We could all become more energy efficient through a number of strategies including government introduced incentives and grants as well as the low carbon technology within the home, one such incentive based strategy is the Feed in Tariff and Renewable Heat Incentive.
The National Energy Foundation is an independent, national charity based in Milton Keynes. It has been at the forefront of improving the use of energy in buildings since 1988. It aims to give people, organisations and government the knowledge, support and inspiration they need to understand and improve energy in buildings.
We had a meeting with the National Energy Foundation today. They are interested in talking to architects and architectural designers in particular, so that they can incorporate some of these energy efficient systems into the designs on projects, and save their clients money in the long run generally as well as putting themselves in a position to give better advice to their clients.
We are hopeful that this organisation will advise us on individual jobs in order to put us in a better position to give our clients reliable advice on energy conservation. Our director Tony Keller is very interested in finding ways of upgrading energy efficiency in the home. We are also interested in how to conserve energy in our businesses as well as in the home, we could all be saving a lot of money through being more energy efficient.
There is also a government initiative which is designed to help business and home owners to employ more green technologies within their properties called the ‘Green Deal’. This works by you installing new green technology into your property with no up front costs involved. You pay back the costs through your energy bill over time, but it’s not like a loan as the the bill stays with the property if you move out, it doesn’t follow you.
A lot of our work comes from people wanting to extend their homes and we want to be in a position to advise them as best we can. As architectural designers, we welcome very much the chance to benefit from the vast expertise that the NEF has to offer and the best ways in which to incorporate energy efficiency measures in our design work of domestic extensions and new house designs.
Written by Jade Turney – Building Tectonics Ltd.