As an organisation why did you feel compelled to join the Green Deal Dialogue? Why do you feel that collaborative working on this issue is of such importance?
The Green Deal is an extremely ambitious initiative and it is critical that the government gets it right. At VELUX, we are particularly concerned that in the drive towards more energy efficient housing, both new and existing, the needs of the occupants are quite often ignored. We believe that the starting point to any good housing design is to consider the health and well being of the people within.
Have you been impressed with the government's approach to energy efficiency?
The government's approach to energy efficiency is to be commended, but while the initiatives being offered suggest a very pro-active approach to improving the energy efficiency of buildings, not enough is being done to simultaneously encourage people to adopt more energy efficient behaviour. It is appreciated that changing the mind set of your average family is a daunting task, but if people do not change their ways, we will fail to achieve the carbon emission reductions we otherwise could and will certainly fall short of the UK's targets in this area.
What do you believe is the most important reason to make buildings energy efficient?
There is no single important reason for improving the energy efficiency of buildings, as there are many issues that have to be tackled such as CO2 footprints, fuel poverty, fossil fuel depletion, internal comfort levels, to name just a few.
Do you feel enough is being done to promote the cost efficiency of the Green Deal to the business community?
Current communication is focused on the organisations that will be directly associated with the Green Deal such as installers and providers. More attention should be paid to those businesses who may be indirectly involved and certainly local authorities should become more pro-active with its promotion and delivery to ensure scheme take-up.
The value of the Green Deal to local communities in boosting business opportunities and local economies is often highlighted. How important a role will this play?
This will play a very important role, which is why local authorities should be getting more involved at this early stage to promote and assist in the delivery of the initiative and helping to establish a local network from which to support the evaluation, design and installation process.
Has information provision from government on how the Green Deal will function been sufficient?
Information about the Green Deal has been forthcoming with strong support from the industry. However, the systems that are required to ensure it is fair and works smoothly are subject to some questions still. Namely, how SMEs will play a prominent role in the scheme and how issues of energy efficiency will be considered alongside occupant health and wellbeing.
Concerns have been raised that larger organisations will have a bigger slice of the Green Deal market share. Has enough been done to communicate the Green Deal to smaller organisations and to ensure that SMEs can play a prominent part in the Deal?
There have been moves to communicate with SMEs, but it is difficult at this time to ascertain if it has been sufficient, again, due to the questions still being asked.
Will Green Deal providers need to upskill their workforce to meet the necessary fitting provisions and, if so, what support is the government offering?
The government has produced a Code of Practice and Standards for providers. However, beyond basic installation skills the Green Deal workforce should be taught the wider consequence of their actions to ensure that there are no shortcuts or 'heath robinson' solutions provided on site that may also have unintended consequences such as an adverse impact on occupancy health. In this respect, there is no support being offered as far as can be seen.
Does the Green Deal risk becoming too prescriptive? What steps would you recommend taking to ensure greater consumer choice?
The Green Deal presents homeowners with various affordable ways to improve a property's energy efficiency. In this sense the Green Deal is not at risk of becoming too prescriptive but we want to see each property considered on an individual basis. For example, if cavity wall insulation is considered to be the best option for a home, is there also a need to improve the property's ventilation.
Are DECC sufficiently aware of the difference between implementation of the Green Deal on commercial as opposed to residential properties or have they adopted too uniform an approach?
While they appear to be aware of the difference to some extent, whether they are sufficiently aware remains to be seen. We hope that one of the outcomes of this dialogue will be to go some way towards supporting the DECC in clearly defining the differences, or indeed, clarifying the similarities.