Good practice

Examples of good practice in energy planning and management exist in the UK and around the world. This page is a brief introduction to what is already being achieved.

Reduce energy demand

Kirklees Council

Kirklees Council, is the first local authority in the UK to offer free loft and cavity wall insulation to every home suitable for its installation.

Lyng Estate, Sandwell

The 1960s Lyng Estate in Sandwell contains a number of tower blocks that have now been refurbished to enhanced their overall environmental performance. This included external insulation and improved daylighting.

Heelis Building

The National Trust’s Heelis Building has used solar technology to steer the design of the overall building.

Jubilee Library, Brighton

The Jubilee Library in Brighton is an example of how external and internal features can be designed to reduce the potential for overheating.

Uttlesford District Council

Uttlesford District Council uses its planning powers to require that energy efficiency is addressed as part of renovations to homes.

Develop a low carbon and renewable energy portfolio

Devon County Council

Renewable Energy for Devon (RE4D) provides advice and grants for renewable energy, securing over £1 million worth of grants in the past two years.

London Climate Change Agency

The London Climate Change Agency set up the London energy services company to develop decentralised energy systems, targeting low carbon sources to achieve CO2 emission reductions.

Copenhagen

Copenhagen has a strategy to reduce energy consumption and reliance on oil. It has a network of efficient district heating systems and has become a world leader in wind power.

Klaus Bondam, Copenhagen’s mayor of environmental administration is leading the city’s drive to become provide the world’s best urban environment by 2015. Read how.

Westway Beacons

The Westway Beacons project is the first example in the UK of Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) for space heating and comfort cooling. The development of 126 social rented homes benefits from active cooling to combat increasing summertime temperatures as part of a low carbon, low-cost approach.

Federation Square, Melbourne

A ‘labyrinth’ system positioned beneath Federation Square in Melbourne provides a cooling system for surrounding buildings.

Woking Energy Station

Woking Energy Station is believed to be the first commercially operating combined heat and power plant its kind in the UK.

Transport for London

Transport for London plans to have ten buses powered by fuel cells by 2010.

Hammarby Sjostad

The delivery of Hammarby Sjostad’s community energy system was driven by a wider town planning and masterplanning level, initiated and led by the local planning authority.

Westmill Wind Farm, Oxfordshire

Westmill Wind Farm in Watchfield, Oxfordshire illustrates the framework and structure that could be applied to delivering wind power in more urban settings.

Woking Borough Council

Woking Borough Council provides an example of the potential for local authority leadership in the community ownership of energy and environmental services.

Solar collectors, Barcelona

Barcelona introduced the compulsory installation of solar collectors and the use of solar energy for the production of hot water for household and office use in new and remodelled buildings.

Ladygrove, Telford

Ladygrove primary school in Telford installed a wind turbine that meets 15 per cent of the total school’s electrical needs.