‘Climate change – what’s that got

to do with us?’

Final Report for the Climate

Challenge Fund

May 2016

Introduction

Greener Kirkcaldy is a community-led charity. We tackle climate change and fuel poverty, and

encourage people in our town to ‘go greener’. We do that by carrying out practical projects on

energy, food, transport and waste, and by engaging with the community on environmental issues.

We delivered the Climate change – what’s that got to do with us project over the period April 2015

to March 2016.

The project was delivered throughout Kirkcaldy district. It was a broad community engagement

project to raise awareness of climate change and the connection to our homes and behaviours;

increase skills and confidence around energy use; encourage home renewable energy installations

and greener transport options; and significantly reduce the energy carbon footprint of 400

households. The project was funded by the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund, and

supported by a network of local volunteers and community partners.

This report sets out the outcomes of the project, and the learning that we gained from it. It was

prepared by the project staff team, with input from project participants and volunteers.

For more information about Greener Kirkcaldy please visit our website

www.greenerkirkcaldy.org.uk. We are happy to share our learning and experience with other

community organisations taking action on climate change or fuel poverty. The key contact for this

project is our Community Engagement Team Leader, Geraldine O’Riordan, who can be contacted

on geraldine@greenerkirkcaldy.org.uk.

Background to the project

We developed the ideas for this project based on the results and outcomes from our previous

project, Kirkcaldy goes greener!, which ran from April 2012 to March 2015. Kirkcaldy goes greener!

helped 400 households in Kirkcaldy to better understand their energy use, make their homes more

energy efficient, and embed energy saving behaviours. During that project, we received many

requests for energy advice from people and organisations in other nearby villages and towns and

we wanted to be able to help. Many of these requests were from households experiencing fuel

poverty, and from organisations, including our Local Authority and Housing Associations, working

with people in hardship.

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We also learned from the Kirkcaldy goes greener! project that more people wanted to reduce their

carbon footprint, and that we can continue to increase our reach to other communities to raise

awareness of climate change.

The Climate change – what’s that got to do with us? project aimed to significantly reduce the carbon

footprint of participants through energy efficiency, home renewable energy, fuel efficiency and

various events that encouraged and inspired our community to do more. The project also aimed to

build on our community engagement, volunteer development and developing knowledge and

understanding to increase understanding of climate change. We used a ‘values’ based approach to

our community engagement.

The objectives of the ‘Climate Change – what’s that got to do with us’ project were to

Reduce the community’s carbon footprint by 5,015 tCO2e, through

o Reduced home energy use for 400 households

o Energy monitor loans to 150 households

o Home Renewable technologies (target: 40 installations)

o Fuel-efficient driver training for 80 people

Help 100 households out of fuel poverty

80% of participants will gain skills and confidence to take more control of their energy use

and bills

12 new volunteers will gain skills and confidence while helping their communities

80% of participants will feel better informed or more optimistic about tackling climate change

Climate change – what’s that got to do with us? worked throughout the ‘Kirkcaldy district’

community, including those nearby villages, small towns and rural areas which consider Kirkcaldy to

be their ‘market town’.

Headline achievements

The project helped us make a step-change in the breadth and depth of our engagement with the

community. We reduced the community’s carbon footprint by achieving savings of 5,024 tCO2e.

Our key achievements were:

400 households have learned how to reduce their home energy use

108 energy monitors were loaned out to participants

28 households have installed home renewable energy systems

58 people have taken part in fuel-efficient driver training

100 households have been helped out of fuel poverty

931 participants in workshops, events and activities.

We recruited 14 Climate Change Champions

We held 27 training sessions

We delivered 20 public events

89% of participants feel more confident to manage their home energy use

80% of participants surveyed said they felt more optimistic about climate change

We evaluated the impact of our advice, courses and workshops using surveys, case studies and

primary data collected from participants; and we are confident that those activities have led to

lasting changes. Our evaluation is described below in “Project outcomes”.

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Our project volunteers gained skills and confidence, and contributed greatly to the success of the

project. We thank them for their time, ideas and enthusiasm.

Project activities

The Climate Change – what’s that got to do with us? project was a key part of Greener Kirkcaldy’s

programme for April 2015 to March 2016. It ran alongside other projects which focused on different

target audiences, or different topics and behaviours.

The core of the project has been reducing the carbon footprint of participants through practical help,

events and activities, and raising awareness of climate change.

This section of the report gives an overview of the activities that took place within this project. More

information can be found in the monthly progress reports we submitted to the Climate Challenge

Fund during the course of the project.

Our engagement approach

The project was governed by our Community Engagement Plan which sets out how we approach

our work with the community. Our Community Engagement Plan 2015 states that:

Engaging with the community is the first step for us to raise awareness, or to support people

to change behaviours. Our aim to build community spirit - to go greener together – requires

us to approach our community engagement in an inclusive and empowering way. When

engaging with the public we

• Are friendly, helpful, positive and welcoming to all

• Don’t tell or lecture – we listen as well as give advice

• Share learning and encourage our members and volunteers to do so too

• Are open about the values we hold and why our work is important i.e. we

focus on the environmental and social benefits of the work we do

• Act in ways consistent with our values - ‘walk the walk’

Energy efficiency, home renewable energy and fuel efficiency

The project worked with householders to make substantial carbon savings. It did that through giving

advice on home energy efficiency, running a campaign to promote home renewable energy, and a

programme of fuel-efficient driver training.

Home energy efficiency advice

We made home energy advice visits to 400 households. These visits provided tailored advice and

support for households to help them save energy, money and carbon. Many of the properties we

visited were hard to heat. Our support helped to improve residents’ thermal comfort, as well as

reducing energy costs. In addition, targeted neighbourhoods included some areas with high levels

of fuel poverty, so we helped participants to access suitable energy tariffs, and to maximize their

household income, in addition to improving energy efficiency.

