Action 1: Install low energy light bulbs.
Identify the rooms in your community building (wherever your group, club or society meets), that use most energy and install low energy light bulbs in them. Begin replacing the other inefficient bulbs with low energy ones when they expire.
Benefit: Energy efficient light bulbs last 12 times longer (up to 8 years!) and each can save you up to £10 a year. Community groups and clubs can save £100s a year this way.
Information: See what energy efficient bulbs are available at your local DIY store.
Action 2: Appoint an energy ‘champion’.
Appoint an energy champion in your group, club or society to remind people who use the building to turn off lights when rooms are not being used and switch off any computers, printers, kettles and photocopiers. Leaving equipment on standby still uses about two thirds of the energy it uses when turned on!
Benefit: Britons waste the equivalent of two power stations worth of electricity each year by leaving gadgets on standby. Gadgets left on standby or left on charge squander over £740 million worth of energy and result in over four million tonnes of excess carbon dioxide each year. This makes a significant contribution to climate change.
Information: Find your local energy advice centre and ask them for energy saving ideas and features for your community group. Find your local energy advice centre.
Action 3: Hold an awareness session.
Hold an energy awareness meeting, quiz or fun-day and invite wider members of your group/club plus friends and families. Invite a speaker from your local energy advice centre or your local council's energy team to come and talk to your group about what more can be done.
Benefit: If everyone boiled only the water they needed to make a cup of tea instead of filling the kettle every time, we could save enough electricity to run practically all the street lighting in the country.
Our pollution from using energy is changing our climate. The ten warmest years on record have all been since 1990. 1995 saw the hottest days in 225 years of daily measurements!
Information: Find your local energy advice centre and ask them for energy saving ideas and features for your community group. Find your local energy advice centre.
Contact your local council’s energy officer. Find your council.
Your local council's energy efficiency officer or your building's energy supplier might be able to help with energy efficiency posters or freebies.
Action 4: Discuss alternative energy options for your community building.
Create a special display, poster or newsletter for your members to tell everyone about the exciting ways you could make your own free energy by installing a solar panel or mini wind turbine on the roof of your community building or meeting place.
Benefit: Installing a solar electricity panel on the roof will save eight tonnes of carbon dioxide pollution over its lifetime. That’s enough to fill 48 double-decker buses!
Information: Solar panels or mini wind turbines provide you with free energy once they are paid for and could even raise money for your group or club by selling spare energy to energy companies.
Remember you need to ask permission from whoever owns your community building or meeting place.
For information about grants for solar panels, mini wind turbines and other green energy equipment, look up the Low Carbon Buildings Programme.
Find out more about green energy equipment for your building, from the Energy Saving Trust.
Action 5: Turn hot water thermostats down.
Check that thermostats for hot water in your community building or meeting place are turned down to a comfortable temperature.
Benefit: The Health and Safety Executive recommend that buildings used by children and vulnerable people should heat water for hand washing to a temperature of 41º. So as well as saving money this action is also a safety consideration.
Information: Find your local energy advice centre and ask them for energy saving ideas and features for your community group. Find your local energy advice centre.
Action 6: Turn heating thermostats down.
Check that thermostats for heating your community building or meeting place are sited out of draughts, are away from either hot or cold spots and turned down to below 21º.
Benefit: Turning a thermostat down by 1º could save you up to 6% on your community building’s heating bills.
Information: Find your local energy advice centre and ask them for energy saving ideas and features for your community group. Find your local energy advice centre.
Action 7: Keep radiators clear.
Keep radiators in your community building or meeting place clear - don't block them with furniture.
Benefit: Blocking radiators will reduce efficiency and increase your heating bills.
Information: Find your local energy advice centre and ask them for energy saving ideas and features for your community group. Find your local energy advice centre.
Action 8: Put reflective panels behind radiators.
Put reflective panels behind the radiators which are on outside walls — this will reduce heat loss.
Benefit: The cost of fitting reflective foil behind radiators will pay for itself in a year.
Information: See what is available at your local DIY store
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Action 9: Insulating your hot water tank
Put an insulating jacket around the hot water tank in your community building.
Benefit: Fitting a thick hot water tank jacket can cut heat loss by up to 75% from your hot water tank. An insulating jacket will pay for itself in a year and will save you money!
Information: Insulating jackets for hot water tanks are available from most DIY stores.
If you already have a jacket which is less than 75mm thick, fit another one around it or replace it completely.
Action 10: Eliminate draughts
If your community building or meeting place has extremely draughty and poorly fitted single glazed windows or doors draught proof them with insulation strips. (If you have an open fire, gas fire or boiler with a flue in the room you need to keep ventilation open so get expert advice first.)
