Business Award - first prize
Geothermal International, Coventry
Drilling deep to meet the UK’s energy demand
Geothermal International is one of the UK’s leading installers of ground source heat pumps, specialising in large commercial and public sector buildings. The company has installed nearly 800 systems with a total heating and cooling capacity of over 100 MW. The overall carbon savings from their installations to date is around 25,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. Many new urban developments use innovative ‘Energy Piles’ where the pump’s ground loop is embedded into the foundations, making installation easier and cheaper.
Business Award - second prize
Architype, London/Hereford
Putting sustainability at the heart of design
Architype is an architect’s practice with 25 years’ dedication to sustainable design. The company designs buildings that require minimal heating, cooling and lighting through insulation, passive solar gain, natural ventilation and well placed windows. It opts for low carbon energy sources and uses sustainable building materials throughout to minimise the embodied energy. Architype consults closely with clients and end users throughout the project, and as their designs continue to improve they will soon exceed current building regulations on CO2 emissions by 75 percent.
Local Authority Award sponsored by NESTA
First prize
Kirklees Council, Huddersfield
Free-for-all insulation rolls out warmth
The ‘Kirklees Warm Zone’ scheme is rolling out free insulation to its residents to reduce the council’s carbon footprint, improve comfort and reduce fuel bills. By tackling one or two wards at a time, it is super streamlined and making quick headway at a rate of 600 measures a week. Over 115,000 households – two-thirds of the total – have been visited already and 25,000 have had cavity wall or loft insulation. The CO2 emissions avoided are around 18,000 tonnes a year, which will reach 40,000 by the end of 2010.
Second prize
Devon County Council, Exeter
Creating a new ‘green deal’ for Devon
Devon County Council’s Renewable Energy for Devon (RE4D) scheme is boosting rural regeneration in the county by stimulating both supply and demand for renewable energy. RE4D focuses on small and medium enterprises providing advice and grants which have led to over 100 renewable energy installations with a total installed capacity of over 2 MW. In the last two years RE4D has provided and helped secure over £1 million worth of grants. Fifty-five green jobs have been created and a further 16 safeguarded through the scheme.
Charity Award - first prize
Sustainable Energy Academy, Milton Keynes
Giving period houses an energy saving makeover
The Sustainable Energy Academy has set up a network of refurbished hard-to-treat houses to convince policy makers and others that high energy savings are possible even in older properties. Each ‘Superhome’ owner has made carbon savings of around 70 percent and they act as exemplars by opening their home to visitors. The 36,000 visits so far have inspired others to take similar action by showing them it’s possible to achieve lower energy bills and a better living environment by taking simple energy efficiency measures and other green improvements.
Charity Award - second prize
Marches Energy Agency, Shrewsbury
Galvanising communities to adopt low carbon lifestyle
The ‘Low Carbon Communities’ project run by Marches Energy Agency has mobilised six small communities to cut their carbon footprint by installing renewable energy, carrying out energy audits or creating eco businesses. A project worker is allocated to advise and motivate different sectors of the community on what they can do and local people are trained so they are equipped to continue the process. These communities have carried out 1,400 measures saving over 1,700 tonnes of CO2 a year.
