Current Projects

SE2 Ltd and the London Borough of Lewisham are carrying out a research project to look at the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of fuel poverty referral schemes.

There is significant evidence about the link between fuel poverty and health. However, there has been little research into the most effective ways to develop and deliver fuel poverty referral schemes.

“The Health of the Nation” research project will explore many aspects of fuel poverty schemes – from their objectives, to how they target support, to the services they provide, to their use of referral networks, to their costs – to try and tease out factors which make schemes more likely to operate successfully and to deliver value for money. We do not expect to find one answer; rather we hope that the research will illuminate a number of delivery and cost models which can provide useful insights to the sector and help inform future policy development.

During 2016, we have been working with the University of Cambridge to engage stakeholders with the review of the University's Carbon Management Plan. Creating and implementing an effective carbon management plan takes action and commitment from across and organisation. The University recognised this and brought us in, alongside technical leads AECOM, to help make sure that its revised carbon management plan reflects the needs and priorities of academics, researchers, students and staff across the institution.

From an initial stakeholder mapping and prioritisation workshop, through a series of facilitated workshops, structured interviews and an online survey, we have gathered detailed views from over 120 stakeholders with roles to play in carbon reduction. We have been able to bring together disparate groups of stakeholders and identify shared interests and opportunities to work together; we have also tested a number of ideas for interventions - such as financial incentives and training provision - to understand which are more likely to be supported and delivered across the University.

SE2 is carrying out an evaluation of a series of training activities, guidance and resources produced by the Zero Carbon Hub. The resources explore issues related to energy performance, ventilation and overheating, particularly in new homes, and have been designed with a range of trades and professionals in mind.

We have gathered quantitative data about the numbers of guidance documents downloaded and the attendance rate at training events. More importantly, we have also been exploring the qualitative impact of the resources: what difference have they actuallly made to practice in design and on site? Through a series of telephone interviews and surveys, we have started to pick out some real changes that have been brought about in business practice by the training and guidance available from the Hub. Too often it feels as though guidance documents spend their lives gathering dust; in this case, we have found clear evidence that the homebuilding supply chain has started to take real steps to address these important issues as a result of the training and guidance they have received.

We are working with the London Borough of Lewisham and Parity Projects on an exciting research project which aims to weave together both technical and social research strands. We will be monitoring the technical performance, carbon reductions and energy bill savings in a number of properties where external wall insulation is being installed, to get a before and after picture of the performance changes. We're combining this with a series of interviews with residents to look at attitudes, behaviour and the human impacts of installations in terms of comfort, health and wellbeing.

We have worked with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham for a number of years, helping to tackle fuel poverty within the two Boroughs. We are now running a training programme for public sector frontline workers, charity staff, volunteers and anyone who works with local residents. The training weaves together the related issues of cold homes, accident prevention and nutrition, identifying health and wellbeing impacts and building local capacity to recognise residents who may be facing issues. Our work encourages referrals to the Healthier Homes helpline. If you know someone in either of these Boroughs who may be struggling in a cold or unsafe home, or who may be under-nourished, please do get in touch on 0808 202 6204.

We are currently working with the Vanguards District Heating Network, a network of local authorities and other public sector bodies at the forefront of delivering district heating schemes in the UK. The network - convened jointly by Michael King and Professor Jan Webb from Edinburgh University - brings together its members and industry partners to share experiences and expertise on different aspects of heat network development. SE2 has managed the logistics and administration of two network conferences (Exeter in Dec ember 2014 and Leicester in July 2015).  Each conference features a site visit of a local district heating scheme, a full day of presentations and discussions and a drinks reception to encourage networking. You can find out more about the Vanguards District Heating Network - and see papers from pervious conferences - at http://www.heatandthecity.org.uk/dh_vanguards_network.

We've had great fun working with Reading University to create a series of behaviour change activities to reduce out of hours electricity use across campus.  The University has made great strides on energy engineering and building management systems, but was still at the start of its behaviour change journey.  A Blackout event at the end of November 2014 saw students, staff and faculty exploring the campus looking for lights, computers, printers and more left on unnecessarily over the weekend.  And in February 2015 we supported their Green Week with surveys amongst staff and students to find out how their buildings REALLY work. 

