This five-year programme of activities aims to help stimulate growth in Dorset’s low carbon economy and reduce the county’s carbon footprint.  Funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the project is hosted by the council and supports businesses, community, and public sector organisations. The aim is to help improve organisations’ energy efficiency, increase the use of renewable energy, and aid the development of new low carbon products.

The council provides free technical advice to support organisations to deliver carbon reduction projects and, until recently, grants were available to cover 40% of project costs. Work is underway to secure funding to continue the programme when the current EU funding dries up. The programme is the first of its kind in Dorset, working across two unitary authority areas, covering both the urban and rural county.

This programme may be unique in creating in-house energy expertise via technical officer roles, rather than using funds to buy in energy audit consultancy services, resulting in the council being able to be respond to client needs.  Technical officers support clients from the initial stages of understanding their energy demand, through to completing the installation of their low-carbon measures. This has enabled the council’s knowledge of ‘what really works’ for organisations to grow and adapt how support is provided in future.

Building this knowledge has also enabled the council to share tried and tested tips, by creating sector-specific guidance and case studies. These resources provide other organisations with an insight into the benefits and challenges involved in delivering a low carbon project. The organisations supported are often the most powerful advocates to encourage others to get started on their low carbon journey. Due to the strong relationships they build with technical officers, the council is able to amplify their voices through its communications channels and create peer-to-peer learning opportunities with organisations looking to implement similar projects.

The grant fund has specific innovation criteria for public sector organisations, encouraging innovative, whole-building approaches to reduce energy consumption. The council has supported small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop, test and market new low carbon products, or introduce innovative energy-saving processes to their businesses.

The benefits

The headline outputs for our grant funded projects are:

Carbon emissions reduced by over 10,000 tonnes CO₂ equivalent per year

More than 1,000,000 kWh per year reduction in energy use in public buildings

13 megawatts of renewable energy installed  

64 rented homes with energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy installations

Seven SMEs developing and testing low carbon innovations.

The programme has also:

Helped SMEs remain viable and protected community spaces through tough economic conditions

Enabled public sector organisations to lead by example and inspire local climate action

Shown low-carbon measures can be installed at sites subject to planning constraints

Helped stimulate growth in Dorset’s low carbon economy

In total, 195 completed projects, plus 16 contracted projects due to complete by the end of January 2023, have received a total of £6.2 million grants. Combined with match funding, this has contributed over £17 million to Dorset’s low carbon economy.  The council has contributed approximately £95,000 towards running costs and internal costs for hosting the project.   In addition to carbon savings, grant supported projects also create financial savings. For example, Dorset Council’s Greenspace Team is estimated to save £5,000 -£10,000 a year thanks to its low carbon project.

The Canopy Project is an urban forestry initiative which aims to increase tree canopy cover in Cambridge by 2% by the 2050s.

The project seeks to build climate resilience – both adapting to climate change and mitigating against it, for instance by tackling urban heat stress and through soaking up storm water.

The work, part of the Interreg 2 Seas Programme ‘Nature Smart Cities’ project, contributes to the sustainable management of Cambridge’s urban forest, complementing and enhancing current arboriculture practices through urban forestry approaches to tree planting, management and protection, and public engagement.

The benefits

The project’s activities have delivered a range of tangible outcomes in the form of approximately 2,660 new trees planted across the city’s streets and open spaces since 2019 – exceeding the project’s initial planting target (2,000 trees). Some of these were realised through additional fundraising exercises and processes made possible by the project. The remaining 200 trees funded through the Nature Smart Cities project will be planted during the 2022-2023 planting season.

Additionally, 1,090 trees have been gifted to private landowners. Further tree giveaways were carried out during 2022, through the Free Trees for Babies scheme and the Neighbourhood Canopy Campaign.

Communication, outreach, awareness raising, and engagement activities carried out through the project have increased understanding among the people of Cambridge about the importance of trees and the urban forest, the role these play in combatting the impacts of climate change, and how they can get involved too, helping to build greater climate resilience and community cohesion.

The project

The council has partnered with Green Business UK to give eligible businesses the opportunity to become internationally recognised by achieving the ‘Green Tourism Standard’. This is a fully funded opportunity for one year which enables businesses in the district to work towards this coveted status.

