news from the BRE Group
published: 27/6/2013
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West London councils find potential energy savings of up to 25%
Research commissioned by the West London Alliance (WLA) and carried out by built environment scientists at BRE, has highlighted key energy saving opportunities in six west London boroughs – Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Hounslow.
The study found that energy use reductions of between 5% and 25% could be made through improvements to the councils’ properties. Further savings could be made by making operational efficiencies and encouraging energy saving behaviours.
“The financial benefits of these savings could be very significant,” says Charlene Clear, a sustainability consultant at BRE, “as the six WLA boroughs spend an estimated total of £27 million a year on energy use and carbon taxes. These costs are predicted to rise by 37% by 2022, as a result of fuel price increases.”
BRE investigated the policy drivers, financial incentives and possible actions that would help the six boroughs to drive efficiencies through collaborative energy reduction and management.
The project identified 17 opportunity areas for making energy savings and 55 potential actions. Key stakeholders from across the six boroughs, such as planning, education, energy and building services personnel, then prioritised these into two action areas to be initially taken forward with support from BRE:
- maximising the opportunities for improving the energy efficiency of properties through retrofit projects
- developing key performance indicators (KPIs) for energy use across the six boroughs
The WLA is now planning to implement activities around these actions areas as part of the councils’ overall aim to: “promote the interests of West London residents and businesses; improve and develop public services; and to reduce their costs through collaboration”.
For more information contact Linda McKeown, BRE, email mckeownl@bre.co.uk, tel 10923 664569
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