What We Do

The National Energy Foundation is an independent charity, based at Milton Keynes carrying out work throughout  the UK. We undertake this through the following activities:

• Undertaking Projects, where it adds value in collaboration with other organisations
• Providing Capacity Building Programmes and infrastructure support, especially in the areas of Energy Certification and Standards
• Offering Information and Advice

Projects

Under our Services section we summarise some of the key areas of work NEF undertakes for our customers in the private, public and civil sectors. 
We also recognise that many of the best solutions to reducing carbon emissions can be achieved by working with other bodies to provide integrated solutions, using energy efficiency and renewables, supported by education and information campaigns. Among the activities that the Foundation is carrying out in this field are:

• Through our subsidiary company, Energy Efficiency Partnership for Buildings (EEPB), supporting an impartial membership organisation which facilitates closer working between business, government and community organisations on all aspects of energy efficiency in buildings;
• Working with Communities, helping set up resident engagement schemes and improving the energy performance of community buildings;
• SuperHomes, in partnership with the Sustainable Energy Academy, designed to demonstrate how to transform the energy efficiency of the existing housing stock by 60%, including working in solid-walled homes;
• Participation in the cRRescendo project, which will lead to several hundred ultra-low energy homes in Milton Keynes;
• Participation in WINforRES, a pan-European platform providing advice for consumers wishing to install building-integrated renewable energy systems.

We are always interested in working in new partnerships at a local, national or European level, providing that they meet our primary aim of improving the use of energy in buildings. Our expertise is centred around energy efficiency in buildings, small-scale integrated renewable energy, development of robust certification and standards and encouraging behavioural change. We do not receive core funding, so expect projects to be financially self-sustaining, as well as cost-effective in terms of carbon reductions.
If you have a proposal that you would like to talk to us about, please call us on +44(0)1908 665555, or send an e-mail to us.

Capacity Building Programmes

The Foundation's very first programme, in 1990, was to take a locally developed way of assessing the energy efficiency of new homes (the Milton Keynes Energy Cost Index) and extend to it provide national coverage for all types of home, new or existing - the National Home Energy Rating. Since them we have continued to provide support for energy labelling and certification schemes, as well as helping what was when we started a fledgling renewable energy sector become part of the mainstream and develop high standards through providing support for Trade Associations. Our current involvement in these activities includes:

• Operating certain functions of the Carbon Trust Standard on behalf of the Carbon Trust. Formerly the Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme, the Carbon Trust Standard certifies organisations that have genuinely reduced their carbon footprint and committed to further reductions year on year. The Carbon Trust Standard is open to all organisations in industry, commerce and the public sector;
• Supporting the Green Energy Supply Certification Scheme and the Ground Source Heat Pump Association through provision of secretariat services;
• Working with the Community Energy Practitioners' Forum a UK-wide network of NGOs in the field of energy & climate change, and the national network of community social enterprises  Local United.
• Helping develop international energy management standards, for example through our work in the UK Sector Forum for Energy Management (BSi), the CEN Joint Working Groups on Energy Efficiency Calculations and Savings and on Energy Efficiency Benchmarking, the ISO Technical Committee TC-257 on Energy Savings and the ASEAN Energy Managers Accreditation Scheme (AEMAS - PDF summary of the Phase I project);

Information and Advice

As a charity dedicated to improving the use of energy in buildings, we are keen to offer as much information as we can freely to the public and organisations. We do this through web-based services, including information pages and interactive calculators, as well as through paid-for advice, including technical sercies and training courses. Our main focus is on:

• Provision of free information and advice for UK residents through this website;
• Web-based support and advice for organisations including a simple carbon calculator that can be used for monitoring, targetting and reporting CO2 emissions;
• Services for the public and private sectors;
• Undertaking Research into the more sustainable use and production of energy, and into public attitudes towards climate change;
• A programme of training and renewable energy seminars, that can be delivered at either the National Energy Centre in Milton Keynes or in your office.