Big Boardroom Agenda. To find out more go to:
Partnering with suppliers, academia and research bodies is critical in delivering breakthrough sustainability strategies such as REALCAR. High levels of teamwork, leadership and expertise are needed across the value chain to re-engineer how things are done to reduce costs and environmental impact. Engage all parts of business in this innovation challenge – not just the designers and engineers but the marketeers, HR, finance, procurement, communications and manufacturing teams as well. This requires continual effort through training, e-learning, experiential learning, awards/recognition and communications campaigns. Our detailed understanding of CO2 impacts of the product life cycle, from cradle-to-grave, has enabled us to deliver significant reductions in CO2 over the lifecycle, not just shift emissions
sustainablebusiness.bitc.org.uk/bigboardroom-agenda See Jaguar Land Rover’s latest Sustainability Report: www.jaguarlandrover.com/gl/en/responsi ble-business/performance-and-reporting 19
OUTPUT
FEATURE: SUSTAINABILITY
SPRING/SUMMER 2016
UTILITY METERING 2016
U T I L I T Y
29th September 2016 The Vox Conference Centre, Resorts World, Birmingham
Bio-LPG: the off-grid fuel of the future
Building on a proven solution
A recent report from National Grid revealed that half of the UK’s current energy consumption is used to provide heat related services in building and industry, and of this two-thirds is provided by natural gas. For offgrid applications, natural gas is not an option, and so the need for efficient and clean energy has never been greater. LPG is currently the lowest carbon emitting fossil fuel available on the market, emitting 11.7 per cent less CO2 per kWh than oil. It is extensively used in domestic applications such as cooking and heating, as an autogas/dual-fuel and in commercial applications, such as space heating and process heating. A gas at room temperature that can be converted 20
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T H E L E A D I N G M E T E R I N G S U P P LY CHAIN CONFERENCE OF THE YEAR
Mark Cleaver, Bio-LPG Manager, Calor
The conversation around energy policy is an ongoing hot topic for businesses in the UK, particularly on the issue of sustainability. For decision makers concerned about carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) has long been the most logical energy choice for organisations operating off-grid. Now, bio-LPG – also known as biopropane – offers an even cleaner solution. Mark Cleaver, Bio-LPG Manager at Calor, explains why it looks set to be the undisputed fuel of choice for those looking to reduce carbon emissions and meet sustainability targets.
M E T E R I N G
into a liquid through pressurisation, LPG is easy to transport and store, making it an increasingly popular choice for off-grid commercial sites with heating, cooking or space heating requirements. Propane, the main component of LPG, has up until recently only ever been produced from fossil fuels. Consequently, the development of bio-LPG – a renewable fuel – presents an exciting opportunity for operators. While LPG offers a cleaner alternative to many of the highcarbon options, such as oil and electricity, that off-grid customers have previously had to rely on, bio-LPG takes these incentives and improves upon them further still.
Bio-LPG – the facts
Bio-LPG is a renewable gas, created from renewable feedstocks such as organic plant materials, vegetable oil and animal fats. The fact that it is chemically indistinct from propane means it can be blended with LPG, and can therefore be combined and used with all existing LPG systems. This represents a huge advantage to customers, as there is no need to change or upgrade the current heating system, eliminating any upfront costs that organisations would have to cover if they opted for other renewable energy applications. While the combustion of bio-LPG does result in a small amount of carbon being emitted, it is
offset by the carbon removed from the atmosphere through the re-use of waste materials. Fossil fuels are a finite resource and any steps we can take to limiting their usage should be welcomed. As the UK’s energy demands continue to grow, a renewable fuel such as bio-LPG represents a low-cost and economically sustainable solution.
A green partner
For environmentally conscious operators, a range of other renewable technologies exist for off-grid commercial businesses, such as heat pumps, solar panels, wind turbines and biomass. However, not only are these dependent on weather conditions but they may be too expensive or simply not viable as a standalone energy solution. Relying solely on these renewable energy technologies is not advisable, especially if having a secure source of heat is vital to the operation of a business. Businesses are already successfully using LPG with other renewable technologies, and bio-LPG looks set to take this a step further. It can be easily integrated with other renewable energy systems to compensate for their sometimes intermittent ability to deliver the heat load required – especially during periods of peak demand. As a result, combining Bio-LPG with other low carbon technologies is an excellent business model to adopt.
