Newsletter Signup
Green Deal Offers Cash Back for Early Adopters
Some points to remember when applying for the Green Deal and some incentives not to miss!
With the Green Deal officially launched at the end of last month Energie Solutions Ltd are working hard preparing for the ECO measures and Green Deal Plans to be initiated.
There is still plenty of work to be done to inform the public of how they can access the Green Deal and how the planned Government Cashback Scheme will be implemented.
The Government are trying to reach as many of the 26 million households and 4.5 million businesses as possible in Great Britain to benefit from energy efficiency improvements.
The Green Deal is open to owner-occupiers, those renting privately or in social housing and landlords to remove the up-front costs of installing a number of energy efficient measures.
To start the Green Deal process a householder needs to have a Green Deal Assessment (GDA) carried out on their property by an accredited Green Deal Assessor displaying the official Green Deal quality mark.
The basis of the Green Deal Assessment is an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) which contains information about a property and how efficiently it uses energy. In addition to the EPC the assessor will take into account the characteristics of the occupants and how they themselves use energy. These are then collated into the Green Deal Advice Report (GDAR) which explains what improvements can be made and the expected energy savings.
It is important to remember that the GDAR is the homeowners possession and therefore when contacting Green Deal Assessor there will often be a charge for the GDA. The alternative is to approach a Green Deal Provider first who will often waive the assessment fee if you use their providers network of installers.
Once the homeowner has received the GDAR then they should approach a Green Deal Provider, you can search for a provider on this site here to obtain a quotation for installing the measures that have been recommended. A homeowner can approach any number of providers for quotation purposes and does not have to choose all of the recommended measures. Once the homeowner has a Green Deal provider they will write up the Green Deal Plan. The plan is a contract between the homeowner and the Provider detailing the work that will be carried out and the repayments.
For the early up takers of Green Deal Plans The Government is running an incentive scheme called the Green Deal Cashback Scheme. This scheme is a first come, first served offer where householders who sign up to a Green Deal Plan and have the measures installed can claim Cashback from The Government. The more measures that are installed the greater the value of the cashback payment.
Throughout the Green Deal process all parties involved should display the Green Deal Quality Mark . Only registered accredited companies can use the quality mark which shows they meet the Green Deal Standards and operate in accordance with the Green Deal Code of Practice.
Nigel Day is the co-founder of Energie Solutions Ltd and has over 7 years experience in both domestic and commercial energy installation solutions. If you are interested in getting in touch with Nigel he can be contacted on or Tweet me @Nigel4Energie
A little underwhelmed…… We had our green deal assessment done by British Gas; we live in a single glazed, 1950′s bungalow, concrete floor and traditional construction; we are off the grid so run on oil.
We’ve only recently moved in (oct 12) even though our epc makes reference to the then upcoming green deal, the energy trusts recommendation was still to carry on with the gda as the epc is only part of it. Fair enough; forward we marched.
Since moving in we have had the central heating changed but the old boiler remained – original install 1950′s Tranco Tro 19kw oil boiler.
We are waiting for our gda report but from what he said was we could only get our floor insulated under the green deal!?! Consider our walls and loft are already insulated.
What we were hoping for; new windows and change our boiler for a bio mass boiler; he agreed our 1 acre plot was plenty big enough and with the amount of logs available; we’d even have free fuel for 2 seasons at least. The free fuel was a bonus; my bugbear is I would have thought my property was an ideal candidate for this scheme as much as it should be a study case.
The green deal assessment only recommends installing floor insulation! Not replacing my 50 year old boiler nor my single glazed leaking like a sieve wooden windows.
I’m a chartered construction qs / project manager and have been involved in the construction industry for 20 odd years. There are not many construction technologies and principles I do not understand. I have a good understanding of thermal losses and potential u values of materials. I feel as if the green deal has let me down and I should have used my 99 pounds towards buying fuel.
P.s the RHI payment for bio mass could be 8.5 p per kwh; cost of wood pellets 4p per kwh my 2 seasons worth of logs; free.
And still no bio mass! Unbelievable.
Emran
Whilst it is very difficult to comment on individual Green Deal Assessment Reports without having access to the report I have asked my Green Deal Assessor James Girling of Colin Girling and Co Ltd to comment on your blog. James said “that it is possible that the software is geared towards the fundamental measures of insulation. If the insulation is improved then regardless of the other factors (age of boiler, standard of glazing etc) the property will benefit from the insulation measures suggested. These should have been noted on the Green Deal Advice Report with Green Ticks against them (this denotes the measures fall under the Golden Rule)” .
In addition to the above, from Energie Solutions own discussions with Green Deal Advice Organisations (GDAO) it appears that the initial approach will be to ensure the building envelope is as thermally efficient as possible, hence the software’s gearing towards insulation measures. Once these works have been completed then an additional assessment can be carried out 12-18 months later to assess the viability of other measures. This will ensure any product technological advances can be implemented as quickly as possible.
It is also worth pointing out that the homeowner is not under any obligation to take out the measures that have been highlighted within the report, they are merely suggestions of the possible measures suitable for the property and whether or not they can be fully or partially funded with Green Deal Finance. The Government’s aim with both the RHI and the Green deal is to ensure that the overall energy efficiency of the building envelope is taken into consideration when installing new energy efficiency technologies, which wasn’t the case in the Solar Photovoltaics industry prior to April 2012