During 2015-16, we are working closely with a number of major buildings on campus to develop bespoke behaviour change campaigns. We also hosted another Blackout event on 30 October 2015.  You can find out more about the University's work at http://carboncountdown.net/.

In 2014, we carried out a scoping study for DECC and Community Energy England  to help understand what a support mechanism for community energy (as detailed in the Community Energy Strategy) could look like. We then led a consultation process and worked with Project Dirt and the Energy Saving Trust to develop a support and advice resource. This new Community Energy Hub launched in September 2015 and combines a social networking platform for community energy groups with access to guidance and resources to help groups develop and deliver successful projects. The Hub is available at http://hub.communityenergyengland.org/.  We are now working with Community Energy England and partners to develop the long-term strategy for the Hub.

We have been the event managers for the Heat Conference since it started in 2012.  Working with both the Association for Decentralised Energy  and the Energy Institute, we provide a complete events service, managing the venues, speakers, delegates and sponsors. 

Heat 15 took place on 25th November.  We had a great turn out, interesting speakers, lively debates and there was a real buzz in the room.  Proceedings from the event, including photos, presentations and a storify account of the day are available here.

The same evening we also organised the eighth annual ADE Awards Dinner: a 300-seater event that brings together the cream of the sector to celebrate the industry's successes.  The winners and photos from the evening are here.

Not one to rest on our laurels, we're already working on plans for Heat 2016, which will take place in London on Wednesday 23rd November.

We were delighted to work for the first time with the NHBC Foundation to bring together a VIP group of stakeholders from both within and outside of the house-building industry to talk about what new homes might look like in the future.  We hosted a round-table dinner to encourage discussion about the future challenges that the house-building industry will need to address in terms of social, climate, technological and demographic changes. The event will feed into two linked Foundation projects to develop guides for the house building sector and the public to clearly set out the advantages of new homes and to look at what new homes might look like in the future.  These guides will follow on from their recent publications ‘Homes through the Decades’ and ‘Designing Homes for the 21^st Century’.

We were delighted to work with Themba Technology, Adecoe and QSA Partners over the summer of 2015 to coordinate and deliver the series of heat pump roadshows on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.  These free one-day training courses were designed to help potential heat pump customers in both the domestic and non-domestic sectors – such as businesses, developers and housing providers - understand how heat pumps can deliver lower energy costs, greater comfort and better buildings. 

We delivered 15 training courses in just 4 weeks to over 300 people - but still of course there were lots of people who were unable to attend.  In response to this, we've transformed the face-to-face training modules into e-learning modules which are now available through a training portal at http://heatpumpstraining.org/.  The free e-learning is designed to provide reliable, independent advice for prospective heat pump purchasers and covers design principles, specification, finance, good installation practice and how to build the business case.

In September 2012 we launched the London Fuel Poverty Hub. We've produced the site to give you the information, contacts and knowledge you need to play your part in helping tackle fuel poverty in London. With a borough-by-borough guide to which services are available where, you'll also find news, opinions and links to research papers that will help you understand the causes and effects of fuel poverty in the city and the impacts that it has on the lives of Londoners.

SE² provides secretariat services to both the London HECA Forum and the London Boroughs Energy Group, putting us at the heart of the sustainability agenda in London.  We coordinate meetings, produce minutes, manage membership and fees, and disseminate information throughout the year, playing our part in helping to share best practice and widen the knowledge and capacity of London's local authorities.

Since 2011, we've held a framework contract with the Energy Saving Trust to provide copywriting services for the Concerted Action for the Energy Efficiency Directive (CAEED). CAEED provides a framework for the European nations to share knowledge and experience as they work towards the implementation of the Directive, through bi-annual plenary and supporting working-group meetings.  Each working group provides an executive report on their meeting, often written by someone for whom English is not their first language.  We work with the authors to make sure appropriate language is used without losing their meaning or their voice.