The Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) is supporting community organisations with building and energy efficiency advice as part of their application process for the Energy Resilience Fund run by social investor Social Investment Business. The fund can be used for a range of energy efficiency measures, including upgrades to insulation, glazing, lighting, heating and ventilation. It could also fund solar PV panels, battery storage, solar water heating, heat pumps, small scale wind turbines and electric vehicles.

CSE’s specialist advice is helping organisations to understand how to develop their plans following an initial energy audit, and covers areas such as evaluating and prioritising different options, project costing, consents and permissions, and project management.

Turning energy audits into action

We are assisting organisations with the crucial next steps following their initial energy audit. It starts with a telephone consultation to understand the organisation’s needs, goals, and challenges related to the energy efficiency project and applying to the fund.

Our technical advice and support are designed to help organisations develop and progress their plans. This could include providing advice on building design, energy efficiency measures, sustainable materials, and other technical aspects where relevant. This also covers identifying potential risks of running a building’s energy efficiency related project and supporting organisations to mitigate these.

CSE’s areas of support include:

Understanding your energy audit

• Help with interpreting energy audits and understanding and evaluating the measures suggested.
• Helping organisations to understand their options and converting their energy audit into an effective plan of action.

Getting the basics right

• Highlighting the importance of repair and maintenance prior to any energy efficiency work taking place.
• Help to consider how the building is used and the level of technical knowledge in-house.

Tackling complex challenges

• Solutions to more complicated issues such as damp and mould, poor indoor air quality.
• Identifying specialist support such as structural engineers and minimising risk throughout the project.

Planning and permissions

• Help to understand what permissions and consents may be required.
• Advice on how to obtain accurate costs and to consider how the project will be managed.

Why this work matters

Through this partnership with Social Investment Business, we can provide support to charities, community organisations and social enterprises to help them invest in energy saving and retrofit measures.

Once organisations have successfully funded and installed the planned measures, we expect them to see a range of benefits that can include:

• Energy bills and carbon savings.
• An improved indoor environment for building users.
• Wider social and community benefit through the increased use of community spaces, including greater connection for more vulnerable groups.

Non-commercial, community and public spaces often get overlooked when it comes to opportunities to fund energy efficiency improvements. With this fund and our ongoing support, we hope organisations and groups can take meaningful steps to save energy and lower bills, which can be crucial in helping them to remain viable. Money saved can then be used to benefit the local community in other areas.

Get support

If you are a charity, community organisation, or social enterprise that is looking for funding for energy efficiency measures then please visit the Energy Resilience Fund for more information.

CSE has extensive expertise and experience in providing buildings and energy efficiency advice to community organisations, including providing building energy surveys. If you are looking to save money on your energy bills then please visit our community buildings pages for more information.