Come and learn…
A financially smart move
Following a report from EUA that annual carbon emissions from the residential LPG sector could be slashed by 83 per cent by 2025 if heating was switched to bio-LPG, it is clear that commercial businesses could similarly benefit from this ‘drop-in’ fuel. To incentivise uptake across all sectors, many are arguing that there is a strong case for bio-LPG to be included in the Renewable Heat Incentive, a Government environmental programme that provides financial incentives to increase the uptake of renewable heat. Bio-LPG can offer a green and sustainable future for the British off-grid energy market. With approximately one million businesses operating off the mains grid in the UK, the potential for bio-LPG is enormous and one that will help realise significant environmental and efficiency gains for commercial organisations. LPG already offers a lowcarbon solution to operators but bio-LPG will make a significant contribution to delivering a more sustainable energy solution for the future.
For more information please visit www.calor.co.uk or call 0800 121 4568
How CMA outcomes may impact smart meter deployment
What the outstanding technical issues for meters and comms are, and how they are being addressed What the true scale of the skills and resources challenge to deliver the smart programme commitment is
About the status of customer engagement strategies and actions
Contact vanessa@eua.org.uk for sponsorship and speaker opportunities
www.eua.org.uk/utility-metering-2016 Follow us on Twitter: @euaun #utilitymetering
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FEATURE: SUSTAINABILITY
SPRING/SUMMER 2016
NEW MEMBERS
B Y F R E D D I E T I L B R O O K , F U T U R E WAV E L E A D
ENERGY INNOVATION CENTRE
Enabling our energy future: a tale of elephants, inertia and innovation Four years on from the publication of the UK’s first Heat Strategy and progress towards our 80 per cent carbon reduction target by 2050 is under ongoing scrutiny. According to the Committee on Climate Change, meeting the target will require ‘reducing domestic emissions by at least 3 per cent a year’ and this will involve supplementing current activity with more ‘challenging measures’. While we know that the technology to decarbonise domestic heat is out there – and improving fast – if the UK wants to make the big impact it needs, we need to expand our focus beyond technology and incentive schemes, and look at what I like to call ‘the customer shaped elephant in the room’. Bear with me while I try to explain...
Customer engagement With some of the oldest housing stock in Europe, the decarbonisation of domestic heat in the UK relies, ultimately, on millions of consumers making their own changes and taking their own decisions. It follows then that a key part of the conversation around carbon reduction has to focus on how we can engage customers about how they heat their homes and power their communities. To date, this is an area where progress has been limited and this creates an exciting opportunity for the whole industry to join forces and take action that will drastically effect positive change here. If you look at the current market, energy customers who want to make their homes more energy efficient can turn to a number of different sources for advice, installations and funding information. There is no single, central point that makes it easy for a 22 customer to take action and people
are increasingly cautious due to a history of bad experiences, shifting Government policy and high prices. This lack of trust, combined with a difficult-to-navigate category, creates high barriers to action. The situation is compounded by the fact that the onus is always on the individual to research, understand, select and act. This results in inertia: for example, The Green Deal, has been cut having only achieved 15,231 Green Deal Plans in progress by the end of September 2015 (source: gov.uk).
Industry collaboration In the face of such challenges, the only way to stop the gap widening between the industry and the customer is by coming together to collaborate and to give consumers the confidence that the industry is motivated to do the right thing. Over the last 18 months, this is something that we have been working hard on at the Energy Innovation Centre in conjunction with our gas and electricity network partners. The result is Project Futurewave – an online energy hub that aims to help people find and install the best energy solutions for their homes through communities of trusted installers. Inspired by the example of customer-centric businesses, including eBay, Amazon and Airbnb, which have developed collaborative platforms that have the ability to service different customers based on their individual needs, wants and behaviours, Futurewave takes homeowners on the whole journey from education to action – whether they are realising solutions for their home or their whole community.
Connecting customers Futurewave hopes to break through the inertia in the market. Its three services will connect the dots between customers who want energy solutions, installers who want to deliver them, and the right sources of funding to activate them. There are three components to the tool: Find it will provide customers with clear information on their energy options, and connect them with trusted installers and funding sources to help them realise those options. Build it will connect energy developers and the industry with each other and relevant projects that have been triggered by customers. It will also enable them to identify areas of demand and to ‘seed’ projects where appropriate. Fund it will connect individuals and communities with sources of investment that can fund their energy projects.
Dashboard: This is a picture of a user profile where users can compare energy solutions, funding and trusted installers available to them. The idea is that the interface is very simple and helps users make the decision to contact installers and upgrade their energy mix.
Profile: This is one of the questions the user has to answer to see the options available to them. One of the core platform principles is simplicity – we only ask questions that users can actually answer. Four simple inputs go into a ‘black box’ which calculates the options available to the user, how much funding they could be eligible for and who could install the solution for them.