We gave talks to local community organisations for example HomeStart Fife and Fife Gingerbread;

community groups such as Templehall Church Ladies Guild and Support in Mind; attended gala

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days and community events; and held public events for people to learn more about saving energy in

the home.

The visits were delivered by our team of Energy Advisors, who are all qualified in City & Guilds

Energy Awareness. For each participant, the advisor made an initial assessment, asking a series of

questions about the home and the household’s needs, concerns and motivations, then gave advice

which included:

Options for physical improvements to the home: insulation, draught-proofing, new heating systems or controls and home renewable technologies

Assisting with accessing statutory schemes such as the Warmer Homes Scotland Scheme

Advocacy for tenants, to help them access home energy-efficiency improvements

Referrals to the Greener Kirkcaldy ‘handy’ service for simple energy-efficiency measures

Help to improve understanding of energy bills, meters and tariffs, heating and hot water systems and heating controls

Encouraging the best use of heating, lighting and appliances

Giving simple, low-cost tips to save energy

Sign-posting to our partner Citrus Energy for impartial switching advice

Giving advice on fuel debt and entitlements such as the Warm Homes Discount

Sign-posting to Citizen’s Advice & Rights Fife for checks to maximise household income and other relevant agencies

Giving loans of energy monitors to help households understand their electricity usage

Giving out advice materials and leaflets relevant to their home and circumstances

Advice on any other household energy issues as required

Depending on the complexity of the issues, our advice was sometimes delivered over more than

one home visit.

We recorded all home energy advice visits, including:

• Householder contact details

• Baseline energy usage and/or costs, when available

• A record of what advice was given, and of what changes we expect the household to make

All participants were given a follow-up phone call, a few months after the initial visit, to embed the

changes and offer any additional support needed. When this call was made, we updated our

records to note what advice was taken – for example, whether the advice we gave to get loft

insulation topped up was acted upon. We were able to contact the majority of participants in this

way.

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Some case studies illustrating the impact of these advice visits are given in Appendix 1.

Energy monitor loans

Our target for loaning energy monitors to participants was 150. This was partially achieved with 108

energy monitors being loaned out.

We offered participants the opportunity to take an energy monitor out on loan for a month during the

project. The majority of our participants, who agreed to the loan, used them to discover how using

different appliances affected their energy bills and how this information could help reduce their

electricity consumption. The monitors also showed a real-time estimate of the amount of electricity

used, or the cost of electricity used, on an hourly and daily basis.

Home renewable energy

We carried out a campaign to promote renewable energy systems to homeowners. We did this in

partnership with Home Energy Scotland (HES). We ran a series of events and promotional activities

to encourage people to consider solar photovoltaic or solar panels, and biomass fuel systems for

their home.

Greener Kirkcaldy’s role was to recruit participants, and to provide any follow-up support where

appropriate. Home Energy Scotland’s involvement was to provide expert technical knowledge and

home surveys, plus advice to access finance to help fund installations.

We promoted the campaign through dedicated information events, informal drop-in sessions and via

posters, social media and our newsletter.

Our target was 40 installations. This was partially delivered, with 45 home surveys carried out by

HES and 28 participants installing home renewable energy systems: mainly solar photovoltaic

panels.

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Home Renewables Information Evening Aberdour August 2015

Fuel efficient driver training

The training was delivered in partnership with the Energy Saving Trust, and a local driving

instructor. Participants take a 50-minute lesson, driving the same route twice, once before training

and again after training.

Each driver’s fuel-efficiency was recorded both ‘before’ and ‘after’ the training. This data was

processed by the Energy Saving Trust, who carried out a calculation of the carbon and financial

savings for each driver, based on their actual improvements in fuel-efficiency on the day and the

driver’s stated annual mileage. Our participants showed an average improvement of 15% after the

training. Many people were surprised at the savings and at what they learned. The training was

popular and successful.

Typical feedback on the session included

• “It was a great session and I found it very useful. I think all drivers should go on this - especially when learning”

• “Enjoyable, picked up some great tips” • “It was very useful and I am putting it into practice. The tuition was very clear and well

taught” • “Well explained session that was clear to follow and quick to show benefits” • “I thought the instructor was very good and his explanations clear”

We promoted the training in many different ways, including posters, social media, our newsletter

and face to face at community events and in our High Street Hub. We also borrowed a training

simulator from Home Energy Scotland and ran an event in a local shopping centre to help generate

interest in taking the training.

Our target for fuel efficient driver training participants was 80. We delivered fuel-efficient driver

training for 58 participants.

Carbon saving events

We delivered 5 ‘Grow Your Own’ workshops to 58 local people. The programme was aimed at

beginner gardeners to help them learn the skills they need to grow their own fruit and vegetables in

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pots, balcony or garden. These workshops took place at our training allotment at Ravenscraig

Walled Garden. Topics covered included: ‘Getting started’; Feeding and watering’; and Preparing for

winter and pruning’.

Some people attended all or most of the workshops; others chose to dip in to specific parts of the

programme. Overall, we had a consistently high attendance at these workshops including a core

group keen to get growing. We carried out feedback surveys shortly after each workshop using an

online survey; the majority of people said that the workshop was “interesting”, “useful” and

“enjoyable”. Our aim was to encourage people to start to grow their own food, or to grow more. We

carried out a follow-up survey, several months later, to find out if the workshops had led to any

changes. That survey told us that 43% of respondents had started to grow their own food, 29%

were growing a lot more, and 15% were equally growing a little or trying out different methods and

techniques in their growing spaces.

Compost workshop July 2015 Sowing and Planting June 2015

I addition, 84% were more confident with planning what to grow; 75% were more confident in

looking after plants; and 87% were confident that they would grow what they could eat.

