Sustainability pioneers: Ashden Awards 2012 UK winners announced

Five pioneering green-energy initiatives from across the UK were recently honoured with an Ashden Award. The winners, Energy4All, Parity Projects, Student Switch Off (Neil Jennings Associates CIC), and the University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust (UHSM), received their awards from Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud at a prestigious ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society in London.

This year’s overall UK Gold Award winner is the National Trust, which received £20,000 in recognition of the outstanding progress it has made in reducing energy use and CO2 emissions at its Welsh properties, with cuts of 41% achieved in just two years and a commitment to rolling out its work across the rest of its properties.

Ashden Founder-Director Sarah Butler-Sloss said: “The National Trust’s work stood out for its strategic vision, its thorough approach, its expertise, and for getting everyone on board, from cleaners through to senior management. Most impressive of all, it has shown that if huge energy savings can be made in historic listed buildings, they can be made in any building”.

Now in their 12th year, the Ashden Awards champion practical, local energy solutions that cut carbon, protect the environment, boost economies and improve people’s lives in the UK and developing world.

UK Gold Award winner: National Trust

Delivering insulation to Plas Newydd stately home as part of its energy efficiency retrofit

The National Trust has cut energy use across its Welsh properties by a massive 41% over just two years, demonstrating that even the most sensitive buildings can be made much more energy efficient. Secrets of success include a combination of efficiency measures, sustainable heating technologies and a culture change in how energy is managed. As well as cutting down on energy use it has installed renewable sources of energy, including solar PV and hydro power.

To preserve the integrity of sensitive buildings solar pv is situated at ground level

Energy4All

Fens members

Energy4All demonstrates how communities can be inspired to take ownership of sustainable energy. This Cumbria-based company manages 8 co-operatives with 7,690 members, who collectively own the equivalent of over 20 MW of capacity in UK wind farms. In 2011 the wind farms generated over 45 GWh of electricity, saving 19,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Connecting with renewable energy

Parity Projects

Adding external insulation to a solid wall

This dynamic company offers tailor-made advice to home owners and social housing providers on how best to reduce their fuel bills through energy efficiency measures as well as micro renewable energy generation .The team first visits properties to take measurements and find out how clients use their buildings, then inputs the information into its own specialised software which projects costs and savings for different retrofitting options. So far Parity has given advice to over 700 households as well as 17 social housing providers covering more than 240,000 homes, as well as training over 500 people to do retrofitting.

One of Parity’s surveyors measures up for a home energy survey

Student Switch Off (Neil Jennings Associates CIC)

An Eco-Power Ranger

Student Switch Off is harnessing student silliness to take simple steps to save energy, including wrapping up warm, switching off lights and using lids on saucepans, so helping participating UK universities to keep a lid on their fuel costs. Through its inventive use of social media, peer-to-peer engagement and student-focused incentives, this exciting initiative last year helped participating universities cut their electricity consumption by over 7%. Some 43 universities and 18,000 students are involved so far.

Students take photos of energy-saving actions to upload to SSO’s Facebook page

University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust (UHSM)

The hospital’s huge biomass boiler is helping it cut fuel costs and CO2 emissions

By investing money to save energy and winning the hearts and minds of staff, UHSM has achieved cuts of 35% in gas and electricity use over the past five years, this year saving some £390,000 on fuel bills at current energy prices. With new technologies such as biomass boilers, heating system upgrades, new lighting, windows and insulation combined with staff behaviour change, the hospital’s logical approach to retrofit is eminently replicable across the NHS.

An allotment for staff and their children encourages sustainable living