My Green Deal Journey - part 2

The Green Deal Occupancy Assessment and recommendations

The assessor explained that where at least 1 SAP point can be increased, an intervention comes up as an eligible Green Deal measure. 

The Occupancy assessment shows that we are below average users and that we would save less compared to ‘typical user’. One of the measures that comes up is fitting “low-energy lights to all fixed outlets”, (though not one of the Green Deal plans you can borrow for), which is deceptive in our case: we bought the house with halogen fitted lights in bathroom and kitchen; but like most fixed lights (I hate overhead lighting + they tend to be over-designed so I feel I am sitting in an abatoir!) we do not use them, and the original halogen lightbulbs have never had to be replaced. So not really an applicable measure for us. 

I was however reassured by the top 3 measures (see below image) recommended by the Green Deal: solid wall insulation and floor insulation, followed by a room thermostat, of which only solid wall insulation may be fully eligible for Green Deal finance (green tick). The other measures (orange ticks) would required (partial) up-front finance; as would the active measures further down the list: solar water heating and PV’s. 

While the passive measures were obvious to me and reassuring that they were prioritised by the Green deal, I do have some concerns: 

• No mention of the assumed U-value that the wall should be insulated to, to achieve the assumed yearly energy saving of ‘typical £139 per year’ as stated in the EPC.  The Assessor has since confirmed via email that the assumptions used are upgrades to Part L 2010 U-values of 0.30 W/m2K. Will this mean that with the next Part L changes, the EPC assumptions change? It is also unclear whether there is the opportunity to increase this level of insulation and how this will work in the financing model. If this is considered as 'extra', it would need 100% upfront finance, which is a rather odd disincentive to maximise fabric efficiency, particularly given that the applied Part L U-values will be outdated by the end of this year.
• Confusingly, on the accompanying occupancy assessment it says that ‘typical repayments' would be £108 per year; reducing savings to £94 for us due to being a lower energy user. But why this disparity between EPC and Occupancy Assessment? This appears to be due to the Green Deal 'in-use factor', which the assessor made no mention of to me. A 25% reduction is supposed to be applied to solid wall insulation and 15% to floor-insulation (more in this pdf here), though the figures do not entirely add up. You can see why this is likely to confuse occupants, and that the EPC should also apply these reduction factors, not just in the Occupancy Assessment to avoid such confusion.
• The suggested installation cost of £800-£1200 for floor insulation also seems to be about 50% too low from what I have heard from others. 

With regards to the solar panel recommendations I also have other concerns: 

• while it is good to see that these would require (partial) up-front finance and that energy-efficiency is prioritised; it appears that the EPC/occupancy assessment does not allow for something as basic as: “does your property you have the right roof orientation for solar panels?” (Which we don’t - we face East-West). Excluding this means that occupants may be mislead (or later on, mis-sold?) eco-bolt ons,… In our case, solar panels would not be suitable; and for solar hot water heating would require substantial re-plumbing of our heating and hot water system, though the assessor flagged up this latter point. FIT and RHI are excluded in the projected savings with these measures.

The assessor did make it clear that any special or decorative finishes would be 'extra' and would have to be paid for (upfront) through other means - though what is included as a ‘basic’ finish is ofcourse open to interpretation, and it will be crucial that the installer and provider discuss this with occupants at later stages.

You can view the Occupancy Asessment below + download it here.