Future vision The project is supported by Northern Gas Networks, Wales & West Utilities, National Grid, Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution and SP Energy Networks. Over the next 12 months we will be continuing to work closely with these project partners to deliver a number of pilots with the aim of validating both the business model and the product itself. In the next few weeks, we will be launching our go-to-market brand via the Project Futurewave blog site – and begin to really focus in on creating a product that will fulfil an unmet need in the marketplace. We are only at the beginning of the journey and we realise that it is going to take an almighty collaborative push to really get customers engaged in their energy choices. If we can get this right, it could open up an exciting opportunity for the industry to learn what makes energy efficiency schemes work, provide visibility of where demand is being met – or not – and provide real time data so that policy makers can see the impact of their policies. In the longer term, the vision is that once we engage customers, the platform will allow us to begin to really close in on that ‘customer shaped elephant in the room’.
For more information go to www.projectfuturewave.com
The Association of Gas Safety Managers joins HHIC Gas and asset managers in social housing are facing challenges from many directions – meeting regulatory and compliance requirements, ensuring tenants have affordable heating and maximising the opportunities offered by new innovative technology, but within tight budgets. The Association of Gas Safety Managers (AGSM) was formed 4 years ago as a professional association for gas, asset and FM managers in social housing to give them access to professional qualifications and the recognition that goes with them, and to share best practice and help shape the future of the sector by creating one strong collective voice. As well as having nearly 300 individual members, the AGSM has 20 corporate members, collectively responsible for over 2 million housing stock. The AGSM is spearheading several major campaigns for change and has lobbied the Government and influential stakeholders. These include a focus on a change in legislation to give greater powers to access properties to carry out statutory gas safety checks and a move to an MOT style of annual servicing of gas appliances. The 2016 annual AGSM Gas Safety Management Conference took place on 11th and 12th April and attracted over 300 AGSM delegates who heard from top speakers, shared best practice, networked and learnt from each other. The AGSM Gas Safety Management Exhibition ran in parallel with the Conference over both days and was supported by suppliers from across the sector.
The AGSM runs two Awards programmes – the AGSM Gas Safety Awards for individuals and organisations who are social housing providers and contractors, which took place on 12th April following the Conference and the AGSM Supplier Excellence Awards will take place on 2nd November for suppliers who are working collaboratively with landlords. AGSM members have all completed or are undertaking a CORGI Level 4 VRQ in Gas Safety Management with quality and training playing a key role in raising standards in gas safety. The CORGI family of qualifications cover training for managers, frontline staff in social housing, auditors and tenants. The AGSM runs a CPD programme to ensure members are continuously maintaining high levels of knowledge and understanding. Across the country seven regional AGSM Gas Forums meet two to three times a year and twice a year there are National AGSM Gas Forums. With nearly 800 members in these seven groups, their one day meetings are a valuable source of information, covering technical updates on regulations and compliance issues, introducing the latest technology and are an opportunity for sharing best practice, case studies and discussions around any of the subjects being covered. Suppliers sponsor these events and in return talk about their products and services to the Forums.
For more information about the AGSM please visit www.agsm.uk.com or call 01256 548040 or email enquiries@agsm.uk.com 23
NEW MEMBERS
MeteRSit SRL joins EUA’s Utility Networks Founded in 2009, MeteRSit is an Italian company belonging to the SIT group that designs, manufactures and markets smart static gas meters with innovative measurement technology, based on the Micro Thermal Flow Sensing principle. MeteRSit provides accurate billing information transparent to the end user with a comprehensive range of smart static and integrated gas meters, compact and easy to install, displaying readings in standard cubic meters (m3), with no external devices needed both for measurement conversion and for the different communication technologies available. The company’s aim is to always combine innovation with reliability. MeteRSit products can improve
the way in which gas is measured, sold and used, enabling a more transparent relationship with the end user and their awareness of energy consumption. The company has also shown that it is able to listen to and understand the needs of customers and, if necessary, to make changes to meet their needs. MeteRSit will be joining the Metering and Data group operated by Utility Networks (UN). With the smart meter mass roll-out fast approaching, MeteRSit is a leader in the field that will bring a new dynamic to the Metering and Data group at this exciting time.
development of its product range and currently has approximately 300,000 meters installed in the field. MeteRSit is a market leader in Italy and recognises that joining UN will help its position in the UK by providing access to thought leaders in this field. MeteRSit has seen strong growth in the last 2 years and was predicting an additional 200 per cent growth rate for 2015 in units. The company has three sites across Italy, in Milan, Padua and Rovigo. MeteRSit is aware of the importance of the social and environmental sustainability of its activities and its products, and has defined objectives and guidelines for the implementation of factors that are considered key to its business. Over the last 18 months several actions were addressed in order for the company to be compliant with ISO 14000 guidelines.
