Heritage Retrofit

46 BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HERITAGE RETROFIT FIRST ANNUAL EDITION example), to avoid having to crank up the oven unnecessarily. Overall the trial was a success. An estimated saving of about £400 per annum was achieved with the Klover, and the house is also much warmer. The conclusion is that this is a suitable option for replacing oil range cookers. CASE STUDY 2: Wood pellet boilers at Upton House Towards the end of 2015 the first completed Renewable Energy Investment Programme project, Upton House, Warwickshire made the switch from oil to a renewable energy heating system. Former Shell chairman Lord Bearsted gifted the estate and its extensive art and porcelain collections to the National Trust in 1948. It was using 25,000 litres of oil each year to heat the various buildings (which equate to around 11 average houses). Today, the heating is powered by two new wood pellet boilers, saving £6,000 a year on energy bills and 55 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. Four oil boilers were removed and the new biomass system now heats the house, site offices, squash court gallery, restaurant and a cottage. According to Ed Wood, the renewables project manager at Upton: ‘The irony that the estate was owned by a family whose fortune was built on oil was not lost on us when we started our project to take Upton off fossil fuel. In the past, oil was the most effective way to heat the estate. Times have changed and to lower our carbon emissions and meet our target, to generate 50 per cent of all energy we use from renewable sources by 2020, we felt it was important to change our energy source here.’ This is a great example of what support from the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme is enabling the trust to do. Schemes like these cut carbon emissions, promote local sustainable wood management and work in harmony with the natural and built environment. They work for the local environment and economy and support national energy and climate change reduction initiatives. FUNDING Recent changes to government incentives (the Renewable Heat Incentive and the Feed in Tariff or ‘FIT’ scheme) have seen a shift in support for certain renewable energy technologies and system sizes. The FIT rates for smaller hydro- electric installations are lower than the trust had hoped. However, the government has reinstated pre- accreditation, reducing the risk of the longer lead-in times associated with hydro projects. The trust has been working hard not only on financial modelling of its hydro potential but also revisiting its approach to construction methodologies and procurement approaches before making any final decisions. The RHI consultation led to the introduction of an annual budget cap based on deployment of technologies which means that once a certain threshold is reached the RHI is no longer available for that technology/size. However, the good news is that a tariff guarantee will be introduced for heat pumps over 100kW and for large scale biomass. In addition, tariffs for heat pumps are predicted to rise as the technology has not been developed at the same rate as other technologies, which presents a fantastic opportunity for the trust. SHARING EXPERIENCE Collaboration has been a key part of the trust’s renewable energy work. Its energy partner, Good Energy, has worked alongside the trust to help develop its renewable strategy and inspire others to think about their energy use. Lessons learned help inform future projects including those of other bodies. With the sustainable energy charity Ashden, the trust helped launch the Fit for the Future Network to share their experience with others who are looking for a greener energy supply. Now more than 80 groups including The Crown Estate, Historic Environment Scotland, Oxfam GB and the RSPB are part of the network. In one example, following advice from the trust, Chatsworth installed 15 biomass systems into tenanted properties. These boilers have produced over 1 million kWh and the estate hopes to eventually power these using woodchip from the estate which is a by-product of sustainable woodland management. In the view of the trust, collaboration is one of the best tools it has to mitigate the threat of climate change. A February 2016 report revealed that the Fit for the Future Network collectively saved nearly 15,000 tonnes of CO₂ over the past year. This is equivalent to making 1,766 trips around the world in an average petrol car. EMMA GRIFFITHS is project manager for the National Trust’s Renewable Energy Investment Programme. Upton House, Warwickshire was using 25,000 litres of oil each year before the installation of two wood pellet boilers, which are now saving £6,000 a year on energy bills and 55 tonnes of CO ₂ emissions.