What is the Green Deal?
The Green Deal is a government incentive to help make energy-saving home improvements at no upfront cost.
From October 2012 you will be able to get finance of up to £10,000 for Domestic or £25,000 for Commercial buildings to help pay for energy saving measures. It is not a government grant, customers choose to take the Green Deal finance, and will then pay the money back to the finance company with interest through their electricity bills.
This means that rather than having to finance improvements themselves, customers can get finance from the green deal to install insulation, solid wall insulation, double glazing or maybe a new boiler. This finance is not a personal loan, it is attached to the property and does not move with the customer when they leave.
The Green Deal has four main objectives:
- To provide accredited advice and recommendations to improve the energy efficiency of UK homes and businesses
- Improve the energy efficiency at no upfront cost to the homeowner
- To provide reassurance that improvements will be executed to the highest standards
- To allow repayments to be made through energy bills, with the opportunity of switching supplier at any time
What is the role of Green Deal Advisors?
The green deal advisor carries out the assessment required to enter into a Green Deal plan, which requires a qualifying assessment of the building and recommendations for measures that could improve the energy efficiency of their home, this can only be carried out by an accredited green deal advisor using an approved calculation software.
The assessment and accompanying advice must be carried out by a qualified and authorised Green Deal advisor. They will have a mixture of technical knowledge, practical competence and ‘soft’ skills to provide households and businesses with the advice they need to take informed decisions.
What is the process?
The Green Deal advice process involves five keys steps:
- Produce, or utilise a valid existing EPC (using RdSAP version 9.91 for Domestic or later or latest SBEM for commercial) which includes recommended energy-improvement measures, some of which may qualify for Green Deal finance.
- Carry out a Green Deal occupancy assessment. This is based not only on the physical characteristics and services fitted to the property and captured in the improved EPC, but also on how the occupier uses the home, to reduce their home energy consumption. This is commonly known as behavioural advice. The Green Deal advisor must visit the customer in their property and carry out an occupancy assessment in line with the laid down occupancy assessment methodology for the Green Deal.
- Produce a Green Deal Advice Report (GDAR) – identifying the individual measure or combination of measures that meet the „Golden Rule‟ and identifying customers whose properties potentially qualify for the Energy Company Obligation (ECO).
- Present the Green Deal Advice Report (GDAR) to the customer – explaining the components of the Green Deal advice report to domestic customers and the implications for implementing the recommendations. It also identifies the limits of the report and clarifies where impartial advice ends and where commercial activities begin; and also explains eligibility and options for funding.
- Produce an updated EPC (using most up to date software RdSAP or SBEM) which reflects the effects of the Green Deal advice and any other measures incorporated into the property to improve its energy efficiency. This is the EPC which, once lodged, would show that a Green Deal “charge‟ is attached to the property’s electricity meter.
Please feel free contact us for further information on this and other service we provide which may help you or your business.