“Found the workshop to be interesting, informative and enjoyable and has certainly

encouraged me to grow more and with a bit more confidence.”

“Mags gave a good explanation of why we should buy peat-free compost. She also showed

us upcycled growing pots and trays made from plastic waste - a great idea!”

“Great idea to have these events I think, exactly what I needed, a hands on approach to

learning how to grow my own vegetables/herbs.”

Public information events

We held 5 public information events attended by 77 participants. These events focussed on specific topics to inform and inspire our local community to make carbon savings through renewable home energy, electric vehicles and energy efficiency. We ran 3 home renewable events in Kirkcaldy and 1 in Aberdour. Home Energy Scotland was invited to give expert and technical advice to inform the public about 2 types of renewable energy – solar and thermal power, and biomass systems. They also provided information on what to consider when choosing to generate home energy and what help was available for switching, feed in tariffs and other considerations.

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Again, working in partnership with Home Energy Scotland, we ran an electric vehicle information evening where participants learned about the benefits of switching to an electric vehicle; local and national infrastructure to support electric vehicles; and costs of owning and running an electric car. A local resident who made the switch gave some very informative insights into her experiences. 2 electric cars were available for participants to see. Our final event covered’ Energy Saving for Older Properties’, which targeted mainly households that are traditional stone built properties but also other older properties. We invited an expert advisor from Home Energy Scotland to inform participants about the options available for making homes more energy efficient through insulating solid walls, draught proofing, secondary glazing and more.

Energy saving for older properties September 2015 Electric Vehicle Information Evening August 2015

Climate change talks and workshops

We held a variety of talks and workshops for participants to learn more about the causes and

consequences of climate change and explore practical actions to reduce carbon emissions in ways

relevant to their situation. Overall, 223 people attended a talk, workshop or event.

Talk

This programme kicked off with a ‘Climate Reality’ talk in collaboration with St Bryce Kirk in

Kirkcaldy. Jess Pepper delivered a presentation on the causes and effects of climate change and

Greener Kirkcaldy spoke about our projects and activities that help our local community take action

to address climate change individually and in the community.

Greener Kirkcaldy Annual Gathering and AGM

Our Annual Gathering and AGM ‘Powering up Communities’, in February 2016, was attended by 70

participants. The key focus was on ‘Climate Change: What’s that got to do with us?’, why it matters,

local and practical solutions, and what powers the new Community Empowerment Act can bring to

enable a sense of ownership of local resources. We invited 2 inspiring speakers: Alastair McIntosh,

writer, academic, campaigner and activist; and Lynn Molleson, Director of Harlaw Hydro Ltd. to speak at

our event. These talks were followed by a lively question and discussion session. We carried out a

feedback survey after the event; comments included:

“I thoroughly enjoyed the event; the speakers were fantastic and very inspirational but also realistic and practical.”

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“A good, well organised and thoughtfully put together event. consisted with the aims of Greener Kirkcaldy and an important addition to the promotion of knowledge locally.”

“The information about the community hydro scheme was interesting. Both speakers were motivating which was just as useful as being informative.”

“That the community can change and improve their environment if they go about it the right way. Where there is a will there is a way.”

“I am going to research the Empowerment Act more and have already been encouraging people to buy up their communities. I am also more determined to make the community projects I am involved in work.”

‘Powering up Communities’ Greener Kirkcaldy Annual Gathering and AGM February 2016

Climate change events programme

We delivered a programme of 7 events that explored climate change from different perspectives and in different formats including a breakfast, lunch, film night, walk and other discussions. In addition to this, we highlighted climate change and promoted Scotland’s low carbon future on an individual and drop-in basis through our High Street Hub. We engaged people in the carbon impact of food through 4 events looking at the origins of the food we eat, food miles, sustainable food, food production and social justice.

Climate Change Lunch March 2016 Climate Change Breakfast March 2016 As part of Pass-It-On week, we examined the links between clothing and climate change. Discussions focused on the environmental impact of production, manufacturing and consumption during swapping events in the community and in our Hub.

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We held a screening of Naomi Klein’s film ‘This changes everything’. It gave people attending an

opportunity to explore some of the bigger issues surrounding climate change. The audience was

diverse as was the discussion afterwards, which included global policies, economics, renewables,

consumption, the UN Paris Agreement, personal action and values driving lifestyles.

We also led a Coastal Wild Walk exploring climate change and how it is affecting our local coastline

by looking at sea level changes, flora and fauna, and glaciation.

Climate Change Champions

We recruited 14 Climate Change Champions as volunteers to help us engage people in our

community about climate change. Champions received training to raise their awareness about the

topic. Some Champions used their learning to speak to our community in our Hub, at Greener

Kirkcaldy events, at external events, through writing blogs on our website or engaging with their

families and friends. This enabled us to engage with an even wider audience.

We published 15 blogs on Climate Change on our website written by Climate Change Champions:

http://www.greenerkirkcaldy.org.uk/low-carbon-behaviour-in-young-people-in-scotland/

http://www.greenerkirkcaldy.org.uk/post-paris-what-next/

http://www.greenerkirkcaldy.org.uk/what-i-did-for-earth-hour/

Project outcomes

The objectives of the ‘Climate Change – what’s that got to do with us’ project were to

Reduce the community’s carbon footprint by 5,015 tCO2e, through

o Reduced home energy use for 400 households

o Energy monitor loans to 150 households

o Home Renewable technologies (40 installations)

o Fuel-efficient driver training for 80 people

Help 100 households out of fuel poverty

80% of participants will gain skills and confidence to take more control of their energy use

and bills

12 new volunteers will gain skills and confidence whilst helping their communities

80% of participants will feel better informed or more optimistic about tackling climate change

We delivered the project outcomes in full. We partially met our targets of 150 energy monitor loans,

40 Home Renewable installations and Fuel-efficient driver training for 80 people.

The project also led to important additional outcomes for us. As a result of it, Greener Kirkcaldy and

our Cosy Kingdom project is being recognised more and more as the ‘go to’ place for expert help

and guidance with energy advice, especially communities experiencing fuel poverty. We also

continue to broaden our reach in the community in relation to building awareness of climate change

and practical solutions to address it.

