The West London Alliance (WLA) commissioned built environment scientists at BRE to identify energy saving opportunities in six west London boroughs – Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hammersmith & Fulham, and Hounslow.
The study found that energy use reductions of between 5% and 25% could be made through improvements to the councils’ properties. Further savings could be made by making operational efficiencies and encouraging energy saving behaviours.
“The financial benefits of these savings could be very significant,” said BRE sustainability consultant Charlene Clear, “as the six WLA boroughs spend an estimated total of £27m a year on energy use and carbon taxes. These costs are predicted to rise by 37% [to £37m] by 2022, as a result of fuel price increases.”
BRE investigated the policy drivers, financial incentives and possible actions that would help the six boroughs to drive efficiencies through collaborative energy reduction and management.
The project found 17 areas where energy consumption could be reduced and 55 potential actions. Two initial projects are being developed as a result:
- maximising opportunities for improving the energy efficiency of properties through retrofit projects
- developing key performance indicators (KPIs) for energy use across the six boroughs.
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