*Delayed start - starting c 12.45pm* Webchat about energy-saving with Ed Davey, Energy and Climate Change Minister, Wednesday 13 February, now 12.45pm

[JustineMumsnet]

Hi all,
We'll be welcoming the Rt Hon Edward Davey, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, for a webchat on this Wednesday, Feb 13th at 12.30pm - 1.30pm.

Ed Davey has been the LibDem MP for Kingston and Surbiton since 1997 and lives in Surbiton with his wife and son. He served in a number of shadow roles since 2001, including Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Shadow Education and Skills Secretary, and became a Minister in the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) in May 2011, after the forming of the current coalition government.

Ed is interested in hearing your thoughts on a wide range of issues, including the Government's new Green Deal policy, which launched in late January

Please post your question in advance on this thread, or join us live on Wednesday from 12.30pm-1.30pm.

Who do we call when the energy bills don't come down be the predicted amounts, but we still have the loan to pay?

The customer journey within the Green Deal starts with getting an assessment from a Green Deal Advisor and the data collected underpins the financial product they MIT end up with ie will the improvements installed pay for themselves so they are either better off or warmer/healthier etc. So what are you doing to guarantee the integrity and impartiality of the assessment, and how is a race to the bottom of fees prevented, particularly for sole trader (likely the better) GDAs?

BlueNeil61 - The Green Deal Advisor Association has had 777 surveys ordered in 2 weeks, that sounds like a good take up to me.

www.gdaa.org.uk

@Chrisjw

Ed, You say Green Deal is a flagship policy, but 90% of homeowners don't know what it is. You have spent £400k on a couple of adverts, but in total over 2 years will spend under £3m on awareness. That's 1/76th of the awareness money the Govt spent on the digital switchover. When will you back this policy seriously?

Hi Chris
We didn't want to start advertising until everything was ready to go - that would have wasted money and left people disappointed - so we've actually only just started our advertising spend.
There's been a recent yougov survey that shows after two weeks 39% of people say they've heard of green deal - so awareness is rising. And we've got some more advertising planned.
It's a fine balance - we want to stimulate demand, but we want the industry's supply chains to develop sustainably, and we certainly don't want to waste taxpayers' money. Plus lots of firms are now starting their own advertising. So we are keeping that under review, and will be spending more

Ed,

The Green Deal loan obviously stays with the property rather than the tenant. If the original tenant then leaves, will this loan not put off many potential new tenants?

This also leads me to my second question. If a property becomes void and yet still has a Green Deal loan attached, who is responsible for paying for it?

@JonLew

Ed ..You say "Nowadays, I think lots of politicians, from all parties, recognise the threat from climate change" ..but how many of the nation's MP's do you believe really "get it " and will push to Act. Now.?

Reminder to all to please restrict yourself to one question so everyone can get a turn. Please do take a look at our webchat guidelines for more explanation. Txs.

Hi Ed
I am a Green deal Advisor. Green Deal is with no upfront cost but we charge them £99 to £150 for GD assessment. If customer does not proceed for GD, then what about the upfront cost? Because he/she was stimulated for assessment by GD. Thanks

@Superhomeharriet

You delivered an excellent speech yesterday at the Royal Society making your concern about climate change and your commitment to sustainable energy clear. Thank you. In the meantime the Energy Bill is in committee stage. Although amendments have been added so that the Secretary of state may set a decarbonisation target range after 2016, no such target is set in the current bill. The Climate Change Committee recommended a target of 50gm CO2 per kWh of electricity generated but even the much weaker target of 100gm CO2 is not is set. This leaves me feeling that the Conservative MPs on your committee really lack the determination necessary for the country to decarbonise our energy by 80% in 2050 as promised in the Climate Change Bill. Do you really feel the Energy Bill has the teeth it needs for real change?

Thank you super harriet! In giving the speech i felt i was talking to an audience who knew more than I did, given there was so many brilliant scientists working on climate change analysis in the room.
As for the energy bill, the climate change committee argued for the target to be set in secondary legislation and not on the face of the bill, so the amendments we've made have some support. The real debate in government was first whether to have one, and then when to set it. We propose to set in 2016 - when i predict we will probably be the first country ever to set such a target (though if I'm wrong, I'm pleased others will have copied our approach!). As for teeth, the bill is a dramatic step forward for low carbon - and it's about incentives really not teeth! We have to persuade investors to invest tens of billions of pounds, so we need a framework that attracts that cash, whilst not costing people and business too much.
Naturally, i think we've got the balance right!!

Please don't plug your Green Deal business on this webchat. If you'd like info on advertising to Mumsnet users then do please drop us a line at [email protected]. We'd be delighted to assist. Thank you.

39%? Hard to believe this in just two weeks....when you were placing the Advert in The Times ( amongst others) Surely the Green Deal isn't really aimed at the middle class Times reader who can just put energy improvement measures on their mortgage at c2%?

PaulJHarrison76, in RdSAP there should be the option to input a known U-value if you know it - this will over-ride the assumption that the cavity is insulated. For an unfilled cavity, dependent on construction, it will generally be 1.60/1.55 W/m2K - when you enter this a recommendation for cavity wall insulation should be included?

@ariannasdei

How is the price of energy in the future calculated within the green deal? Can you please let me know where I can find this information? Thank you.