Our wide ranging programmes of events and activities have helped us to engage and pilot ways of

speaking, with all our community especially people who may previously not have engaged with us.

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We evaluated the impact of the project using feedback surveys, case studies and primary data

collected from participants. Case studies and survey responses are distributed throughout this

report. This section describes the evaluation we carried out to calculate the carbon savings

achieved by the project, and the surveys we carried out to identify its wider impacts.

CO2e Outcome

Energy efficiency

The carbon savings arising from our home energy advice visits was evaluated through the creation

of detailed case studies showing measures implemented and carbon savings achieved, for a

sample of 38 participants. A selection of these is included in Appendix 1. The average carbon

saving was then calculated and used to extrapolate from the sample, to estimate the carbon savings

likely to have been achieved by the full set of 400 households receiving a home energy advice visit.

Each case study describes the ‘baseline’ carbon footprint of household gas and electricity use

before our home energy advice visit, and the savings that the household made. We state the annual

savings, and also the estimated ‘lifetime savings’ - the annual savings multiplied by the predicted

lifetime of the measures or behaviours.

To find the baseline energy use for a household, we asked participants for details of their gas and

electricity use. For some, this came from bills, supplier’s annual statements, or records of historic

meter readings. For others, we made an estimate of energy use based on their energy costs. Where

we could not obtain primary data for the household, we accessed postcode-level energy use data

for the area from the UK Government’s sub-national consumption data.

To calculate carbon footprints, we used the conversion factors given in the Climate Challenge

Fund’s ‘recommended conversion factors’ spreadsheet. These factors allowed a simple conversion

from energy use in the usual units such as kWh, to carbon footprints.

We then used our records of what physical and behavioural energy-saving changes were made by

each household to calculate the carbon savings, using the approach set out in the Climate

Challenge Fund’s Energy Efficiency Low Carbon Route Map.

The final step in the calculation for each case study was to convert annual carbon savings to the

total savings expected over the lifetime of the advice or measures installed (‘lifetime savings’). To do

that, we multiply the annual savings by the expected lifetime of the measure, using lifetimes

recommended by the Climate Challenge Fund’s guidance and by the UK Government’s Carbon

Emissions Reduction Target scheme.

We then extrapolated from the sample case studies to make an estimate of the total carbon savings

that the project achieved.

We carried out full carbon calculations for 39 project participant households, and found that the

average saving achieved was 9.0 tCO2e per household. This is the lifetime saving, i.e. the annual

savings multiplied by the predicted lifetime of the measures or behaviours.

For participants who made savings, these ranged from 2.1 tCO2e to 66.6 tCO2e. The households

with the highest savings tended to be those that we had helped to install insulation, which has a

long lifetime of 40 years. Those with the lower savings were households who could not, or did not

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need to, make improvements to their homes, but were able to make simple behaviour changes to

save a little energy.

The estimated total savings for the 400 households we worked in-depth with, is therefore 400 x 9.0

i.e. 3,600 tCO2e.

This quantitative analysis of the project’s carbon savings is backed up by the results of our end-of-

project survey which is described in “Community Outcomes”, below.

Home renewable energy

Our home renewable energy campaign, to promote solar energy and bio mass fuel systems to

householders, was carried out in partnership with Home Energy Scotland. 45 households had a

renewables home energy advice visit from Home Energy Scotland and their follow-up surveys

showed that 28 installations were completed: mainly solar photovoltaic panels.

For these, Home Energy Scotland predict that there will be a lifetime saving of 49.4 tCO2e per

household. Therefore the estimated savings for 28 households is 1,383 tCO2e.

Fuel-efficient driver training

We delivered fuel-efficient driver training for 58 people. Our participants showed an average

improvement of 15% after the training.

The average annual carbon saving was 237 kgCO2e per year, and the total annual carbon saving

was 13,746 kgCO2e per year. We assume that this behaviour change lasts for 3 years. The Climate

Challenge Fund application guidance notes recommend using a lifetime of 1 to 5 years for transport

behaviour changes. We have used the mid-point estimate because the training is in-depth and one-

to-one, and the feedback is very positive, so we expect the behaviour change to stick.

That gives a lifetime carbon saving of 13,746 kgCO2e per year x 3 years = 41,238 kgCO2e or 41

tCO2e.

CO2e Outcome – summary and conclusions

We carried out a carbon evaluation focusing on home energy efficiency, home renewable energy

and fuel efficient driving. The savings we found were:

Activity Carbon saving per year

(kg CO2)

Expected lifetime

(years)

Total lifetime savings

(t CO2e)

Home energy efficiency advice

various 3,600 tCO2e

Home renewable energy

various 1,383 tCO2e

Fuel-efficient driver training

237 kgCO2e 3 41 tCO2e

Total 5,024 tCO2e

The total saving for the Climate Change – what’s that got to do with us? project was 5,024 t CO2e.

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Community Outcomes

Fuel poverty and energy literacy

At the end of the project we completed a participant survey to get feedback from households who

had received a home energy advice visit.

The key results are that 95% of respondents have made energy saving changes at home since our

visit; 89% are more aware of their energy use at home; 61% have made physical changes to their

homes e.g. insulation or a new boiler. A smaller number (19%) have switched energy tariff or

supplier. These results confirm the findings shown in our case studies, that participants have taken

up a wide range of physical and behavioural measures to reduce their energy use.