Having spent a lot of time supporting local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic building a wider business support offer, the council was keen to support tourism and leisure businesses with rising costs, having been significantly affected by restrictions.  The council’s efforts will help contribute to West Lancashire becoming a Green Tourism destination. This additional funding therefore opens up the opportunity where businesses could not have otherwise afforded to access it. The programme will support businesses to reduce their costs and achieve carbon neutrality, and will also assist them to:

• Save money by reducing their energy and water use.
• Demonstrate their commitment to sustainability, following their assessment and accreditation to the Green Tourism Standard and achieve the bronze, silver, or gold status.
• Promote their green business to visitors and to help make West Lancashire a destination in sustainable tourism.

Green Business UK will offer successful businesses discounted fees in years two and three, to continue their green journey and to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability.  To compliment the programme, the council is currently developing a Green Business Grant, and businesses who successfully achieve an accreditation will be invited to apply. The grant will help businesses implement their new greener ways of working.

The benefits

In the short time the programme has been available to local businesses, 11 have signed up to date, with more local businesses expressing an interest. These businesses range from independent retailers, a micro glamping business, independent hoteliers, and the council’s two largest tourism attractions: Farmer Teds Adventure Farm, and Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Martin Mere site.

Edge Hill University have also signed up across two areas of their campus, to include their conferencing facilities and sports centre, and are using the programme as a live project for students, to educate the next generation of business and environmental entrepreneurs!

Delivering this scheme has enabled the council to strengthen relations with its businesses, by helping to educate and prepare them to be more sustainable and environmentally aware within their own business.  Positive outcomes see businesses working more with local suppliers to deliver services and not over stocking goods to reduce wastage.

A quote from one participating business owner, Derry from Secret Garden Glamping said, “By joining the Green Tourism programme, it has enabled me to look at where I can action small changes to make a bigger impact on the environment as well as save costs to my business, it’s a great initiative led by the council!”.

The project

Stroud District Council was the first local authority in Europe to become carbon neutral. As part of its commitment to making Stroud a carbon neutral district by 2030, the council is working with strategic partners from across Gloucestershire to lead retrofit action for the county. The Gloucestershire Climate Leadership Group includes all local authorities, the local enterprise partnership (LEP), the local nature partnership and the NHS.

This has built on the council’s extensive experience working with the third sector to deliver award winning affordable warmth projects. Each of these projects are led by different service areas and works to convene a new set of countywide partners. Newer projects have opened-up evolving partnerships working to deliver public and social housing decarbonisation within the district.

In order to meet the strategic challenges posed by the retrofit agenda, the council has brought together officers working across service areas to deliver effective practical support for retrofit. This allows the sharing of expertise to tackle strategic issues like the supply chain, skills deficiencies, energy infrastructure and stimulating a local retrofit economy.

The partnerships developed as part of this have county-wide support and officers in each workstream are working to secure national level buy-in to the project. These different projects are targeted to attract different beneficiaries:

• The Warm and Well project supports vulnerable consumers
• Social Housing Decarbonisation Funds Wave 1 & Pilot improves tenant homes
• Innovate to Renovate is building retrofit advisory services to support private households
• One Public Estate (zero carbon project) is a viability project for rationalising and improving the efficiency of the public estate with stakeholders including Stroud Town Council, Gloucestershire County Council and fire and rescue services.

The benefits

This has provided real benefits to strategic partners through knowledge, which has in turn allowed these partners to redirect their own resources and action. For example, the LEP – leading on economy and skills – has said that this has allowed them to identify a focal point for efforts and developing a deeper understanding of the issues.

The council has also worked in close partnership with South Gloucestershire and Stroud College to secure £450,000 from pooled business rates funding, to set up the Berkeley Low Carbon Training Centre. This will be established in 2023 to train 750 installers and 200 design professionals in essential retrofit and related low carbon skills.

This has also provided parity datasets for Innovate to Renovate partners for insights to the housing stock. A website, knowledge hub and branding is also in development for the private sector.

Ongoing achievements in securing and delivering grants and support to affordable warmth customers and developing new projects such as the Low Carbon Communities (private households) work to be delivered under UKSPF.

The project

The council is working in partnership with six other local authorities, as part of the Greater Brighton Economic Board, to deliver an insulation and renewable energy programme for 40,000 social homes across their areas. The cross-sector Housing Retrofit Taskforce established in 2021, with partners investing £300,000, will work to unlock the path for local homes to be zero carbon by 2030.

