Local authorities urged to play their part in the Green Deal and ECO

Department of Energy and Climate Change— October 1st 2012

Two green co-ops in Manchester, are taking a community approach to a new Government incentive to help residents reduce their carbon emissions.

Community based green organisation, Carbon Co-op, and urban design co-op, URBED, launched their Community Green Deal project on 27 September at Manchester Town Hall.

The project will act as a test for the nationwide Green Deal programme created by the Government that will be fully launched next year. It is unique, in that is being run by two co-operatives.

Carbon Co-op have received £250,000 of funding from DECC for their pilot programme, working in association with the Greater Manchester Authority.

The aim of the Green Deal is to give people the opportunity to make home improvements to reduce carbon emissions without spending money. The capital for the improvements will be provided by: banks, energy suppliers and retailers, who will then get the money back through the resident´s energy bills.

Therefore, a Golden Rule applies, where estimated savings on bills must always equal or exceed the cost of the work.

The improvements would be done in the form of retrofitting, which is a term for improving the carbon footprint of old houses through better insulation, double glazing and other energy saving methods.