The majority of us in this day and age, are putting in extra effort to reduce our carbon footprints, be it through recycling, growing our own fruit and vegetables or walking to work. Well even royalty are getting in on the act now.
Prince Charles has been given permission to have 32 photovoltaic solar panels put onto the roof of Clarence House. With this permission he will be able to generate up to 4000 kW-hours, which is enough to power an average home. It was a bit touch and go whether he would be able to install solar panels, as Clarence House is a Grade 1 listed building, but with the help of a parapet hiding them from their neighbours in The Mall, Prince Charles has got a thumbs-up. It’s nice to see The Royal Family getting involved in being ‘green’.
Prince Charles ready to start installing
However, Prince Charles has been reducing his carbon emissions further in many different ways. He was stated saying we should bathe less, taking a five minute shower instead to save water and money on our energy bills. If an average family of four replaced one bath with a five minute shower we could save between £5 and £15 a year. Not a massive amount of extra cash, but it’s definately a small way for us to make a difference.
Not only that, the Prince has installed energy efficient boilers into Clarence House saving him more money (not that he needs it) and increasing his ‘green’ credentials. Furthermore, his cars no longer run off petrol. His Range Rovers are powered by biofuel, using second hand cooking oil and more astonishingly his Aston Martin is run off bioethanol from wine! To me that sounds more expensive than petrol? Apparently not. The EU has strict rules on the amount of wine which can be produced, any excess is not allowed to be sold on the market, so instead it has turned into an environmental fuel.
Prince Charles has been doing an outstanding job to reduce his carbon footprint, keeping his household carbon neutral for the last 3 years. This has caused a reduction in carbon emissions by 4% and an increase of 22% in the use of renewable energy. I would love to be able to do this, so if the Prince of Wales can make these lifestyle changes, then I am going to have to make a bigger effort myself. He is really leading by example, as now Oxford town hall has made plans to turn it into a “green power station”, by fitting solar panels onto it.
I wonder if he will get an Anglian Home Improvements installation of solar panels?
Anglian Home Improvements, helping to raise energy efficiency in peoples homes since 1966.
After the Christmas festivities a number of employees at the Extrusion factory decided to try to lose weight, and raise money for charity, they were joined by some people from Production engineering.
The contest which ran from January to the beginning of May became known as the Climatic Challenge and money was put in every week by the entrants with half of the total going to the winner, and half to the winners’ chosen charity. The percentage loss was used as the calculation to decide the winner.
The eventual winner of the Climatic weight loss challenge was Andy Shreeve who lost 17.7% of his body weight, in preparation for his next objective of giving up smoking, he is apparently also growing his fingernails for the same reason. Well done Andy, and he generously gave his personal share of the winnings to the runner ups’ charity.
Runner up was Eddie Eke who had been the early favourite, with a 13.76% loss.
£144 was raised for charity, Andy chose Quidenham hospice as his chosen charity and Eddies went to the RNLI.
On Thursday 27thMay a representative from the RNLI came to collect the donation, unfortunately the Quidenham representative could not attend.
A total of 179 lbs (nearly 13 stones) or 81.36 kilos in Euro weight was lost during the challenge.
Thanks to all those who took part and donated money to charity.
Anglian Home Improvements, formerly known as Anglian Windows. Helping support local communities since 1966.
Photovoltaic solar panels are the latest innovation of style to a home that doesn’t just reduce CO2 emissions – it prevents them.
Structures known as “Earth-sheltered houses” utilise the sun’s heat on the thermal mass of the building, converting it into a large storage heater, explains the Daily Mail.
“Earth sheltering is the architectural practice of using earth against building walls for external thermal mass, to reduce heat loss, and to easily maintain a steady indoor air temperature. Earth sheltering is popular in modern times among advocates of passive solar and sustainable architecture, but has been around for nearly as long as humans have been constructing their own shelter”.
This releases heat slowly and keeps comfortable level of warmth throughout the building, while heavy foliage on the roof absorbs the CO2 that is released and turns it into oxygen. Solar panels then provide the building with all its electrical needs.
Architect Jerry Harrall told the publication: “An earth-sheltered building is the only building form that can mitigate CO2.”Since 1997 all the buildings I have designed have achieved zero heating.”
However, according to Michael Holmes, spokesperson for the National Home Improvement Show, take-up of green technologies in the UK is still not what it should be.