The company is committed to delivering the best products for its customers, having invested €15 million in the
Further, the supply of in-line chimney fans to heritage buildings is a company speciality. These unique, in-line chimney fans allow the full splendour of the historical building to be viewed without interruption as the fan is enclosed within the chimney itself, rather than mounted on top.
Flueboost, the first fan supplier to join ICOM, has manufactured its own range of CEapproved flue gas extraction fans for boilers, water heaters and gas-fire applications from its premises since the 1970s. Its products are found right across the UK as the company’s bespoke offering of large applications is utilised by both commercial and residential customers. Despite the ‘small business’ label by Alison, Flueboost maintains an impressive client list, featuring many familiar, household brands like Waitrose, The Royal Mint, Prezzo Pizza, McDonald’s and The Royal 24 Bank of Scotland, to name a few.
Alison said: “Increasingly we are asked to become involved in projects after boilers and ductwork are installed which can make it complicated, or even impossible, to find a simple, cost effective solution to safely evacuate the products of combustion. “Whilst we recognise that most new boilers have their own inbuilt fan, we are often approached to supply an additional fan to meet efflux velocity requirements or where the flue route is complicated. “In addition, new condensing boilers are designed to be ErP compliant and highly sensitive burners make it imperative for us to become involved during the design and selection process to resolve any potential issues prior to installation.
ACV UK Ltd Advance Appliances Altecnic Ltd Ariston Thermo Group Bosch Thermotechnology Ltd Cotherm Ltd Danfoss Ltd Dimplex UK Limited
Gledhill Building Products Ltd Heatrae Sadia Heatrod Elements Limited Honeywell, ACS Control Products Joule UK Ltd Kingspan Hot Water Storage Mannley Cylinders Ltd McDonald Engineers
Newark Copper Cylinders Co Ltd OSO Hotwater (UK) Ltd Reliance Water Controls Ltd RM Cylinders Telford Copper Cylinders Ltd Vaillant Group UK Ltd Viessmann Ltd
Andrews Water Heaters Babcock Wanson UK Ltd Bosch Commercial and Industrial Heating Calor Gas Ltd Cochran Ltd Combat HVAC Ltd
Ecoflam UK ELCO UK Energy Technology & Control Ltd EOGB Energy Products Ltd Fernox Ferroli Ltd Flueboost Ltd G P Burners (CIB) Ltd Hamworthy Heating Ltd Hoval Ltd Ideal Boilers Ltd
Johnson & Starley Ltd Lochinvar Ltd Mikrofill Systems Ltd Nortek Global HVAC (UK) Ltd Nu-way (Enertech Ltd) Potterton Commercial Powrmatic Limited Remeha Commercial Riello Ltd Rinnai UK Ltd Sabien Technology Ltd
Schwank Ltd Sentinel Performance Solutions Ltd Space-Ray (UK) Ltd Spirotech UK Ltd Stokvis Industrial Boilers (Intl) Ltd Strebel Ltd Vaillant Group UK Ltd Vexo International Ltd Viessmann Ltd Weishaupt (UK) Ltd
A.C.Wilgar Ltd Adey Professional Heating Solutions Alpha Heating Innovation Altecnic Ltd Anton Industrial Services Association of Gas Safety Managers (AGSM) Ariston Thermo UK Ltd Atag Heating Ltd Atmos Heating Systems Baxi Be Modern Group BEAMA Heating Controls BEAMA Water Treatment BFM Europe Limited Biasi UK Ltd Bosch Thermotechnology Ltd Bowbros Ltd British Gas
BSI Assurance UK Ltd Builders Merchant Federation Burley Appliances Ltd Calor Gas Ltd Carillion Energy Services Charlton & Jenrick Ltd Crosslee plc Crystal Fires Limited Daikin Airconditioning UK Ltd Danfoss Ltd Delta Energy & Environment Ltd Dimplex UK Limited Domestic & General Group plc Ecuity Consulting LLP EDF Energy Encore Energy Enertek International Ltd Fabdec Ltd Fernox Ferroli Limited Flowgroup plc Fondital Helpline UK Gas Contract Services Ltd Grafton Merchanting GB
