UK Consumers, Businesses Largely Oblivious of Green Deal

The UK has gone live with its Green Deal program, giving homes and businesses a new way of paying for energy efficiency improvements such as insulation and new heating systems.

But according to a recent survey from Rexel of more than 2,000 respondents, 96 percent of Brits have never heard of the Green Deal.

Under the new program there are 45 different types of energy efficiency improvements available to homes and businesses, and the improvements can be paid for over time via the owners’ electricity bills.

The government also unveiled its communications campaign ‘Green Deal with it’ to tell people about the Green Deal. Based on the results of a OnePoll survey commissioned by electrical supply company Rexel, a communications campaign is sorely needed. The survey found:

• 69 percent of respondents are interested in making energy efficiency improvements to their home
• 74 percent of respondents wouldn’t know where to go for information if they wanted to find out more about the Green Deal
• 56 percent of respondents don’t know whether investing in energy efficiency measures with a Green Deal loan will save them money
• 17 percent of business owner respondents are aware that the Green Deal is also applicable to business
• 72 percent of business owner respondents who are aware that the Green Deal is also applicable to business plan to make use of a Green Deal loan.

When business owners who plan to make use of Green Deal were asked which energy efficiency measures they are investing in:

• 18 percent said LED lighting
• 10 percent said window glazing
• 9 percent said insulation or draught proofing
• 1 percent said biomass boilers
• 1 percent said automated systems and controls.

The UK government offered these statistics related to the Green Deal:

• $196 million is available in the government funded Cashback Scheme
• 8 million households could benefit from solid wall insulation
• 4 million households could benefit from cavity insulation
• 60,000 jobs are expected to be supported in the insulation sector alone by 2015 – up from 26,000 in 2011
• 38 percent of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions come from leaky buildings.

The first step to take advantage of the Green Deal is to have an official assessor evaluate the home or business and recommend improvements that are expected to pay for themselves through reduced energy bills. Green Deal Providers will then quote for the recommended improvements. Once the property owner chooses a Green Deal Provider, they will write up a Green Deal Plan.

According to the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), investing in energy efficiency could save the UK 196 TWh by 2020.