Our end-of-project survey also gave us an insight into the impact of the project on fuel poverty and

energy literacy. The survey asked about the impact of our advice on participants’ energy use,

thermal comfort, confidence in managing their energy use, and financial situation. The graph below

shows the results:

A key community outcome for the project was our aim to help 100 households out of fuel poverty.

We did this by encouraging people to be more energy efficient, by helping them to access advice on

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income maximisation, and by giving advice on switching tariff or supplier. Our survey showed that

75% of respondents felt that our advice had saved them energy or cut their energy costs, and that

68% felt that the project has helped them improve their financial situation. 81% of participants felt

warmer or more comfortable.

Another key outcome was to increase ‘energy literacy’. We found that 89% of survey respondents

now feel more confident in managing their home energy use; we think that is a good indication of

energy literacy.

We also asked people for comments; these included

“I found the energy advice visit very useful and can now work my storage heaters correctly

making my home warmer”

“The people I had out were very helpful and happy to explain things that I wasn't sure of,

thank you!”

“Your Handy Service is great, changing to LED lights is a massive saving”

“The energy monitors are great I look at them every night and switch things off”

“Telling me how to manage my heating better has saved me money”

“Thanks to you we have a new boiler fitted”

“Very happy with visit and has had a warm home for the first time in 4 years”

Fuel efficient driver training

We also carried out a survey of people who had taken part in fuel efficient driver training.

Many people were surprised at the savings and at what they learned. 96% of survey respondents

said that they found the session ‘useful’, and all said that they are still using fuel efficient driving

techniques when they are driving. 92% are putting less fuel into their vehicle, since taking the

training.

Typical behaviour changes that people reported making are

“I am now looking ahead more so as to reduce speed in advance by taking foot off accelerator, rather than previous habit of using the break to slow down”

“Anticipating the traffic in front”

“Change gear earlier, anticipate slow down and avoid sharp braking”

“Turn off engine when sitting in traffic”

“Always reverse in to parking space”

“Thinking about aircon”

“Changing gear more quickly, easing off accelerator approaching junctions, etc”

Fuel efficient driver training also led to measurable financial savings for drivers. The average annual

financial saving was £137 per year, and the total annual financial saving was £7,946 per year.

Making the same assumptions about the lifetime of these savings, as for the carbon savings, means

that we predict lifetime financial savings of £411 per person and £23,838 in total.

Awareness of climate change

We surveyed a sample of the participants who attended one or more of our seven climate change

events to gauge if they believed climate change to be an immediate and urgent problem, and

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whether, after attending an event, they felt better informed or more optimistic about tackling climate

change.

Before attending an event, 56% reported believing that climate change was a very immediate and

urgent problem, and this belief rose to 70% of participants after engagement. 11% of participants

had previously viewed climate change as not being urgent, but after attending an event no one

reported a belief that climate change was not an immediate problem, although 10% reported being

unsure.

We also asked whether if they felt their knowledge of climate change had improved and whether

they now felt more optimistic about tackling climate change. 30% reported that they felt their

knowledge had improved a lot, and 50% reported their knowledge had improved a little. 80%

reported feeling more optimistic about tackling climate change.

Greener Kirkcaldy’s Scotland’s Climate Change Pledge for Communities

Learning & Reflection

The project gave Greener Kirkcaldy a great deal of learning and experience. This section draws out

the learning from the projects key successes, and from the barriers we came across.

Energy efficiency, household renewable energy and fuel efficiency

Home energy efficiency advice

Our household energy-efficiency case studies show a wide range of savings. Our evaluation also

shows a big impact on fuel poverty. Participants experiencing fuel poverty were more focused on

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‘instant wins’ through immediate reductions in fuel bills based on home energy efficiency advice,

fuel debt relief and practical installations: curtains and draught proofing. Longer term outcomes

required more encouragement.

Energy monitor loans

We found it difficult to recruit participants to accept loans of energy monitors. Our Energy Advice

team explored the reasons why we only partially met this target. Despite a detailed explanation of

the purpose of the monitors, some participants stated that the monitors were too technical to

understand and use, and they would prefer to prioritise other ways of reducing their home energy

use.

We will continue to promote and encourage energy monitor loans and look at ways we can

overcome some of the barriers to using them. Our Energy Advisors will receive training on energy

monitors, as well training on smart meters, to increase their confidence in setting out their benefits

to the community.

Household renewable energy

We found it very difficult to attract people to our events to promote Home Renewable Energy and

generate home renewables advice visits. Those who did attend were initially interested, however,

having spoken to people at events, the majority of those that came were put off by the costs of

installation, lack of financial support to help make the switch, and cuts to the feed in tariffs. Also,

during this time period oil prices dropped and the price of wood pellets for bio mass fuel systems

increased. Home Energy Scotland bears out this trend with a decline in interest in home renewables

across the South East region of Scotland since December 2015.

We will continue to promote home renewable energy to households and sign post to Home Energy

Scotland for expert advice and information.

Fuel efficient driver training

Fuel-efficient driver training was a very effective way to make measureable savings. However, we

found it hard to engage as many people as we would have liked to participate in training. Common

responses were, that drivers stated they already knew how to make savings and didn’t require

training as it was covered in learner driver training. We found that once a participant did the training

they were very surprised at savings and driving techniques but getting people to that point was time

consuming and difficult.

Carbon saving events

Grow your own

Our evaluation and feedback shows that our community is very engaged in learning how to grow

food. Our workshops were very successful. Workshops were facilitated by an expert who helped to

engage and encourage participants to actively grow food and use whatever space was available to

them. The workshops were very interactive so participants could practice skills with an expert on

hand. Running workshops at out training allotment also meant that participants could see what

others are achieving in small spaces.

