Energy efficiency & fuel poverty

You can see more about how the sector has stepped up to meet this challenge in our latest State of the Sector Report, showing that:

• 155 groups are already delivering energy efficiency services across the country in 2024 of which there are 77 organisations providing advice and guidance about the energy system and reducing energy use
• 125 organisations delivering retrofit services
• Saving an estimated £1.86 million from people’s energy bills, community organisations tend to be well placed to deliver this work 
  • they have stronger local connections, and a real ability to influence to behaviour change and the uptake of efficiency measures in people’s homes
  • you can be in high demand by organisations such as Local Authorities and charities who work with vulnerable consumers because of your position and local knowledge.

1. Start with the numbers and have confidence in the sector

   Community organisations achieve a much higher rate of return on investment generally when they lead these projects, with recent work by Bristol University showing a 9:1 rate of return. Share this with potential partners (e.g. Local Authorities) and funders to start your work and support.
   

2. Think about mixing several different, complementary activities

   Some of the best community energy efficiency and fuel poverty projects do this. They take their audiences on a journey towards installing energy efficiency measures and also then adopting energy efficient behaviours. E.g. integrating a number of the below activities into one streamlined pathway. You may however choose to focus on one activity, depending on your organisation capacity and skills available (e.g. if your organisation doesn’t have someone who can do house assessments, but may be able to train to deliver energy advice) 

   Advice & Retrofit activities

   • Insulation and heavy measures (deep retrofit services) 
   • Basic draught-proofing (shallow retrofit services)
   • Building assessments/audits
   • Demonstration homes and open eco-homes
   • Advice/support to install renewable tech
   • Energy monitoring 
   • Energy switching 
   • Funding advice (connecting people with government schemes and bills support) 
   • Advice surgeries (home visits, events, telephone advice)
   • Awareness-raising (e.g. stalls, workshops, cafes)

3. Make sure you monitor impact and evaluate as you go

   this is a competitive area for funding, so make sure you are monitoring impact from the start. There are a number of ways to do this, including paper forms (templates to be uploaded) and online CRM tools.

   CEE recently did an online event (Jan 2023) showcasing a new FREE CRM tool (Airtable) as well as other options for groups

4. Ensure you look at training and have other supports in place

   (e.g. safeguarding, GDPR). CEE has begun a working document of things to consider. CEE along with the Energy Efficiency workgroup have created a working document – ‘From Zero to Energy Advisor’  to support groups to get from no experience to delivering energy advice in their communities and beyond.