Introduction
When Greener Kemnay was set up in 2013, one of its purposes was to promote sustainable energy and development. Over the last three years events such as the pandemic, severe weather which caused long lasting blackouts in Kemnay and the surrounding areas, and the current war in Ukraine, have all indicated the need for a greater resilience in power generation and transmission, but also have identified deficiencies in homes generally. In addition, the war has caused a considerable increase in the cost of energy to householders.
The Issues
The severe weather blackouts resulted in homes being unable to be heated to an acceptable temperature. Some homes fared better than others in this respect. It would seem that this is due to varying standards of insulation in our houses, which leads to a need for householders to investigate their insulation with a view to improving it.
This is not a straightforward task for householders to undertake. Our area of North-East Scotland, in common with the UK generally, has houses of various types and ages raging from granite farmhouses of 300 years of age, to other granite village houses of 150 years through to the modern constructions of very recent years. Some of these have a lot of insulation, the older ones tend to have very little.
To identify the existence of insulation, its quality and amount requires a proper survey to be undertaken using equipment that the average householder will not have. The existence of cold spots, leaks causing draughts, the quality and type of insulation installed must all be looked at so that a proper plan for insulation improvements can be created. Ideally it is only then that alternative sources of energy such as solar and heat pumps can be reliably examined and considered for installation.
What has Greener Kemnay done to help solve this problem?
On 11th May 2022 we held a community meeting to discuss Kemnay resident’s concerns regarding energy, it’s provision and resilience. From this we learnt that that the condition of homes was the primary focus along with trust of information and lack of local contractors specialising in renovation to improve energy efficiency.
On 21st June 2022 we established an Energy Group. Our first task was to identify how many homes we have in Kemnay, and of what types. We decided to cover the same area as that of the Kemnay Community Council, and identified that there are 2,250 homes in this area. Volunteers from the Energy Group then devised a basic questionnaire to identify some key characteristics, namely:
Address and post code
Approximate build date
House type
number of floors
Roof type
Roof material
External facing material
Approximate orientation and shading
This survey work is ongoing, but is confirming that there are a number of different types of properties which will all require specific insulation solutions.
Recognising that we do not have the necessary skills and equipment need to undertake the actual survey work, we are seeking grant funding from various sources within Scotland. Our first grant claim from the first round of the Just Transition Fund was unsuccessful. Our second application was to the Just Transition Green Participatory Budgeting Fund and was successful, we received £11,259. This enabled us to purchase a number of items of equipment that can be used for survey work. However, this fund was for equipment only, and so we are now seeking funding for training in the use of this equipment.
We held an Open Day on the 11th March 2023 at which we exhibited the equipment, and looked for volunteers from the local community to be trained in it’s use, along with households to be surveyed. A small number of volunteer households were registered, but unfortunately no survey volunteers came forward. Although invited to attend, no local contractors showed much interest in getting involved in this survey work.
At the Birley Bush Open Event on 13 May 2023 we again asked for volunteers. We added to the number of volunteer properties, but only one person expressed interest in the survey work.
At the same time, we made contact with a local ‘not for profit’ organisation – NESFIT (North East Scotland Retrofit), which is based in Daviot (Aberdeenshire). NESFIT is newly formed, is very receptive to working with us on the survey work, and is also assisting with the training of surveyors in this work.