1. Green Deal – Learning Lessons for
2012
Matt Roberts – Salix Homes

2. Background to Salix Homes
• ALMO (Arms Length Management Company)
responsible for 10,500 properties in central Salford
• Over a third solid wall / system build
• 25% fuel poverty
• Asked to be part of the process ‘Trailblazing’
The Green Deal.
• Is there a role for Housing Providers?

3. Approach to retrofit
 Retrofit measures
 Measuring change
 Social return on
Investment

4. Testing the Key Areas of the
Green Deal
• Marketing and Engagement
• Assessment and Advice
• Installation
• Payback

5. The benefits of External Wall
Insulation
 Reduced bills
 Improved appearance
 Increased comfort

6. Or dis-benefits
“It is of our opinion that as a result of this
work, our properties have been de-valued by
at least £20,000 each, therefore it is our
intention to seek legal advice on the
possibility of suing the council for £20,000
per household as compensation”.

7. Marketing and Engagement
Changed Supplier in Last 5 Years
• Need to overcome natural inertia
• Need to change behaviour and energy use
• Recognise benefits (or disbenefits)
28%
Yes
No
72%

8. But maybe…..
Before After

9. Marketing and Engagement
• Reduce the hassle
• Mixed approach

10. Mixed approach
• Face to face
• Internet
• Social Media
• Leaflets /
Newsletters
• Social networks /
community groups

11. • There is a tendency for people to adopt
the opinions, judgements and behaviour
of others
 For example, people are more likely to install an
energy efficiency measures if one of their family or
peers have done so.
 Recent research suggests that engaging individuals
as members of a community, rather than only as
consumers of energy, is an important strategy for
changing energy-related behaviours

12. Assessment
• Qualified assessors
– what ever that is?
• Know the properties
– public and private
• Experience of retrofit
• Independent
• Serious about
behaviour change

13. Gas Consumption
Electricity Consumption

14. Installers
• Frameworks delivering retrofit
• Experience of working in peoples’ homes
• Success in achieving training and
apprenticeships
• Mechanisms for performance monitoring
• Quality assurance / management – PAS
2030
• What about SMEs

15. There is an appetite!
Would you be prepared to pay towards energy
efficiency measures if you made a bigger saving as a
result?
13%
Yes
No
26% Blank
61%

16. Pay Back – The Pitch!
• No immediate upfront costs and long-
term benefits.
• By deferring the costs of installation, the
Green Deal is designed to make the
uptake of these measures more
appealing to individuals.

17. Word of warning – Green Deal
must address the fuel poor
There is a risk that the Green Deal could in fact make
fuel poverty worse unless:
• There is an accurate assessment of a home, its
There is a role for
occupants and their behaviour in order to make the
correct diagnosis and the economics of paying for
them.
Housing Providers
• We recognise that different customers need different
approaches.
• We build trust in Green Deal among the fuel-poor, and
overcome the mistrust that many people on low
incomes feel towards official initiatives.