Post on 21-Jan-2015
description
What do we know, or think we know, about domestic energy use and relationships to
Health and Wellbeing?
David Fletcher and Emma-Kate BrownEnergy Action Devon
“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”
Donald Rumsfeld
Key areas of work
Energy Action Devon works to address the issues of affordable warmth and sustainable energy through:•Telephone and face-to-face advice through the South West Energy Saving Trust advice centre
•Delivery of insulation schemes and renewable energy projects – such as CosyDevon, Renewable Energy 4 Devon
•Work with local communities
•Work with partners such as local authorities, health sector and local delivery agents
What are the links between our work and regional policy?
Making the links and addressing the key determinants of affordable warmth and sustainable energy
• Feeding back our experience to provide evidence of need – what is the current picture and how can we ensure our data informs the development of policy and strategy?
• Evaluating our work with communities and householders – what interventions are successful?
• Pioneering new technologies and approaches – how do we build this in to the regional picture?
Current trends
Key determinants of fuel poverty
Fuel poverty split amongst the key determinants, 2007
Source: DECC 2009
Fuel poverty ratio
Required spend on energy as a proportion of income, 2004-2007
Source: DECC 2009
The local picture – facts and figures
• The average energy consumption per meter in Plymouth rose 14% between 2006 and 2007
• Across Devon over 20% of private sector housing stock failed the Category 1 hazards of the Decent Homes standard
• Several wards in Plymouth fall into the 20% most deprived in England for Indoor Environment Sub-domain indices of deprivation – and these areas correlate with the Health Domain indices
• Over 6,500 households in Plymouth alone experience fuel poverty (over 32,000 in Devon)
The local picture – fuel poverty in Plymouth
Fuel poverty and Hard-To-Treat housing
Source: CSE 2009
The local picture – stock characteristics and SAP rating
Stock profiling
Targeting interventions
Our known knowns – the benefits to health and wellbeing
We can see the outcomes of affordable warmth and sustainable energy interventions:
• Warmer, healthier homes promote social inclusion for vulnerable people• Lifting householders out of fuel poverty through energy efficiency measures leaves more disposable income for other needs• Pioneering and testing new technologies helps residents in Hard to Treat properties achieve a healthy and high standard of living with minimal resource consumption
Our known knowns – where we’re going
Practical Measures• From 2005/6 to end of 2010 we have levered in approximately of
£9million of funding for measures to improve energy efficiency in Devon equating to:– 512,000,000 KwH (Lifetime)– £13,502,000 saved on energy bills (Lifetime)– 117,370 tCO2 (Lifetime)
• With the CosyDevon scheme we have an ambitious target of 16,500 measures to install over 2.5 years but this is just 3% of Devon’s Housing stock…
• We know where the key housing stock issues are likely to be e.g. cavity walls in Torbay, solid walls in Torridge…..but….
Our known knowns – where we’re going
Strategy and Policy Context• National –Transition to a Low Carbon Economy • Regional – Low Carbon Housing and Fuel Poverty Strategy (but..)• County – Devon Affordable Warmth Strategy (but..)• Local – Climate change/Housing/Energy/Health strategies and action
plans
Data and Information Management
• NI186/NI187 – networks, learning, reporting
• District House Condition Surveys (but…)
Looking ahead
Moving towards Area Based Approaches• Focus on locality and community level information
• On-the-ground experience allows us to make informed interpretation of data – e.g. where high and low income households co-exist; where particular RE technologies are not viable
• Build strong partnerships from a data-informed base
Improving regional data pathways for the third sector• Develop local pathways to share data and avoid duplication, and
facilitate effective delivery
• Make sure ‘data-gatherers’ are aware of our needs – coordinate with e.g. health, income and benefits. Develop two-way training and support
Our known unknowns – key challenges
Capacity of the third sector to support the public sector at ground level
• Resolution/granularity of the data available to us – targeting at street level, where are the specific houses that need our help? It’s important that low resolution data doesn’t cloud the picture• Spatial coverage – low data density can lead to wrong analysis• Affordability of data available – costs, keeping up to date, technical capacity• Working with the business sector – commercial confidentiality, closing the loop• Consistency and availability of resource for measures (the practical stuff) and data and information (the knowledge stuff)