During January 2015 we paid for 5 of our Energy Wardens to sit the Domestic Energy Assessor course at our office in Penygroes near Caernarfon, Gwynedd. This was the 5 day course.
Below are some of the outcomes that have been achieved since the Energy Wardens gaining the accreditation.
Employment has always played a major factor in the ‘Community Energy Warden’ project, and since January, 2 of the energy wardens have moved into fields of employment connected to Community Energy, see below:
- Meilyr Tomos accepted a post in March on the ‘Tref Werdd’ (Green Town) project based in Blaenau FFestiniog which is a 3 year funded programme as an Energy Project Officer/Food Officer.
- Sion Roberts accepted a post earlier in November with CAB Anglesey as their local Energy Champion.
Since the Energy Wardens became accredited as Domestic Energy Assessors with very little promotion from ourselves 2 of our local councils and an environmentally focussed builder have made use of this new skill to complete EPC’s. During the course of this financial year we anticipate this new service which is now an added asset to the project will have generated an income of £20k+ towards the project funding stream.
We have been busy making contact with other local partners to gauge weather they would make use of such a service for the next financial year 2016/17. To date all these meetings have proved positive.
Our decision to invest in this accreditation has proved to be extremely fruitful for the benefit of the project. Due to contracts we have had success in tendering for we are currently pursuing the possibility of an Energy Warden being employed as an Energy Assessor. This role will be created to take full responsibility for EPC completion and other energy assessments.
Since its creation and inception in 2011 the ‘Community Energy Warden’ project has made great changes and evolved dramatically. The DEA has been a major factor. The income which is drawn into the project from local financial partners and completion of EPC surveys is leading onto our next venture. Discussions have begun with a view that the project is run as a Social Enterprise from 2016/17.
email: post@grwpcynefin.org
