Strengthening community energy resilience right across Northern Ireland through demand reduction and clean generation

Background

Action Renewables were proud to be the lead technical partner for delivering the Sustainable Community Buildings Programme, a £5 million initiative funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, designed to provide voluntary and community organisations with direct funding to fund energy efficiency improvements and help them to reduce the carbon footprint of their buildings.

Across a four-phase rollout of the programme; right across Northern Ireland, Action Renewables supported over 204 community organisations to create an evidence-led Environmental Plan, co-designed with each group to meet the needs of their communities.

The programme was far reaching across a diverse range of organisations within the community and voluntary sector, as highlighted in Figure 1 below:

 

 Figure 1: Profiling the Diverse Range of Community Groups supported through the project

 

Key Initiatives

• A combination of desk-based and onsite energy audits, with up to 1/5 of 204 participating organisations receiving a site visit by Action Renewables, helping groups to navigate the nuanced requirements of listed buildings and ageing housing stock

 

• Each community group received a bespoke Environmental Plan with a Register of Opportunities, quantifying potential cost and carbon savings

 

• Prior to the Environmental Plan, community groups received Carbon Literacy training delivered by Business in the Community to provide a strong foundation to work through the measures recommended in the Plan

 

Overcoming Barriers

Across all four tranches, Action Renewables supported communities to address two fundamental pillars of community energy: Demand Reduction (supporting each group to consider the energy efficiency of their buildings) and Renewable Generation (supporting each group to consider producing their own green energy)

To help local communities to reduce the energy requirements of their buildings, Action Renewables helped to identify opportunities to better retain heat and prevent wasted energy (insulation upgrades, draughtproofing measures and glazing upgrades) alongside improving performance through LED lighting conversions and introducing zoned heating.

To further empower groups to generate their own clean energy, Action Renewables proposed Solar PV and Battery Energy Storage Systems to allow communities to maximise their onsite consumption, achieve greater energy independence and capture immediate value for their organisation. Elsewhere, communities were supported in their transition towards cleaner heating systems, identifying opportunities for air source and ground source heat pumps.

A total of 710 recommendations were made across the programme as shown in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2: Distribution of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Measures identified by Action Renewables  

 

Evidencing Positive Impact

• Should all of Action Renewables’ recommendations be put into action by each community group, the maximum potential savings through the project equals to £696,757 and a cleaner carbon footprint, saving 1.1 thousand tonnes of CO² saved each year

 

• By helping community groups to reduce their running costs and guiding each group to apply for the maximum amount of capital funding (£50,000) on offer, Action Renewables ensured more funding stayed directly within each community

Figure 3: A series of maps detailing the diverse regional distribution of participating community organisations

 

Leaving a Positive Legacy

As the Sustainable Community Buildings Programme draws to a close, Action Renewables can reflect on gaining significant exposure to the community and voluntary sector, delivering measurable impacts for over 200 organisations right across Northern Ireland.

By moving from the initial energy audit towards a comprehensive Register of Opportunities, the programme has given organisations an evidence base to lead their transition to cleaner, more sustainable future and breathe new life into buildings which deliver critical services within the communities they support.