The Green Doctor proves to be a (potential) winner in the sustainability stakes

Published by JenCooke for National Federation of ALMOs in Housing and also in Communities, Environment

Local environmental regeneration charity, Groundwork Leeds, and housing partner Aire Valley Homes are thrilled to announce that their partnership project, the Green Doctor service, is a finalist in The Sustainable Housing Awards 2009 in the Energy Saving Initiative of the Year category. The awards celebrate the projects and organisations at the forefront of housing sustainability best practice. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony, due to be held at London’s Hilton Hotel on Friday October 23.
 

The Green Doctor service with Aire Valley Homes has been running since November 2007, tackling fuel poverty (defined as when a household has to spend more than 10% of its income on heating the home to an acceptable standard of warmth) amongst Aire Valley Homes’ most vulnerable tenants. By tackling fuel poverty, the service aims to reduce households’ fuel bills, improve tenants and residents’ health and reduce household CO2 emissions. The service includes workshop-style presentations and the installation of basic energy saving measures (such as energy efficient light bulbs, reflective radiator panels and hot water tank jackets) free of charge.
 

The Green Doctor Service with Aire Valley Homes has seen fantastic results. Up until March 2009, the service fitted 139 households with technical measures which helped save 13 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year – an impressive 136.7 tonnes over the measures’ lifetime. It also helped every client save almost £100 on average each year. Taking into account the lifetime of the measures and the total number of households fitted with these measures, the Green Doctor service with Aire Valley Homes has helped vulnerable tenants suffering from fuel poverty save almost £116,000.

Claire Pratley at Groundwork, says:
“We’re really excited to have been shortlisted as a finalist in such prestigious awards. It’s thanks to the Green Doctors’ hard work and enthusiasm, along with strong partnership support from Aire Valley Homes, that’s helped to make the service such a success. Regardless of the outcome in October, it’s still a fantastic achievement for the service!”

Mark Wheelwright, Environmental Project Manager at Aire Valley Homes, says:
“The welfare of our tenants and residents is paramount, and by partnering with Groundwork to run the Green Doctor service we were able to work directly with vulnerable tenants who would otherwise be at high risk of fuel poverty. As well as providing cost savings to our customers, we calculated the cost savings of the scheme outweighed the initial investment by more than 10 times representing exceptional value for money and customer benefit.
 

“We’ve already seen the winning results of this service through our customers, and the possibility of winning an award for this fantastic scheme would be the icing on the cake - we’ve all got our fingers crossed.”