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Climate change talks and workshops

This project has been really valuable to enable us to explore different methods and opportunities for

speaking to our community about climate change, it’s relevance to their lives, and practical actions

to help take action. We have introduced climate change talks in different formats to activities we are

already running as well as introducing topics to events and other project programmes that might

encourage different audiences e.g. cooking sessions with low-income groups. We also found that

interactive activities helped to get conversations going as well as directing them without coming

across as lecturing or alienating. We are now more knowledgeable about engagement approaches

that will help contribute to raising awareness in 2016-17.

Climate Change Champions

Our volunteers helped us enormously to spread our message about climate change. Volunteers

come from our local community and are recognisable as experiencing similar circumstances.

Regularly providing training and resources to volunteers gave them the confidence and skills to help

staff at events by talking to people about their own experiences in reducing carbon, and helping

others to do the same.

Project finance and management

The 1 year project gave us the time and resources to continue and try out many different activities,

to learn from our experiences and to listen to feedback from the community. To keep it on track

towards meeting its outcomes, we held regular project review meetings where the project team

collectively assessed progress towards each outcome and target, identified learning, and celebrated

our successes.

The project had a budget of £143,816.00 over a one year period April 2015 to March 2016, which

we spent in full. The principal items of expenditures were the salaries of the Development Workers

who delivered the project activities, an Energy Advisor and Office Manager; the running costs of the

project office; and the costs associated with the many courses and events we delivered.

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.

Appendix 1: Energy advice case studies

We created carbon case studies for a sample of the people who took part in the energy advice

strand of the project, setting out the participant’s situation and aims, the advice and support we

gave, and the details of the carbon evaluation. A typical selection of these is included here.

Notes on methodology

We asked project participants for meter readings to allow us to determine reductions in gas and

electricity use per household. We asked for current and historical meter readings, or usage data

from fuel bills, when we made our initial home visits, and then when we followed up with the

participant (several months later), we again asked for current meter readings. That gave us a set of

‘before’ and ‘after’ meter readings and allowed us to carry out an analysis of the household’s energy

consumption before and after our advice.

We used this data to calculate the ‘before’ and ‘after’ carbon footprint of their household energy use.

The difference between those tells us of the savings that our project helped the householder

achieve. To do that, we used the conversion factors given in the Climate Challenge Fund’s

‘recommended conversion factors’ spreadsheet. These factors are from the 2012 DEFRA/DECC's

GHG Business Conversion Factors for Company Reporting, and they allow a simple conversion

from energy use in the usual units such as kWh, to carbon footprints.

The final step in the calculations, is to convert annual carbon savings to the total savings expected

over the lifetime of the advice or measures installed (‘lifetime savings’). To do that, we multiply the

annual savings by the expected lifetime of the main measure. We used lifetimes recommended by

the Climate Challenge Fund’s guidance and by the government’s Carbon Emissions Reduction

Target scheme.

Case Study 1

Situation

Mrs D is a single mum who lives with her 3 young children in a private rented 3 bedroom house.

She was referred to the Cosy Kingdom Energy Advice service by Penumbra which is a Scottish

charity that works with young people with mental health issues. Mrs D wanted advice on reducing

her gas and electricity costs whilst keeping her home warm over the winter.

Support we gave

We visited Mrs D in her home at a time that suited her. We looked at her current tariff and felt she

could make savings by switching supplier. We advised her to contact Citrus Switch, which would

find her the best deal and handle the switching process for her.

We looked at how her heating system was set up and noticed that her thermostat was set too high

at 25 degrees, which was leading to high gas bills and wasted heat because she was opening

windows when it got too hot. We readjusted her thermostat to a more comfortable 19 degrees and

showed her how to use her heating controls efficiently.

We identified all the main energy users in the home and discovered that Mrs D was using her

tumble dryer for a couple of hours each day. This was proving very expensive and so we advised

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her to either dry clothes outside, if possible, or on an indoor clothes horse. Also, it was found that

she and her children used the electric shower for long periods at a time, which was significantly

adding to her electric bill. We agreed that Mrs D would benefit from the loan of an energy monitor to

make her more aware of the energy usage in the home.

Along with this, we assessed Mrs D’s financial situation and believed she would qualify for the £140

Warm Homes Discount, which is a credit to her electric meter. We called her energy supplier to

arrange this for her. Also, Mrs D qualified to get some free energy efficiency measures fitted by our

Handy Service.

Outcome

Mrs D is now enjoying a warmer and more efficient home. She received the £140 Warm Homes

Discount and has also switched supplier, which has reduced her bills significantly. She has now

become more aware of how she is using energy in the home through the use of an energy monitor.

Along with this she has had new thermal curtains and heat reflective radiator panels fitted, which

has added to the warmth and efficiency of her home.

Baseline Annual Electricity Usage: 4,243 kWh (Taken from DECC postcode-level electricity data 2013) Conversion factor for grid electricity = 0.46219 kg CO2e / kWh Annual carbon emissions from electricity = 4,243 x 0.46219 = 1,961 kg CO2e Annual gas usage: 15,983 kWh (Taken from DECC postcode-level gas data 2013 ) Conversion factor for grid gas = 0.18445 kg CO2e Annual carbon emissions from gas = 15,983 x 0.18445 = 2,948 kg CO2e Total baseline carbon emissions for household energy use = 4.8 t C02e Carbon savings from reduction in electricity usage: 1: Replacing a 50W halogen light bulb with a 6W LED leads to a 2.4% reduction in household electricity use; we replaced 12 so 14.4% is saved. LED lights x 12 = 14.4% reduction in energy use = 14.4% of 4,243 = 610 kWh Annual carbon savings from LED lights = 610 x 0.46219 = 282 kg CO2e The lifetime saving of this measure is assumed to be over 19.5 years: therefore lifetime savings are 282 kg CO2e x 19.5 years = 5.5 t CO2e 2: Use of an Energy monitor leads to a 10% reduction in electricity use = 3633 x 10% = 360

kWh.

