npower Funds National Trust Community Led Project
Released
on: October 21, 2009, 6:47 am
Author: npower
Industry: Environment
An
npower funded project will see two historic villages owned by
the National Trust attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emissions
and energy bills as part of a community led programme. The initiative,
which is similar to the government's Low Carbon Community Challenge,
will show how major energy efficiency improvements are achievable
in homes of any age - not just modern buildings - with savings
possible from the biggest mansion to the average family house.
The
low
carbon village pilot - supported by £600,000 funding
from the National Trust's energy partner npower - is being trialled
at the National Trust owned villages of Coleshill in Oxfordshire
and the Wallington Estate in Northumberland. As well as funding
the project, npower is also giving advice on effective energy
saving tips for tenants of the properties.
The
project involves 62 houses at Coleshill and 73 cottages and 14
farms at Wallington, with properties dating from the 1850s and
1750s respectively. Through community engagement, each village
will decide what measures to take to reduce their carbon footprints
with the added incentive of making savings to their energy bills.
Residents
at Coleshill wanted to find out their current energy consumption
and carbon emissions as a starting point so that any success could
be measured. On assessment, the average carbon footprint for homes
and appliances was 7.57 tonnes of CO2 each year, slightly higher
than the national average of 6.15 tonnes.
At
Wallington, the community's overall carbon footprint for heating
and electricity was 879 tonnes of CO2, equating to 9.5 tonnes
of CO2 per property per year. The reason for this higher emission
level is because, like a third of all rural areas in the UK, Wallington
is off the gas network. The village therefore has to rely on carbon-intensive
oil and electricity for heating
which pushes up carbon levels as well as the bills.
Celia
Robbins, the National Trust's project manager at Wallington, said:
"By introducing our energy efficiency measures and helping
people understand their energy use we hope to make a real difference
to both people's pockets and to the environment.
"Installing
sheep's wool loft
insulation and improving the efficiency of off-grid electricity
generation will reduce Wallington's carbon footprint by more than
10%
"On
advice from npower's energy advisor, we are also encouraging residents
to monitor their electricity with a Smart
Meter which shows how much any appliance uses every six seconds.
Using the display can be quite a revelation because although electricity
is invisible this helps people see exactly how much they use and
the associated costs."
About
npower:
npower is one of Britain's largest electricity suppliers and provides
gas, electricity and related services to 6.6 million customers
across the UK. npower is a market leader in renewable energy and
sources the green energy for juice directly from renewable sources,
at no extra cost.
RWE
npower has been awarded the prestigious CommunityMark from Business
in the Community (BITC). npower is the only utility business,
amongst 21 other companies in the UK, to receive this accolade.
The CommunityMark is a new BITC standard which has been created
to recognise companies that are good investors in local communities
and who have brought about real and positive changes.
npower
PR Contact:
Nick McHugh
npower
Oak House
Worcester
WR4 9FP
01905 340 854
07795354628
www.npower.com
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