CommuniHeat was featured in this article in the CIBSE Journal – a widely read trade magazine. ‘Made to measure: using digital twins to calculate heating demand in a Sussex village.’

“A digital twin of an East Sussex village is being created by Buro Happold to assess how demand for heating and electric vehicle charging will affect the electrification strategy for rural communities. Andy Pearson reports.”

Decarbonising heat is difficult… but a Sussex village could hold the key. The village in question is Barcombe, which is where UK Power Networks and Community Energy South are hosting the innovative Communiheat project, alongside local community group Ovesco and Buro Happold.

 

Together, these organisations aim to accelerate the shift from fossil fuel-based heating to clean electrification, by considering a range of technologies such as air source heat pumps to transition the entire area away from fossil fuels in one go.

 

Ashita Anand, Innovation Project Lead at UK Power Networks, and Ollie Pendered, CEO of Community Energy South, spoke to future Net Zero about the barriers and opportunities involved, as well as what further action is needed and how other communities can participate and drive behaviour change to reach net zero.

 

Ashita said: “Fossil fuel-based heating is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK and that’s contributing to around a third of the emissions, that’s why decarbonising heat is actually vital to meeting the UK’s net zero by 2050 target.”

Nicki Myers and Mark Engineer from the Ovesco team for CommuniHeat at Sewells Farm, in Barcombe, where a local solar scheme provides renewable energy to a local business park.

A Sussex village could hold one of the keys to helping the UK reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Residents in Barcombe, East Sussex, are helping their local electricity network operator to create a model roadmap for ‘greener’ home heating that will in time show the way for other communities to follow suit.

Fossil-fuel based heating accounts for around a third of UK carbon emissions, making decarbonising heat a vital part of the UK’s legally-binding commitment to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Across the UK, there are four million properties like those in Barcombe which are ‘off-gas grid’, meaning residents burn fossil fuels for cooking and heating. This produces significant carbon emissions and is often expensive.

Over 600 households are involved in the ‘CommuniHeat’ project, run by network operator UK Power Networks. Throughout the two-year project, engineers will work with community groups and local partners to research, gather data and compare approaches for reducing the village’s carbon emissions from household heating.

CommuniHeat aims to best understand how Barcombe and similar communities could switch to low-carbon heating using electricity. Engineers from UK Power Networks will work with local community group Ovesco to host digital community events and engagement to understand residents’ needs and opinions. The project will also install energy meters in the village and consultancy Buro Happold will create new computer models to forecast the impacts of electrifying heat. In doing so, the project partners hope to create a sustainable, replicable model for Barcombe that could be applied in other parts of the country.

Data from the newly-installed meters will offer new insights into how residents currently use their energy. With this new information, UK Power Networks can run advanced simulations for different approaches to installing low carbon electrical heating. The simulations will investigate the costs, efficiency, and electricity network impact of multiple different approaches, including shared district heating, medium sized heat pumps serving a few properties, or personal electrical heat pumps installed at each property.

The project will then look at potential community finance models for making the switch and analyse how other smart technology like electric vehicles and solar power could play a role. With a clear plan in place, residents will understand what a zero carbon future could look like.

Maria Caulfield MP for Lewes Constituency, said: “Decarbonising heating systems is crucial to tackling the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions and I’m delighted that Barcombe is leading the way to demonstrate how to make the decarbonisation of heat a reality. It is fantastic to see UK Power Networks passionately collaborating with a range of stakeholders, to ensure they support rural constituents like mine to decarbonise as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Ian Cameron, head of customer services and innovation, said: “This project is all about facilitating the reduction of carbon emissions through collaboration. We know where emissions come from, and we know the end goal. We’re delighted to be working with this forward-thinking community to actively make net zero heating a reality for all.”

Ollie Pendered, local resident and Chief Executive of Community Energy South, “We are incredibly proud to be working with experts from UK Power Networks, Buro Happold and local pioneering Community Energy Group Ovesco to make a low carbon future a reality for rural villages. CommuniHeat has the potential to take rural communities to net zero fast, create a new market for local installers, create future jobs while benefiting residents. Coupled with the impact of Covid-19 and the need to tackle climate change, this project has a real chance of making a positive impact.”

Chris Rowland, Director of Ovesco, said: “We established Ovesco in 2007 working with Lewes District Council to support local people across the district on the benefits of low carbon energy. Communiheat will mean that we can support local people and establish a locally employed team to support the transition to low carbon future, making energy work for us and save money on household bills.”