Grant Engineering (UK) Ltd Ground Source Heat Pump Association Grundfos Pumps A/S Harvey Water Softeners Ltd HETAS Ltd Honeywell, ACS Control Products Ideal Boilers Ltd IE-CHP (UK & Eire) Ltd Inspirit Energy Holdings plc InstaGroup Ltd Intergas Heating Ltd Johnson & Starley Limited Kamco Ltd Kane International Ltd KD Navien Ltd Kiwa Gastec Lettergold Water Treatment Solutions LLP Logic Certification Magic Thermodynamic box Monarch Water Morgan Lambert Ltd NAPIT NIBE Energy Systems Limited Nirvana Energy Systems Inc
Nu-Flame OFTEC Panasonic Manufacturing UK Ltd Pump House Pumps Qnergy Ltd Ravenheat Rinnai UK Ltd Sentinel Performance Solutions Ltd Sime Ltd Solar Trade Association Spirotech UK Ltd Sustainable Power Ltd Teddington Appliance Controls Ltd The Electric Heating Company Ltd Thermoserv Ltd Travis Perkins Group UK Heating Distribution Ltd UKLPG Vaillant Group Ltd Viessmann Ltd Vokera Limited Widney Leisure Ltd Wolseley UK Ltd
Kudox Ltd Myson Radiators
QRL Radiator Group Stelrad Ltd
Zehnder Group UK Ltd
Develop Training Ltd DI UK Ltd DNV GL EDF Energy (Gas Storage Hole House) Ltd EDF Energy Customer Field Services EDMI Europe Ltd ElectraLink Ltd Elgin Elster Energy Assets Ltd Engage Consulting Enzen Fastflow Group Ltd Ferranti Computer Systems NV Fiorentini UK Limited Fulcrum Fusion Group Ltd Fusion Provida Ltd Future Energy Group G4S Utility & Outsourcing Services (UK) Ltd Gas Measurement Instruments Ltd Gateway Storage Company Ltd Generis Technology Ltd George Fischer Sales Limited
George Wilson Industries Limited GPS PE Pipe Systems Gridbee Communications GTC Halite Energy Group Harlaxton Engineering Services Ltd HP Humbly Grove Energy Ltd Inovyn Enterprises Limited Islandmagee Storage Ltd Itron Metering Solutions UK Ltd King Street Energy Landis+Gyr Lightsout Computer Services Ltd Lomax Training Services Lowri Beck Services Ltd LSC Group Ltd Meter Provida Ltd MeteRSit SRL Metertech Ltd Mike Stratton & Associates Ltd Morland Utilities Ltd Morrison Utility Services National Grid plc
Northern Gas Networks Ltd P N Daly Ltd PLCS Limited Power Plus Communications AG Providor Ltd Radius Systems Ltd Sarco Stopper Ltd ScottishPower Secure Meters (UK) Ltd Sensus UK Siemens Silver Spring Networks UK & Ireland SSE Hornsea Ltd Storengy UK Ltd The Clancy Group The Murphy Group Tuffentech Services Ltd UK Smart Meter Installations Ltd Uniper Energy Storage Utility Innovations Solutions Ltd Utility Power Systems (UPS) Wales & West Utilities Ltd Wolseley UK Ltd WRc plc
ICOM
For more information visit: www.metersit.com/en
ICOM welcomes Flueboost Ltd into membership
ICOM’s newest member is Cheshire-based Flueboost Limited, owned and operated by Managing Director Alison Cartwright.
MEMBERS LIST
SPRING/SUMMER 2016
“We believe the opportunity to liaise with the technical teams will be mutually beneficial to discuss, at an early stage, how our products can work efficiently, safely and effectively together. This can only be an advantage helping to achieve maximum product performance and ultimately ensuring customer satisfaction. “I believe communication is the key to upholding and raising standards. “As a company, we are confident that membership of ICOM will allow us access to a wealth of experience and knowledge helping us to improve our products and services to customers throughout the UK and Ireland.” Alison ensures Flueboost is actively involved in the local community as she believes it has a responsibility to be a good corporate neighbour. The company has recently fundraised for Target Ovarian Cancer, the UK’s leading ovarian cancer charity and collected winter clothing for distribution to the homeless.
For more information visit: www.flueboost.co.uk
ALH Systems Ltd Amec Foster Wheeler Amey AVK UK Limited Balfour Beatty Burdens Utilities Bureau Veritas Buss Metering Services Ltd ByBox Calvin Capital Ltd Capita Carillion Utility Services Centrica Storage Ltd Cerro EMS CNG Services Ltd ControlPoint Co-operative Energy Crane Building Services & Utilities
Corporate
Gemserv
15
TUESDAY 17 MAY 2016
Hilton Park Lane, London For further information, please visit
www.gasindustryawards.com
TICKETS
are available to purchase at a cost of
£125+VAT per ticket or £1,100.00+VAT per table (10 places).