He claims that more needs to be done to convince the public of the immediate cost benefits of features such as solar panels.
Other news coming from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is that local authorities will be allowed to generate income by selling renewable energy:
Anglian Home Improvements, formerly known as Anglian Windows. Providing solar technologies for Britain’s homes in 2010.
With the current devastating floods in Pakistan and the land slides in north west China you begin to think about your own immediate impact on the environment, the UK’s impact and how we as a world population have affected the global environmental conditions.
Google Earth is a virtual global map containing various geographical information including photos. You can zoom in to see almost any location throughout the world in good clear detail. The original developer of Google Earth was Keyhole Inc and the system was called Earth Viewer 3D.
Since the origination of Google Earth the map has evolved with new technologies incorporating access from hand held platforms such as i-phone accessibility.
On the 14th July the UK Government with Google launched a special Google Earth which illustrates what could happen to the world if the average global temperatures rise by 4 degrees Celsius. The reason for this development is educate and help highlight why people, householders, businesses and communities all need to think of ways of cutting their own carbon emissions:
There are many ways that people can improve their carbon environmental impact. We have the Internet, books other sources of information where “at a click of a button” can access a wealth of information to educate and make correct and good environmental decisions.
The Energy Saving Trust (EST) have created an interactive Energy Saving House which gives homeowners ideas and ways of saving money at home, becoming more efficient and being more environmentally friendly;
Source: The Energy Saving Trust
Areas of suggested improvements also include replacing your windows with more efficient double glazing, also installing Solar Thermal and/or Photovoltaic technology. Anglian has also launched their own “Rough Guide” to Green Your Home and you can request a copy of this and accompanying DVD by clicking here.
Last month Anglian launched their very own solar range and the Call Centre has since seen an unprecedented level of interest from people looking to invest in today’s green technologies.
Anglian Home Improvements, formerly known as Anglian Windows. Raising the standard of Solar in 2010.
On Saturday 7th August Anglian Sports and Social Club hosted the Family Fun Fayre which included a return of the 80′s classic game show ”It’s a Knock Out”.
Generous weather conditions and over 1000 people created a fantastic day with everyone enjoying a massive range of games, activities and family fun all in aid of local charities East Anglian Air Ambulance and John Grooms Court (Livability).
The event, organised by Anglian’s Lizzi Lundean and Lydia Moy was held in the grounds of the Anglian social club. The Bishop of Norwich, Rt. Rev. Graham James, was joined by Canon Richard Bowett and retired ITV newscaster Michael Brunson to open the event. They represented John Grooms Court one of the charities to benefit from the Fun Fayre.
The giant (well three to be exact) was one of the challenges faced by six teams entering the It’s a Knock Out competition.
As well as donning the huge costumes and then trying to run over a surface that was constantly being moved by their opponents, contestants also ran the gauntlet of slippery slopes, wet sponges, a castle wall and finding socks in a giant washing machine crammed with foam!!
Eventual winners were ‘The Lads’, made up of Darren Gooch, Wayne Morris, Brandon Spinks. Kai Munnery and Matty Daynes.
The bucking bronco was just one of many other attractions which included fairground stalls, crazy golf, bouncy castle and a 24foot climbing wall as pictured above.
Other activities included a fabulous circus skills workshop, some talented youngsters demonstrating martial arts, face painting and stalls selling a range of different items from hand-painted shoes to children’s clothes and Anglian memorabilia including furniture from last year’s Hampton Court Palace garden show.
The Blog team caught up with Lizzi Lundean, Anglian’s Events and Incentives Co-ordinator and asked her about the Family Fun Fayre:
“This was our first Family Fun Fayre in over 10 years and my first experience of organizing such a vast array of activities. We had an amazing response with over 1,000 visitors from our local community showing their support. Everyone had a fantastic time, well worth all the hard work.
I would like to thank everyone for their help in making our Family Fun Fayre such a great success“
All the monies raised will be divided between three charities Broadland High School, the East Anglian Air Ambulance and Livability’s John Groom Court in Norwich.
Anglian Home Improvements, formerly known as Anglian Windows. Supporting people and local communities since 1966.
The new Coalition Government has inherited a country with some of the oldest, most inefficient housing Stock within Europe. Over three quarters of Britain’s homes were built pre 1975 with another 20% being constructed before the first World War. A worrying example of the current situation Britain finds itself in is that we now use more energy to heat our homes than Sweden does!
