"Promoting the better use and supply
                  of energy to counter climate change"

What are you trying to achieve?

Here are some possible answers - you may find that several apply to your project:

• Reduce running costs, or make them as low as possible
• Get the building(s) up to a good standard but at the lowest possible cost
• Minimise the environmental impact through the lowest possible CO2 emissions
• Earn revenue from generating renewable electricity (or potentially heat)
• Invest for the long term
• Attain a minimum pre-determined contribution from renewables - such as the 10% level expected under the "Merton Rule", or the 20% in the EU's 20:20:20 targets
• Make a clearly visible "green statement" to our community or user group
• Help create a community spirit, improve social cohesion

Although aimed mainly at single family dwellings, the T-Zero tool can help here as it enables measures to be combined into an overall package, and then ranked under various investment criteria, including payback, net present value, CO2 savings and energy performance certificate ratings.

Do you have funding in place?

Ultimately, most projects are determined by the level of available funding. However it's worth identifying whether you will only have access to capital on once, so should invest now to minimise future costs, or whether you may have the chance to make incremental changes over a number of years through regular capital funding allocations. If you have quite limited access to capital upfront, consider whether you would be willing to put up with higher running or more regular maintenance costs, or if the revenue budget its likely to be similarly constrained.

What level of operational support do you expect to have?

It's important to think about how easy to operate and maintain the installation after the builders have left. Possible answers here include:

• Low, so we are looking for a "fit and forget" type of solution
• Reasonably technical, so we are not frightened of a system that may require a bit of fine-tuning to reach maximum operating efficiency
• There is likely to be a technical person on site most days who can make any necessary operational adjustments
• Plenty of non-technical people, so that keeping boilers fuelled with logs or wood chip, for example, would not be a problem

Be careful about committing to a solution that requires ongoing support from the manufacturer or installer - this may cost more than you expect. And check that the instruction manual is written in English!

Do you know your likely demand pattern?

Examples could include:

• High or regular demand for heat, such as sheltered accommodation or a leisure facility with a swimming pool - and remember that heat may be used for water as well as keeping rooms warm in winter
• Buildings are only used occasionally or intermittently or seasonally
• Buildings are used (or not used) in evenings and weekends
• High electricity demand, perhaps with 24 hour lighting, but relatively low demand for heat
• No year-round demand for heat

What is the arrangement of the property or buildings?

It's best to start with a sketch plan, and to look for opportunities for linking sites. You may find that you have:

• Single building - quite compact (perhaps on several storeys)
• Single building - rambling, built over lots of different periods with a range of existing levels of insulation and methods of heating
• Low density - dispersed over a wide area
• High density, or arranged in a linear pattern, that might be suitable for a heat main (district heating system) that in turn might make a centralised combined heat and power system work well

If the project includes some new buildings, you may be able to use layout and orientation to optimise the potential for renewable energy, without adding to the construction costs at all.

Do you have.?

Now is the time to look at suitability for renewable energy - there is ore information on the specific requirements on other pages on this website. So there might be:

• Plenty of land that might be suitable for trenches for a ground source heat pump
• Convenient access to a substantial body of water (large pond, lake or tidal river) that might act as a water source for heat pumps (or cooling)
• Convenient access to a water course with a rapid flow or significant head (height) that could be used for small-scale hydro power
• Storage space that could be used for biomass (and this could include an unused cellar)
• A source of logs or other timber that could be used for biomass, or space where fuel crops could be grown nearby and a suitable area for it to dry off
• Access to a hilltop or other exposed site that might be suitable for wind power
• A reasonably large roof area that faces between Southeast and Southwest and which is not overshaded by trees or other buildings, that would be ideal for capturing solar energy

Possible constraints on renewable energy

Before you get too excited by the possibilities, you need to look at things that might limit (bit not necessarily close off) your options:

• Are you in a National Park, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or other designated area of high landscape sensitivity?
• Are you working on a listed building, or in a conservation area, or with a building of historic value?
• Is the area sheltered, for example by tall buildings or trees?
• Are you in a smoke control zone?
• Is noise likely to be a particular issue - are there homes nearby?

Some final general words of advice:

• Don't select a technology because you can get a grant for it but not for others; check instead that it's the right technology for your community and won't be a decision you regret later.
• Don't just go for highly visible or "glamorous" technologies. Check that you have also included duller and less visible - but often highly cost-effective - works such as improving energy efficiency by adding insulation or improving air-tightness first.
• Be careful about going for highly innovative or unproven technologies. They may turn out to be excellent, but can you afford to be the guinea pig?
• Make sure your community understands the reasons behind the decision. Avoid installing something because there is a small but vocal support group in its favour, but equally, listen to what the community wants - they are the ones who will have to live with the solution selected!

Once you have a clearer picture of what you expect to get out of your project, it's time to look at the available options by technology:

• Photovoltaics - solar electricity
• Solar Water Heating - hot water
• Ground/Water Source Heat Pump - space/water heating