The ‘Lewes’ model empowers local supply chains to encourage economic growth and upskilling, bringing together whole carbon and retrofit experts, alongside universities and partners from all tiers of local government. The taskforce has the overarching objective to future proof the region’s homes.

In turn, it will chart how social housing and public sector buildings can be improved at scale across the region while boosting new skills, quality ‘green-collar’ jobs, and investment in low carbon industries. The partners’ councils agreed to tap into a £1 billion housing repairs and maintenance budget for council-owned social housing to decarbonise these homes.

The taskforce has, in response to the cost-of-living crisis, identified the need to target fuel costs at the same time as developing the supply chain for retrofit. However, the costs of deep retrofit rising steadily alongside inflation has indicated a funding gap in local Housing Revenue Account accounts.

The Benefits

The taskforce has now undertaken its initial research. This proved the premise of the collaboration that by leveraging council budgets alongside long-term collaboration, is the optimal manner to deliver long-term retrofit planning.

The partnership will now move into design and mobilisation of the programme, seeking grant funding from central government ready to deliver zero carbon homes by 2030.

This collaboration will deliver mass retrofitting in the fact of stop-start funding for retrofitting of private homes and social housing. By kickstarting the market through their own housing stock, this will develop the skills and market required to deliver a comprehensive retrofitting programme to all homes in their area.

Particularly for the rural districts in the partnership, this will act as an invaluable lever to encouraging green local economic growth.  By focusing on their local economies, these councils will be able deliver retrofitting at a cheaper cost for all private households seeking to improve energy efficiency.

The project

The Coastal Partners have designed and implemented the UK’s first large-scale “Ecoformliner” at the North Portsea Island Coastal Defence Scheme.  The innovative design was developed to create a textured finish on concrete seawalls to create a unique environment that allows plants and animals to colonise the wall, adding to biodiversity and habitat creation in an area that would otherwise not be suitable.  It also improves the resilience of the wall.  As marine vegetation colonises the wall it helps to reduce salt ingress and egress by retaining a constant surface temperature and moisture during low tides.  This process helps to counter weather-related deterioration, providing greater resilience and longevity.

The Ecoformliner mould is reusable so can be used numerous times increasing efficiencies in construction.  The innovative design with its repeatable pattern can also be adapted to be used along the entire 2km length but can also be adapted to be used on other projects.

The benefits

Construction of the sea wall commenced in April 2021 and will take a number of years to complete.  Not only will the overall flood defence scheme will protect the community with over 4,200 homes, just under 500 commercial properties, arterial roads, scheduled monuments, a primary rail route, 89 substations, properties, and schools from coastal flooding over the next 100 years.  At the same time, it will also improve the environment.  This unique approach will enhance the habitat potential for 2km of seawall which would otherwise have been inhospitable.  This award-winning Ecoformliner has been designed, so that the texturing covers the whole wall to allow the species to move with sea level rise.

As part of its commitment to reduce carbon emissions, the council has undertaken a number of innovative projects including the installation of 24 electric vehicle charging points in its car parks, funded in part by Office Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) grants, to save more than 17,000kg of CO2 since 2019.  Much more recently, to reduce the emissions directly as part of its own operations, the council made a total switch to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) for its diesel vehicles in February 2022.

Unwilling to wait for technology to be developed for larger vehicles, the council opted to use HVO as it could simply be used instead of diesel without changing the vehicles, affecting an immediate reduction in carbon emissions.  The change was applied to the council’s whole fleet of more than 100 vehicles, including 30 refuse collection vehicles, as well as vans and cars used by the housing service, pool cars and even the machinery used in the waste transfer station.

The benefits

This project has resulted in a significant contribution to reducing the council’s carbon output, whilst providing the capacity to transition to a low carbon fleet. It also provides a clear benefit in protecting air quality in the district. Engaging HVO fuel reduces CO₂ emissions by up to 90%, NOx emissions by up to 27% and PM emissions by up to 84%.

The council’s reputation has been strengthened, for example from providing the procurement of oil through an ethically backed supply chain.  As well as reducing the council’s carbon footprint, the council has found that the fleet is easier to maintain. Due to the nature of the work – short journeys from one place to the next – the fuel in the vehicles would not typically heat up enough to trigger the Diesel Particulate Filter, which burns off soot particles. With HVO burning at a higher temperature, the council has found the maintenance of its vehicles has become easier as it’s not suffering from this issue. An added bonus!