Phil Proctor, Associate Director Energy of Buro Happold, said: “Decarbonisation of heat is crucial if we are going to deliver against our carbon targets, but it’s not without its challenges.

“Buro Happold is therefore very excited to work with UK Power Networks, Ovesco and Community Energy South to ‘write the book’ on how communities can work together with the local network utility to develop the best solutions incorporating local area planning and community energy services.”

Notes to editors:

1. Ovesco is a pioneering community interest company run for the local community in Lewes and the surrounding area since 2007. The first of its kind in the UK, Ovesco was described as ‘the vanguard of the community revolution’ when winning the Ashden Award in 2014. Since then, Ovesco has created community owned renewable energy projects, generating local investment and saving many tonnes of carbon emissions. Ovesco is a founding member of Community Energy South, a regional umbrella group for the community energy sector in the South East. On this project Community Energy South is a support partner for Ovesco, and advising on communications and sharing best practice. Community Energy South will work with the Partners to write the book on how communities can achieve the transition to low-carbon heating over the next 10 years so we can share our learning with other rural communities throughout the UK.
Examples of Ovesco projects: Brickyard Farm in Barcombe has 19.5kW of solar PV generating 18,500kW, saving 7.95 tonnes of carbon a year and providing free electricity to the eco friendly facilities at the Secret Campsite. Barcombe Nursery Box Scheme has 9kW of solar PV generating 9,500kW, saving 4.1 tonnes of carbon a year and providing free electricity for the on site chillers to keep the fruit and vegetables fresh prior to delivery. Our vision is for a future where 100% of our energy needs are generated locally from renewable resource. Our mission is to generate community owned renewable energy locally and help as many people as possible to do the same. We educate and help people to use less oil, coal and gas and share our experience to inspire others. 

2. Buro Happold Described as ‘passionate’, ‘innovative’, ‘collaborative’: Buro Happold is an independent, international engineering practice that for over 40 years has become synonymous  with the delivery of creative, value led building and city solutions for an ever changing world. Having worked on every continent, their clients include more than 90% of the world’s leading architectural practices and they have collaborated with global organisations such as the United Nations, The World Bank and UNESCO. Through their global community of driven, world leading engineering and consulting professionals they deliver elegant solutions for buildings and cities that seek to address the major problems facing societies today.
They have made two important pledges: Aim to be net zero carbon for their own business operations by the end of the financial year ending April 2021; their target is that all new build projects will be net zero carbon in operation by 2030 and all projects by 2050.

3. UK Power Networks is the country’s biggest electricity distributor, making sure the lights stay on for more than eight million homes and businesses across London, the South East and the East of England.
Network operators aren’t the same as energy suppliers; network operators manage local power lines and substations, while energy suppliers sell the electricity that runs through the power lines.
UK Power Networks continues to be listed in the Sunday Times’ Top 25 Best Big Companies to Work For, and made industry history by becoming first company to win Utility of the Year two years running (2015 and 2016, also 2012).
The company invests more than £600 million in its electricity networks every year, offers extra help to vulnerable customers at times of need, and is undertaking trials to ensure that electricity networks support the transition to a low carbon future. It also moves cables and connects new electricity supplies. If you have a power cut ring 105, see ukpowernetworks.co.uk or tweet us @UKPowerNetworks

The Ovesco team has been out and about in Barcombe quite a bit of late. We had our event at the village hall in June, and our stall at the Barcombe Bonfire event in July. We even did a spot of door knocking! We’ve delivered questionnaires to every home in the village. If you’ve returned yours already, thank you! If you haven’t had a chance, please do take a few minutes to do. We included an envelope to return it in, or you can drop it off at the village shop. Or you can do it online at www.communiheat.com. You can also still have a free home energy assessment!

It’s been great to talk to so many people. There’s definitely plenty of appetite for the CommuniHeat project, and almost everyone recognises that it’s essential to transition away from fossil fuel heating, and quickly. There have been plenty of questions too – which is just as it should be. And one of the most frequent questions is – how’s it going to be paid for?

This issue is so fundamental to the CommuniHeat project and to the transition as a whole. How can it be made achievable and affordable for all? It’s been great to see it in the news recently, with experts calling for poorer UK households to receive free heat pumps, and the Prime Minister acknowledging to the Commons Liaison Committee that there are challenges that must be met around affordability.