Annual carbon savings for this measures = 360 kWh x 0.46219 = 166 kg C02e

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This is a behavioural change measure therefore the lifetime of this measure is assumed to

be 7 years: therefore lifetime savings are 166 kg CO2e x 7 years = 1.1 t CO2e.

Carbon savings from reduction in gas usage: The data available for carbon savings of radiator reflector panels are per square meter (m2) installed. We typically install 3.8m2 (2 rolls of panels), which treats all of the radiators on the external walls. The reduction in carbon emissions attributable to DIY reflective radiator panels is 10 kg CO2 / m2 / annum, and the lifetime of radiator panels is 10 years. Therefore the annual savings are 3.8m2 x 10kg CO2/ m2 = 38 kg CO2 and the lifetime savings are 38 kg CO2e x 10 years = 0.4 t CO2e Data available for carbon savings of draught proofing for measures such as insulation strips for seals, and thermal curtains is 6% and lasts 15 years. Gas saving from installing thermal curtains is 6% of 15,983 kWh =959 kWh Therefore the annual carbon savings are 959 kWh x 0.18445 = 177 kg CO2e Lifetime savings for this measure = 177 kg CO2e x 15 =2.6 t CO2e The total lifetime carbon savings for this household are: 5.5t CO2e + 1.1 t CO2e + 0.4 t CO2e + 2.6 t CO2e =9.6 t CO2e

Case Study 2

Situation

Jenny lives with her family in a large converted church which was built in 1850. The building has 7

bedrooms and 6 bathrooms with a total of 8 people living in the building. The heating system

consists of 2 gas boilers, which are used to heat the upstairs and downstairs separately. They were

old and not running efficiently. Along with this the house had around 50 halogen ceiling lights,

which increase her electricity costs significantly. Jenny wanted advice on replacing her old boilers

and reducing her electricity costs as well as possibly switching to a cheaper tariff.

Support we gave

We arranged to visit Jenny to assess the situation and see what support and advice we could give.

We looked at her annual gas and electricity statements and found that her annual gas usage was

very high at 18,000 kWh /annum costing £2,400 while her annual electricity usage was 7,920 kWh

costing £1,200. We referred Jenny to Citrus Switch to see if she could make a saving by switching

to another tariff

We found that both the front and back doors were draughty so we recommended putting some

draught proofing around the edges. Along with this, we identified all the main energy users in the

house such as her tumble dryer and kettle and gave advice and tips on how to reduce her electricity

bill through better behavioural use of her appliances. With regards to her lighting we advised Jenny

to replace her existing halogen ceiling lights with energy efficient LED lights.

Outcome

Jenny purchased 2 new efficient condensing boilers and immediately felt the benefits in both a

warmer house and reduced heating costs. Along with this, Jenny fitted draught-proofing to her

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doors and this has further improved the warmth of her home. Of the 50 Halogen ceiling lights in the

house Jenny has now replaced 15 of these with LED lighting, which has helped to reduce her

electricity bill.

Jenny now feels she has moved in the right direction in taking control of her gas and electricity bills

and has changed her behaviour towards her energy use in the house giving her confidence in

further tackling her previously high utility bills.

Baseline Annual Electricity Usage: 7,920 kWh (Taken from Annual electricity statement) Conversion factor for grid electricity = 0.46219 kg CO2e / kWh Annual carbon emissions from electricity = 7,920 x 0.46219 = 3,661 kg CO2e Annual gas usage: 18,000 kWh (Taken from annual Gas statement) Conversion factor for grid gas = 0.18445 kg CO2e Annual carbon emissions from gas = 18,000 x 0.18445 = 3,320 kg CO2e Total baseline carbon emissions for household energy use = 6.9 t C02e Savings Carbon savings from reduction in gas usage: 1: Two new condensing boilers = 16% annual reduction in gas usage = 18,000 / 100 = 180 x 16 = 2,880 kWh. Yearly Carbon savings from two new condensing boilers = 2,880 x 0.18445 = 531 kg CO2e Lifetime of this measure is 15 years therefore lifetime carbon savings = 531 kg CO2e x 15 = 8 t C02e 2: Draught proofing = 6% annual reduction in gas usage = 15,120 / 100 = 151 x 6 = 907 kWh. Yearly Carbon Savings from draught proofing = 907 x 0.18445 = 167 kg C02e Lifetime of this measure is 15 years therefore carbon savings = 167 kgC02e x 15 = 2.5 t C02e Total savings from gas measures are: 8 t CO2e + 2.5 t CO2e = 10.5 t C02e Carbon savings from reduction in electricity usage: 1: Replacing a 50W halogen light bulb with a 6W LED leads to a 2.4% reduction in household electricity use; Jenny replaced 15 so 36% is saved. LED lights x 15 = 36% reduction in energy use = 36% of 7920 = 2,851 kWh Annual carbon savings from LED lights = 2851 x 0.46219 = 1,317 kg CO2e The lifetime saving of this measure is assumed to be over 19.5 years: therefore lifetime

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savings are 1,317 kg CO2e x 19.5 years = 25.6 t CO2e The total lifetime savings for this household are 10.5 t CO2e + 25.7t CO2e = 36.2 t CO2e