With this type of housing stock, many of the energy efficient home improvements needed are cost negative that means they pay for themselves over time through savings from lower energy bills due to those improvements. The pay back period may also be longer than the preferred time the homeowners want to stay within that home. Other barriers that are commonly found is a lack of information, knowledge and understanding or why we should be more energy efficient within our homes.
With the various issues listed above the Government are going to introduce the Green Dealas the scheme to overcome these barriers.
Green Deal would roll out to every householder within Britain to save money by improving their homes through various insulating improvements. Energy companies and high street retail would provide information and guidance to interested households, taking them through the Green Deal process and pay for improvements upfront. Households then recoup the initial investment of money through the various savings they make from reduced energy bills.
The Green Deal will also assist and help those in rented accommodation. As the tenant normally pays for their own energy usage within the home they would also benefit from improved energy efficient measures. The Government are continuing to look at how to make the Green Deal a successful scheme for people in private and social housing.
Those providing the Green Deal have the option of choosing to form partnerships with local authorities, registered social landlords and social enterprises to offer locally-based solutions. The DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change) is looking for early involvement by Green Deal providers ahead of legislation being introduced in the forthcoming Energy Security and Green Economy Bill. Due to the legislation and other changes the Green Deal will not be rolled out straight away.
“Allow for an improvement to the existing housing stock to reduce Carbon and CO2 emissions and cut household energy bills. The Scheme to be open only to companies who professionally install windows with a C Window Energy Rating or above and who responsibility recycle the existing windows that are removed”
The petition saw support from many people and achieved a staggering 4,468 signatures. Since the petition closed people have waited for an official response from the Government which arrived today:
“The Government agrees that energy efficiency has an important part to play if we are to achieve our carbon reduction targets. The benefits of energy efficiency for households are clear: saving money on energy bills, reducing reliance on imported energy and helping householders reduce their carbon emissions.
However given the high cost of replacement windows (typically £5,000 to £10,000 for a small home), the marginal improvement in performance, particularly when replacing like-for-like double glazed windows; and given that band C windows will be the minimum standard permitted by building regulations from October 2010, a window scrappage scheme is unlikely to be cost effective on energy efficiency and carbon savings grounds.
We believe everyone should have the opportunity to benefit from energy efficiency measures and the energy bill savings they can bring. However, we also recognise that the cost to retrofit homes can be substantial – our ‘Green Deal’ will allow consumers to fund the upfront cost out of energy bill savings. It is expected that double glazing will be one of the measures that can be installed under the Green Deal”.
To summarise the Government reply it seems apparent that the proposed National Window Scrappage Scheme is not going to happen. It does however seem likely that homeowners maybe able to receive additional funding for energy efficient improvements such as replacement windows through the new Government initiative called the “Green Deal”.
“Alongside investment in new energy infrastructure, we need to reduce overall energy demand. So let me now turn to the Green Deal – our way of expanding the energy mix to a fourth resource.
Energy saving is the cheapest way of closing the gap between demand and supply, yet it is the Cinderella of the energy ball. On the near horizon, energy saving will mean smart meters and smart grids that can give consumers control over their appliances – for example ensuring that fridges power down during temporary price surges.
This will take time to develop. But there is also much we can do now. To date we have heard too much talk and too little action.
Britain has on average some of the oldest housing stock in Europe, much of it built in the era of cheap coal – but that’s no excuse. Why have we kept building inefficient homes? We have been locking in waste, which is why my colleague Grant Shapps, the Housing Minister, is moving quickly to toughen building standards.
Most of the homes we will use in 2050 have of course already been built. That is why we have big plans for the Green Deal. It will be my department’s flagship bill for this first session. Its aim is a radical overhaul of our existing homes to save energy, carbon and costs.
At the moment, we may as well be burning £50 notes outside our front doors. We use more energy per home than does Sweden. And this waste cannot be ignored, because households account for a quarter of all carbon emissions.
This is another area which can help drive economic recovery. The market is big. There are currently up to 14 million homes in the UK which could benefit from insulation under the Green Deal. We are working on the package for each home, which could unlock tens of billions of spending in the coming years.”
For more information on the Green Deal please click here. This is a link to a document produced by the Government called “Paving the way for a Green Deal: Extending the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target supplier obligation to December 2012: Summary of consultation responses and Government Response”.