It's calculated on the current price of energy - so if the price of energy goes up, the savings will be even higher. Now, you might say, what if energy prices go down? Two points. The estimates of savings are very conservative - deliberately underscored, so even if prices fall a bit, it's likely you'd still gain. Yet - and here's some bad news - all the predictions are that energy prices are going to continue going up - partly because of the global demand in countries from china to india, especially for gas. So, that's yet another reason to do green deal - insulate your pocket from likely higher energy prices, and get a warmer home and a bigger bank balance

Ed

Please please please legislate so that shops close their doors. Over 100 high street chains have open door policies and blast hot air into the street, even some charity shops. In summer it's the same with air conditioning. Staff are cold in winter, hot in summer, and exposed to pollution from traffic. It's scandalous. It's the lowest hanging carbon reduction fruit imaginable. Please visit www.closethedoor.org.uk for more details. Please stop this madness.

Mumsnetters, please throw your weight behind this campaign - who do you think is paying for the additional heating? Yep, YOU.

Hello Ed,

I have invested a lot of money in becoming a GDA and GDI and have been gearing my business up specifically for Green Deal. I am now losing money on a weekly basis as i do not have the ability to find a Provider who has the software ready or finance available to create a Green Deal plan. Please can you explain why when the scheme was due to launch in October, now at the end of January but things still are not underway.

@UpOverAndOut

Hi Ed, You've said previously you're not a fan of on-shore wind turbines is that purely an issue of aesthetics?

Dear upoverandout
don't know your source - I am a fan of onshore wind, actually. I have said I don't think they are appropriate in every area, and we've increased the say iof local communities in planning and later this year will put forward proposals so local communities get bigger benefits from hosting a wind farm in their area. So I don't think wind farms should go everywhere, but they have a vital role to play in providing clean green energy for the future

Hi Ed,
Thanks for coming to Mumsnet. This government promised to be the "greenest ever" but all the noise coming out of the Treasury and No. 10 including the appointment of environment minister, Owen Paterson, (who many see as a climate change denier) seems to indicate that they've had a massive change of heart. You are obviously committed to the Green agenda, however. Do you really feel that Cameron and Osborne are too?

(Oh and by way of tradition, what's your fave biscuit?)

A couple of people have asked about what I've done to save energy...
Not enough - yet! I did replace my front door last year, which was leaking energy, and when we bought a new boiler two years ago, I researched hard and got a super energy efficient boiler - plus I now try to ensure the electric appliances I buy are labeled at least A (very energy efficient) or ideally A+++, (super energy efficient). however - and this is the key point - I'm going to get green dealed!!

What will happen when energy bills rise and the savings made are reduced, is there a chance that people will end up paying out of their own pockets rather than the savings in their energy bills?

Dear Ed,

Would you like me to carry out your Green Deal assessment?

@MattWilcox

Ed,

The Green Deal loan obviously stays with the property rather than the tenant. If the original tenant then leaves, will this loan not put off many potential new tenants?

This also leads me to my second question. If a property becomes void and yet still has a Green Deal loan attached, who is responsible for paying for it?

Dear Matt Wilcox,
thanks for that question. i think the green deal is a real boost for the private rented sector - where we have some of the least energy efficient homes in the UK. The probelmn before green deal, was that the landlord had not incentive to make the property warmer and more energy efficient - because the tenant paid the energy bill, whilst the landlord would be paying for the improvements. With the green deal, the incentives are aligned - the tenant pays the green deal charge, the landlord gets an improved property - but future tenants won't be put off, because they can be confident that the green deal charge they will pay on their energy bill, if they move in, will be lower thnan the energy savings made as a result of that charge. So the potential tenant knows they are moving into a warmer home, with almost certainly lower energy bills (including the green deal charge).
Far from putting a tenant or for that matter a future purchaser of your home off, the green deal ought to be highly attractive!
If the property is void, yet the landlord would end up picking up the green deal charge, but for any one period of being void, that cost will be small - and they have a very marketable property

Hello Ed,

How soon do you think Green Deal Plans will be installed in greater numbers?

A few mumsnetters are asking about businesses saving energy - good news! the green deal can be used by businesses to. We think it can be a great deal for small firms. No need to talk to the bank to improve your property, save costs and become more competitive. just go to www.gov.uk/greendeal and find out how to get your business a green deal

@Fahaad

Hi Ed I am a Green deal Advisor. Green Deal is with no upfront cost but we charge them £99 to £150 for GD assessment. If customer does not proceed for GD, then what about the upfront cost? Because he/she was stimulated for assessment by GD. Thanks

Great to see a green deal advisor here!
First, there are some firms whose business model doesn't include an assessment fee - but second, the green deal assessment may still be worth it for many people, even if they don't immediately proceed to call up a green deal installer. It might change their behaviour. They might decide to fund the home improvements a different way. They might use the assessment when selling their home later. They might wait till they decide to redecorate or fit a new kitchen and so on. So my message is simple - an assessment will be good value for money - but always check the assessor is an accreditred green deal advisor like you, Fahaad!

Sorry i broke the in house rules i only registered today for the first time , just trying to help everybody save money with cost effective energy saving products which are almost unknown to most Brits . will somebody explain what is permissible and what is not