VAT relief on retrofit and renewables
VAT has been scrapped on energy saving products and home solar panels by the UK’s Chancellor in his Spring Statement aimed at easing the country’s cost of living crisis. The relief – down from its already discounted rate of 5% – will be in place for at least fie years, Rishi Sunak said. It covers […]
Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) deadline imminent
Companies are reminded that the deadline is fast approaching for the latest phase of Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR). With a deadline of March 31st, it’s not too late for organisations to prepare their reports – and Syntegra staff are on hand to help you gather relevant documentation ahead of the cut-off date. Three […]
Poverty harming UK’s chances of reaching net-zero
Unfortunately, the word ‘poverty’ is one with which we are all too familiar and conjures up images of people, often children, in far off lands struggling to survive in poor economic situations. Sadly, while the UK is considered an affluent country with a stable economy, we also suffer our own levels of relative poverty. And […]
Government unveils ‘radical’ energy efficiency standards for homes and office
All homes and business premises in the UK will be required to meet new energy efficiency standards that reduce energy consumption and lower bills by 2025, in line with the Government’s new Future Homes Standard. New homes will be required to have a reduced carbon footprint of 31% compared to current levels, the Government revealed […]
The new Green Homes Grant
Residents in England are now eligible for Government funding of up to £10,000 towards the cost of energy efficient home improvements. The Green Homes Grant 2020 scheme has been launched by the UK Government to provide benefits both to homeowners and the environment as the qualifying improvements will help reduce fuel bills and carbon emissions. […]
New rules to encourage business energy efficiency with SECR
Businesses need to be up to speed with the Government’s new Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) policy which mandates them to disclose their energy and carbon emissions. The policy, which came into effect on April 1st this year, affects almost 12,000 companies under the Companies (Directors’ Report) and Limited Liability Partnerships (Energy and Carbon […]
New Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in force
Landlords are being urged to comply with updated regulations in relation to minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES). Since April this year, new rules apply to energy ratings which affect a landlord’s ability to agree a new letting or tenancy. They now have to contribute up to £3,500 per property towards raising the rating on a […]
Syntegra’s Quick Guide to Green Office Measures
If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon” – the warning from the revered naturalist Sir David Attenborough as he declared climate change “our greatest threat in thousands of years”. His declaration, along with the Paris Agreement, an increasing number […]
Government measures needed to get tough on housing stock to meet carbon reduction targets
Legally binding carbon reduction targets will not be met in the UK unless the Government takes steps to tackle the “increasingly uncomfortable and unsafe” existing housing stock and implements stringent measures around new build projects. That is the conclusion of a report by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). The report criticises the withdrawal of […]
Net-zero economy aim for UK government
The UK Government has confirmed it is seeking advice on how to reduce carbon emissions and move to a net-zero economy. Following the release of a report last week by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warning that the global temperature increase will hit 1.5C by 2030, and 3-4C by the end of […]
England’s World Cup success eclipses major built environment announcements
While recent national headlines have, rightly, been dominated by the unexpected (but very welcome) England World Cup journey, a couple of major announcements have gone somewhat under the radar when it comes to energy efficiency in the built environment. First came the news that the Government was launching a £420 million construction sector deal aimed […]
MEES: a wake-up call to commercial landlords
It’s not often that we use these channels to nag our audience, clients or not, and we hate saying: ‘Told you so,’ when things go wrong. So we took no pleasure reading recent reports that almost 20% of commercial buildings have fallen into a lower EPC rating than when previously assessed. From April 1st, all […]
Energy efficiency timeline
There’s a lot going on in the world of energy efficiency, targets and key dates, so Syntegra has developed an easy to follow timeline to help our clients keep any eye on what’s happening when. https://syntegragroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Syntegragroup-14nov.pdf
Landlords face significant bills to implement energy efficiencies
Landlords face the prospect of paying for measures to improve their properties’ energy efficiency under a new government proposal. Minimum standards meaning properties can only be let if they reach a band E or above in the EPC ratings will come into effect in April. Previously landlords had been expected to rely on finance from […]
Energy manifesto review
Syntegra energy sector manifesto review Energy costs and regulation plus attitudes to climate change and renewables feature in all the main political party manifestos for this week’s election. Here we offer Syntegra’s unbiased review of some of the key themes relating to this policy area plus a selection of comments from the Parties around their […]
Future Energy Efficiency Policy
The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology has published its Future Energy Efficiency Policy document which outlines the benefits and costs of future improvements in energy efficiency across various UK sectors. It then describes the barriers to energy efficiency measures, outlines options for future policy and summarises analyses of the effectiveness of various options. http://image.email-cibse.org/lib/fe9c13727463047c74/m/1/0f412841-9087-4152-9f06-08a1ae310997.pdf
Chance for businesses energy saving
Businesses have the opportunity to save money on their energy bills thanks to a new regulation forcing them to have half-hourly meter readings. P272, approved by Ofgem, means accurate data will be recorded from medium/large companies to more accurately reflect usage. Every business using an electricity meter has an electricity profile class from 01 to […]
New EPC rules mean landlords could be barred from letting out properties without urgent energy efficiency improvements
Landlords need to act now to avoid costly penalties and protect their assets as important legal changes are introduced to energy regulations. From April 1st next year (2018), commercial and domestic landlords must have implemented Energy efficiency measures to improve the existing Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) value of their properties in order to obtain new […]
Your water, your choice
It’s that time of year when you turn on any TV or radio news channel, one of the headlines is the cost of gas and electricity and how we should all switch suppliers. And apparently last month record numbers of us, ever keen to cut costs, did just that. Maybe it’s something in the title […]
Green Data Centre Market Set To Skyrocket In 2016
Last week’s news that digital giant Google plan to buy enough renewable energy to power two cities to provide for its data centres is a clear indication that the data centre market is going green in a major way in the next 12 months. In fact, according to a new survey, the global market for […]
IEA: Renewables will dominate new electricity capacity thanks to falling costs
Thanks to their falling costs and continued rapid expansion in emerging economies; Renewables are set to represent the largest source of growth in electricity generating capacity over the next five years, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s Medium Term Renewable Energy Market Report 2015. This growth means that renewables could result in global electricity […]
Energy efficiency in the UK
According to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the UK energy efficiency improves year on year. Energy efficiency is measured as energy consumption per unit of economic output. The GDP grew about 2.6% in 2014 while the energy ratio (a measure of energy efficiency) fell by around 5.6% between 2013 and 2014. But […]
The Five Key Pillars for ‘Energy Union’
Currently, the EU imports 53% of its energy and six EU Member States are totally reliant on Russia for gas imports, so President Juncker’s European Commission (EC) unveiled its Energy Union strategy in February. There are five pillars to be named: a solidarity clause, the free flow across energy borders, energy efficiency before supply, transition […]
FABRIC FIRST: Maximising Performance, Minimising Cost
Fabric First is a design approach to building which emphasises in-built energy efficiency through maximising the thermal performance of the building envelope and ensuring the building elements work together to be as energy efficient as possible. Energy efficiency is incorporated into the building fabric over its lifetime. Buildings designed with a fabric first approach don’t […]
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