Anglian Home Improvements, formerly known as Anglian Windows. Raising the standard in energy efficiency since 1966.
It’s a Knockout and Family Fun Fayre arrives this Saturday at the Anglian Sports and Social Club in Norwich. All proceeds from the day go to charity and with a range of games, stalls and activities for families to get involved with and looks set to be a great day out.
There are more activities as well. Listed below is some of the other games and events you can expect to see:
24ft Mobile Climbing Wall, Bucking Bronco, Sheepdog Handling, Giant jenga/connect 4 and snakes & ladders, 9 Hole Crazy Golf, Archery, Circus Skills Workshop, Fairground Stalls, Bouncy castle, Face painter, Pippa’s pottery, JustSo James – Variety entertainer, Martial Arts Demo AND BREATH.. Beer tent, Hog Roast, Ronaldo’s Ice Creams, Mrs Hood’s donuts & crepes, East Anglia Air Ambulance!
For more information on how you can get involved this Saturday please email blog@angliangroup.com. Entry and car parking is also free.
Anglian Home Improvements, formerly known as Anglian Windows. Supporting local communities since 1966.
Jack Piper reports back into the Anglian Blog after an eventful race day at Snetterton on Sunday:
“Well, we managed to salvage something from the disappointment of qualifying to pick up some valuable championships points at Snetterton – and I have to thank everyone who turned up from Anglian Home Improvements for your brilliant support.
It was really something to have so many people stopping by the garage to meet the team, talk through what we’re up to and see the car. Everyone was incredibly supportive and keen to wish me well. It really meant a lot and I can’t thank you enough.
I only wish we could have kept up the good work of the season so far with another top ten finish to go with results at all the other tracks this year. After Saturday’s problems in qualifying it was always going to be hard to make progress from the back of the grid. Sometimes it just goes like that; it was just a pity it happened this week given we were on my home track and it was a big day for everyone concerned.
It didn’t stop everyone having a good time, judging by the generous comments you made during the day. It was good to see a group of Anglian people on the grid before the second race – even if you had to make a quick exit just before the start!
I want to say a special thanks to Phil who was a star looking after my pit board on the pit wall in the second race. Judging by his beaming smile after the race, I think it’s fair to say he enjoyed the experience! You did a great job Phil – feel free to join us again anytime!
So, thanks again to you all for your fantastic support. I know a lot of you came a long way to join us, which is really appreciated. I couldn’t ask for better sponsors.
Hopefully I’ll see some of you again next time out at Rockingham on the 11th and 12th September”.
Jack
Please keep an eye out on the blog for the very latest on Jack Piper from Rockingham early next month and check out the Anglian Flickr account for more pictures.
Anglian Home Improvements, formerly known as Anglian Windows. Helping support people and local communities since 1966.
Jack Piper reports into the Anglian Blog ahead of a big race day tomorrow at Snetterton raceway.
Saturday July 31
“At last we’ve arrived at the biggest weekend of the season, my home race at Snetterton, but I can only hope my luck improves tomorrow after a tough day in qualifying.
Heavy rain in the morning meant the first session was wet. I’m normally happy about driving in the rain, but it’s been a long time since we’ve been in wet conditions and I have to admit we struggled to hook things up, which was really frustrating after a strong test in dry conditions at Brands Hatch on Friday.
I pushed as hard as I could and improved my lap times throughout the session but then lost it at the final chicane on the penultimate lap. By the time I’d recovered the chequered flag came out just before I had the chance to start one more flying lap, so I had to settle for 15th place.
The second qualifying session started just after lunch with the track drying out. It was a close decision whether to go on slicks or wets, but just about everyone decided to stay safe with wets. I was determined to get a couple of quick early laps in, but got caught out under the bridge and ended up in a 360 spin and clipped the front wing.
I pitted straight away but the damaged was too bad to continue without a new nose cone. The team worked as quickly as they could to replace the nose and wing but I returned to the track and missed the chance of completing a flying lap by a few seconds.
That was huge pity because the track was basically dry by then and we’d put slick tyres on. I had a lot of grip and think I could have comfortably posted a top ten time if I’d been able to do at least one flying lap.
Like I say, a very frustrating day. Hopefully it can only get better tomorrow”.
Jack
Keep an eye out on the blog for the very latest from Snetterton after tomorrow’s race day.
Anglian Home Improvements, formerly known as Anglian Windows. Supporting communities and people since 1966.