Benefit: This is a inexpensive way to reduce the energy bills of your community building / meeting place.
Information:
* See what is available at your local DIY store.
* Find out more at the Energy Saving Trust's website.
* The Draught Proofing Association can help you find a trained installer.
Action 11: Install secondary double-glazing.
If your community building or meeting place has extremely draughty and poorly fitted single glazed windows and your community group, club or society can afford it, install light weight secondary double-glazing.
Benefit: Secondary double-glazing is cheaper to install than replacement windows and still helps save energy.
Information: You will need permission from whoever owns your community building or meeting place.
Your local DIY stores should have secondary glazing kits. Secondary glazing is generally cheaper than fitting replacement windows. You can buy DIY kits with either aluminium or plastic frames fitted with draught proofing strips. You can choose hinged or sliding panes, which are easy to open, close and clean.
Find your local energy advice centre and ask them for energy saving ideas and features for your community group. Find your local energy advice centre.
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Action 12: Make your own free, clean and green energy.
Make your own free electricity and hot water by installing green energy equipment such as a solar panel or a mini wind turbine on your community building / meeting place. Grants are available from the Low Carbon Buildings Programme or you could hold a special fund-raising event.
Benefit: Installing a roof-top mini wind turbine will save around one tonne of carbon dioxide pollution per year or 20 tonnes over its lifetime. That's enough to fill 120 double decker buses!
Information: Solar panels or mini wind turbines provide you with free energy once they are paid for and could even raise money for your group or club by selling spare energy to energy companies.
Remember you need to ask permission from whoever owns your community building or meeting place.
For information about solar panels, mini wind turbines and grants for these and other green energy equipment, look up the Low Carbon Buildings Programme.
Why not have a raffle or sponsored event to raise money for your group or club's very own solar panel or mini wind turbine?
Action 13: Work out how much CO2 your building produces.
Use your community building's gas and electricity bills to work out how much carbon dioxide pollution your community building or meeting place is producing and set a target to reduce your energy bills! It's easy to do.
Benefit: Carbon dioxide pollution causes climate change. Every unit or kilowatt hour (kwh) of electricity on your community building's bill produces 430 grammes of carbon dioxide pollution. That's enough to fill 43 party balloons!
Information: Just look up your energy bills for the last quarter or the last year and get yourself a calculator.
Multiply the total number of units (or kwhs) of electricity used by 430. The answer will tell you the total number of grammes of carbon dioxide pollution. Divide the answer by 1,000,000 to get the number of tonnes of carbon dioxide.
For gas, multiply the total number of gas units used (or kwhs) by 190. This will tell you the total number of grammes of carbon dioxide pollution. Divide the answer by 1,000,000 to get the number of tonnes of carbon dioxide.
What do your results mean?
Every tonne (1 million grammes) of carbon dioxide can fill six double decker buses or one hot air balloon measuring 10 metres wide!
Report back the results to your group or club.
Action 14: Soak up and balance out your building's CO2.
Decide as a group, club or society to buy energy saving equipment which can soak up or just balance out the same amount of carbon dioxide pollution caused by your community building's use of electricity or gas (if your building is not already on a green energy tariff)
Benefit: Some figures suggest that planting 15 small tree saplings will soak up 1 tonne of carbon dioxide as they grow over their lifetime (100 years). That makes up for enough carbon dioxide pollution to fill six double decker buses.
Information: Don't forget, saving energy in the first place is better than soaking up or balancing out the carbon dioxide pollution which has already been made.
Make up for your energy bill's carbon dioxide pollution with these green items:
* Swapping a normal 100 watt light bulb with a 20 watt energy saving light bulb will save around 270 grammes of carbon dioxide over its lifetime (8 years) but will produce the same amount of light.
* Some figures suggest that planting 15 small tree saplings locally will soak up 1 tonne of carbon dioxide as they grow over their lifetime (100 years). It could also make your area cleaner and greener.
* Installing a solar electricity panel on your roof will save 8 tonnes (8,000,000 grammes) of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.
* Installing a roof-top mini wind turbine will save around 1 tonne (1,000,000 grammes) of carbon dioxide per year or 20 tonnes over its lifetime.
For information about solar panels, mini wind turbines and grants for these and other green energy equipment, look up the Low Carbon Buildings Programme.
You can find energy saving light bulbs at your local DIY store.
Find native tree saplings at your local garden centre or go to Tree Appeal to buy trees which are planted elsewhere on your group or club’s behalf.
by:www.everyactioncounts.org.uk
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