Well, we have some welcome news ourselves on this front! We’ve been made aware of a new source of funding for green home improvements for homes in East Sussex, worth up to £10,000 per household. These improvements could include better insulation, heat pumps, solar PV or thermal, and much else besides. This particular funding is designed for people on lower incomes living in homes which have a below average standard of energy performance, so it’s not a complete solution. But if you qualify, we would definitely recommend looking into it.

To be eligible you need to have:

1. A gross (before tax) household income of under £30,000 p.a. OR a net household income of less than £20,000 after tax, NI, mortgage or rent and council tax. (Please note that disability benefits aren’t counted as income.)
2.A current EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) rating of D, E, F or G.

Applications need to be submitted by 30th September 2021. If you think you qualify, feel free to contact us on communiheat@ovesco.co.uk or 01273 472405. If you think you might be eligible, but you aren’t sure, get in touch anyway and we’ll help you figure it out.

As the move towards decarbonising heat gathers momentum, other funding will become available. Rest assured we’ll also be keeping a very close eye out, and as soon as we hear of any, we’ll let you know!

We’ve had a busy month at Ovesco! Since December’s piece in Barcombe News, dozens of residents have got in touch wanting to get involved with CommuniHeat. Many of you have kindly given us permission to install energy-use monitors and conduct energy-use surveys within your homes; others have put yourselves forward to be “Energy Champions,” installing the equipment and doing the surveys; some have volunteered for both. We had two webinars for residents in mid-December. Thanks to those who attended – having an ongoing conversation with you all is so important.

We’re delighted at the positive response, and it makes the goal of being a net zero village by 2030 seem achievable. It’s a good start. But it’s just the start!

Now, some of you who weren’t able to attend the webinars might be considering taking part, but wondering what’s involved. What will be installed? What does it look like? Will I be falling over it all the time? Will they be drilling holes and cutting into pipes, or spending hours and hours on their surveys? Well, the simple answer is no! We want to make everything as easy as possible. The devices, which have been selected with this in mind, will be small (no bigger than 10×10 cm), wireless, and unobtrusive. The room-by-room surveys take an average of two hours (depending on the size and construction of your house – three hours worst case.) All our Energy Champions will be fully trained and follow Covid protocols.

Also, the information provided won’t just be useful for us. You’ll get a clear idea of how your home performs, and how it could be improved. And of course you’ll get up to £50 in vouchers as a “thank you” from us!
If you’d like to take part, or have any questions, email communiheat@ovesco.co.uk or call 01273 472405.

Oil heating isn’t great in a lot of ways. It can be costly. It’s messy and it’s smelly. You have to remember to monitor your oil levels. (My house ran out last winter. The experience of staggering around with jerrycans, trying my hardest not to spill oil in my back garden, isn’t one I’d care to repeat.)

But worst of all, it creates a LOT of CO2. And this means no matter what steps you take to lower the carbon footprint for your household – installing solar, driving less, eating locally sourced food – you know it’s going to be significantly higher than the national average, simply because your home runs on oil. And of course it’s not just us Barcombites (Barcombians?) who have this issue. Around 1.5 million households across the UK have oil heating, and it accounts for a sizeable chunk of national emissions. Phasing it out is essential if the UK is to meet its zero emissions targets.
This month, Lewes-based community energy group Ovesco are launching a project (the first of its kind in the UK!) to help find a way for our village to transition to electric heating. This project, which is called ‘CommuniHeat’ and will be undertaken in partnership with electricity network provider UK Power Networks and engineering consultancy Buro Happold, will run for the next two years. Locally recruited ‘energy champions’ will gather data on current energy usage from hundreds of local houses by undertaking surveys and installing free meters. This data will be used to plan for how the village could make the transition to electricity. The ultimate goal is to get the village to net zero emissions by 2030 while also creating new local jobs, and to create a masterplan which could be replicated across the country and make Barcombe a pioneer in sustainable energy.

Projects like CommuniHeat could play a huge part in tackling the climate and environment emergency, and safeguarding the future for our children and their children. Being at the forefront of this is exciting stuff! Nevertheless, some of us will have questions. Some of us will wonder about the impact of such a major transformation on our village. All perfectly understandable. That’s why Ovesco will be running regular online community events and forums so residents can find out more, and someone will always be on hand to answer all your questions via email or phone.

If you’d like your household to take part in the project, or you’re interested in becoming an energy champion, or you have any questions, then you can call Ovesco on 01273 472405 or email mark.engineer@ovesco.co.uk.