2012: An exciting year for the Green Deal

18/01/2012

This is a guest blog by Climate Change Minister Greg Barker courtesy of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Firstly, Happy New Year!

2012 will be a crucial year for the coalition’s flagship policy of transforming the energy efficiency of Britain’s homes – the Green Deal. The DECC webchat before Christmas, events and the hundreds of consultation responses we have received illustrates there is a lot of interest in this policy.

Stakeholders have been crucial in helping shape the policy prior to the consultation. Your expertise and technical knowledge have been invaluable and I know my officials are looking forward to considering your detailed responses once the consultation closes at midnight today, 18 January.

The DECC Green Deal and ECO webchat, available to replay on the DECC website, was a great opportunity for my officials to hear your views. Another fine example of how technology can be used to engage with people was the Green Deal webinar organised by the Great British Refurb as part of the ‘Sustainability Now virtual conference.’ I thoroughly enjoyed answering questions and discussing the issues with Kevin McCloud, Paul King the Chair, Sally Hancox (director of Gentoo Green) and Steven Heath (External Affairs Director in Knauf Insulation). Discussion like these are extremely important to enable us to hear the views of those stakeholders that are not always present at commercial events.

Great British Refurb has an important role in broadening the sector of the British public that is aware of, understands and cares about the issues around home energy refurbishment. Their innovative methods of engaging with the public to encourage them to green their homes is very exciting. For instance, the Great British Refurb film competition is a fantastic opportunity for budding filmmakers to showcase their talents and to explore new ways of engaging the public on energy efficiency in the run up to the Green Deal. I am looking forward to watching the competition entries when I sit on the judging panel.

Developing the Green Deal really is a joint effort. The consultation has been the latest opportunity to contribute and share your detailed views, and I also look forward to continuing stakeholder dialogue over the next few months up to launch.

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