The project

The council made a decision to redevelop this sunken roundabout to provide an attractive green space in the town centre. The previous tiling and fixtures from the 1970s had deteriorated over a number of years. The roundabout and adjoining gardens had also become a hotspot for antisocial behaviour and crime, which residents and visitors avoided as they entered the town centre.

The project utilised advance Town Deal funding to improve safety and public realm in the area. The redevelopment was undertaken through a multi-agency partnership, working with Staffordshire Police, Staffordshire County Council, the council’s CCTV operator and local business to provide the art and tiles.

By working with partners throughout the process, the project was able to deliver each partner’s desired outcomes.  To improve safety and assist the police to respond to incidents, live-monitored CCTV cameras were installed in all five subway barrels and at entrance/exit points. Lighting was improved at the main entrance from the adjacent car park, with outreach services deployed to support rough sleepers alongside security marshalls to tackle anti-social behaviour.  A number of aesthetic improvements were made, with a comprehensive landscape scheme, parapets being repainted, and new benches added to allow residents to enjoy this new public space. Increased cleaning activity was also implemented to quickly remove drinking/drug material, making the area much more attractive.

The benefits

As part of the project, the council commissioned a local ceramics business to provide bespoke artwork featuring Newcastle’s 30-year Britain in Bloom campaign and local heritage features.  Local artists were also commissioned to provide custom murals for walls in the approach areas; this presents a positive, attractive image of the town centre. The project was completed in early 2022. It has resulted in a renovated public space, which is much more attractive to visitors to the town centre. This is benefitting local businesses through increased footfall and dwell time, with further public satisfaction and confidence. For the police and the local authorities, this has provided faster response times and reduced incidence of crime and anti-social behaviour.

The project

Green Rewards is an online platform using gamification techniques to incentivise and encourage residents to undertake positive environmental behaviour change. It allows residents to accumulate points for undertaking sustainable actions which contribute to the carbon reduction drive in Nottinghamshire.

It came about in October 2021 through a partnership currently comprised of six out of seven district councils in Nottinghamshire, its county council, Nottingham City Council, two universities and the platform creator Jump.

Residents use the platform to log their positive climate change actions, using an app or via computer, and can participate in monthly challenges to win points. Actions focus on six themes: travel; waste and recycling; energy and carbon; ‘getting involved’; purchasing and consumption; and biodiversity. There are 4-6 actions under each theme – for instance washing clothes at 30 degrees. Positive actions win points, with accumulated points contributing to householders’ places on a leader board. Prizes are on offer to two winners selected per district area each month.

The benefits

There are 5,604 Green Rewards members across the county. Residents have undertaken over 130,000 actions, which meant that 328 tonnes of carbon were not emitted.

Green Awards is also helping residents save money on their energy bills and the scheme offers users a 15% discount on Nottingham City Transport.

The platform has also been used to facilitate campaigns including Sustainability Month in which users managed to avoid the carbon equivalent of 45 London-New York return flights, a biodiversity photo competition and ‘Switch Off November’.

The project

The project relates to the decarbonisation of the council’s assets with particular reference to leisure centre facilities.  The innovation relates to state-of-the-art technology being installed to reduce carbon emissions and meet the target of the council’s operations and services being net carbon zero by 2030.

Measures include the installation of air source heat pumps at the majority of leisure centres to significantly reduce reliance on gas and focus on more green energy.  The air source heat pumps are set to be the primary source of heating swimming pools.

The council’s Olympic-size outdoor pool was not suitable for an air source heat pump so the council therefore took a more innovative approach by installing what was at the time the largest solar thermal array of its kind. This technology will cut back significantly on the reliance on gas and on very bright days particularly during the summer months excess generation feeds hot water to the swimming pool showers.

Further innovation has taken place at Bicester Leisure Centre, where a large solar car port has been installed.  This provides ‘free’ energy, which is drawn into the leisure centre, reducing the reliance on electricity from the grid.

The benefits

The council has seen reductions in its gas bills and Cherwell’s leisure operator will see an improvement in its display energy certificate ratings and know that the centre it manages is being delivered in a more sustainable way.  Some of the innovative projects will also help the users of the centre with improved lighting conditions for certain sports with new and more reliable LED technology.

Outcomes being delivered will be the reduction of carbon emissions assessed prior to installation of 1075.04 tCO2e per annum and financial savings of approximately £185,000 a year.  In the period of August to November 2022, the leisure centres in Banbury and Bicester saw savings of around 20% on gas consumption compared to the same period the previous year.