Case Study 3

Situation Miss B Was referred to Greener Kirkcaldy by our Cosy Kingdom partner, St. Andrews Environmental Network, for a home energy advice visit to discuss how best to reduce her energy bills. We visited the property to meet Miss B and assess what help we could offer her. Her home is an upstairs flat within a 4-in-a-block type structure, where she lives with her small child. Her home is a private let and her heating system is an old back boiler, which is at least 15 years old. The controls in the kitchen for the system were damaged and not operating correctly. Support Miss B explained she could be spending in excess of £45 a week on her energy bills, which puts her in the extreme fuel poverty bracket as she only receives Income Support and Child Tax Credits. We contacted her energy supplier and put her forward for the Warm Homes Discount of £140, which she will receive in March 2016. We also contacted Home Energy Scotland on her behalf, to see if she is eligible for any further assistance. We suggested to Miss B that in the meantime, she should change her current light bulbs to LED bulbs. As she receives qualifying benefits, we referred her to our Handy Service to take this forward. We also loaned her an energy monitor to help her keep an eye on her electricity usage. Outcome Miss B should notice a reduction in her electricity usage due to changing her current light bulbs to LED bulbs. She will also be able to keep an eye on her electric usage and cost due to the energy monitor. Home Energy Scotland assessed her home and agreed she qualifies for the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme, which will enable a new combi boiler to be installed free of charge in her home. Miss B is delighted with the help we have provided. Carbon savings

Baseline

Annual electricity use: 7428 kWh (calculated from customers annual spending) Conversion factor for grid electricity = 0.46219 kg CO2e / kWh Annual carbon emissions from electricity 7428 x 0.46219 = 3433 kg CO2e Annual gas usage: 32500 kWh calculated from customers annual spending) Conversion factor for grid gas = 0.18445 kg CO2e Annual carbon emissions from gas = 32500 x 0.18445 = 5994 kg CO2e

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Total baseline carbon emissions for this household’s energy use = 9.4 t CO2e Savings Carbon saved from reduction in electricity use: Replacing a 50W halogen light bulb with a 6W LED leads to a 2.4% reduction is household electricity use. We replaced 8 so 19.2% is saved. LED lights x 8 = 19.2% reduction in annual energy use Electricity saving = 19.2% of 7428 = 1426 kWh Annual carbon savings from LED lights = 1426 kWh X 0.46219 = 659 kg CO2e The lifetime of this saving is assumed to be 19.5 years; therefore lifetime savings are 659 kg CO2e x 19.5 years = 12.8 t CO2e Carbon saved from reduction in gas use: Replacing an old boiler with hot water tank with a new combination boiler will typically save 8% on heating costs The annual gas savings from a new combination boiler are 8% of 32500 = 2600 kWh Annual carbon savings from a new boiler = 2600 x 0.18445 = 479.5 kg CO2e The lifetime of this savings is assumed to be 15 years; therefore lifetime savings are 479.5 kg CO2e x 15 years = 7.1 t CO2e The data available for carbon savings of radiator reflector panels are per square meter (m2) installed. We typically install 3.8m2 (2 rolls of panels), which treats all of the radiators on the external walls. The reduction in carbon emissions attributable to DIY reflective radiator panels is 10 kg CO2 / m2 / annum, and the lifetime of radiator panels is 10 years. Therefore the annual savings are 3.8m2 x 10kg CO2/ m2 = 38 kg CO2 and the lifetime savings are 38 kg CO2e x 10 years = 0.4 t CO2e The total annual carbon savings are 659.1 kg CO2e + 479.5 kg CO2e + 38 kg CO2e = 1176.6 kg CO2e. That’s just more than 20% of the household’s baseline carbon footprint. The total lifetime carbon savings for this household are: 12.8 t CO2e + 0.4 t CO2e + 7.1 t CO2e = 20.3 t CO2e

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Appendix 2: Climate Challenge Fund Output Grid

The Climate Challenge Fund requires all funded projects to complete this output grid, so that the

overall impact of the Fund can be collated. Please note that not all of the indicators within it are

relevant to the Climate change – what’s that got to do with us? project – we have used the notation

“n/a” to signify those which are not applicable.

How many advice/information centres – regular drop-in centre, advice

surgery etc. - did your project run?

n/a

How many training sessions where skills and/or information were

passed on – e.g. composting training, cooking workshops, etc. – has your

project has held.

27

How many events did your project hold, e.g. information fairs, open days,

etc.? Do not include events held by other organisations which you have

attended.

20

How many staff, volunteers or community members have achieved

qualifications through the project – e.g. City & Guilds Energy Awareness,

Trail Cycle Leader, etc.

13

How many people were directly employed by your project. Tell us the full-

time equivalent (FTE) number of employees (e.g. 3 days per week = 0.6

FTE).

4.3 (FTE)

Is the project is supporting the development of any long-term jobs which are

not dependent of CCF Funding? How many?

n/a

How many people were actively involved in your project – attending groups

& workshops, using the project facilities etc.?

931

How many people volunteer their time and energy to keeping the project

going – don’t forget the members of your management committee or board.

22

How many schools are involved in your project? n/a

How many community-owned buildings have been refurbished? n/a

How many Home Energy Checks or similar energy efficiency reports have

been carried out by your project?

400

How many households have been referred on to other agencies or

providers (e.g. HES, Green Deal assessor) for further action?

280

How many households installed energy efficiency measures – loft, wall or

floor insulation, draft-proofing, double glazing etc. – as a result of your

project?

128

How many households installed green energy generation measures –

photovoltaic panels, solar thermal panels, air or ground source heat pumps,

28

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wood fuelled heating systems etc – as a result of your project?

How many miles of car journeys have been reduced through the activities

of your project?

n/a

How many square metres (m2) of community growing space (allotments,

poly-tunnels, raised beds, community gardens) has your project brought into

use?

n/a

How many tonnes of waste have been diverted from landfill because of the

activities of your project?

n/a

How many kWh of energy has been reduced because of the activities of

your project?

Estimated energy

savings from

energy-efficiency

work: 65,100

kWh electricity

and 179,300 kWh

mains gas.