A new environmental blogger has hit the web and his name is Steve Waller. Bringing a new twist on traditional eco blogs, GreenSteve positions himself somewhere between consumer advisor and newspaper as he brings a vast array of topics to your attention.

He’ll advise you on ways to use less energy, create less waste and contribute to an ever growing movement of like-minded people determined to bring about real change through coordinated action.

GreenSteve also doles out the advice to business and gives his own opinions on the role of governments both here in the UK and around the world in tackling climate change. He believes in a holistic approach to bringing about action and knows that it will take consumers, industry and politicians working together to acheive the right end goal.

Some of his best posts so far in his brief blogging career include advice on how to stay warm this winter without burning the cash, ways to become a waste conscious shopper and an investigative approach to supermarket sustainability.

To get the latest updates from his blog sent directly to your inbox, you can sign up to his newsletter or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

There is plenty more to come from this ambitious young guy and he hopes that his blog can convince people to change their habits for the good of the environment.

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When it comes to needing an exact estimate for an energy efficient system, it’s the quality of the enquiry that ensures an accurate response – which is better for the customer, the installer and the supplier. Nu-Heat Trade Account Manager Gary Davies explains what information the team needs in order to get it right first time.

‘When taking an initial enquiry’ says Gary, ‘the worst scenario is receiving a set of plans and a request for ‘underfloor heating and a heat pump’. It’s like going into a BMW showroom and saying ‘I want a 2 litre car.’ If we get enough project-specific information at the start, our response will be dead on.’

Ethical sales

With renewable products in particular there is no such thing as ‘one size fits all’. With enough detail, it should be possible for a supplier to ascertain reasonably quickly whether the desired system is, in fact, feasible. If it is obvious that it won’t work well – such as an enquiry for a heat pump in a badly insulated older property – an ethical supply company will explain why it is not a suitable solution.

The supplier can then offer options for the installer to suggest to the customer – such as solar thermal for domestic hot water or underfloor heating (UFH) working with a condensing boiler (where the low system water temperatures of underfloor heating enhance the efficiency of condensing boilers and give a degree of fuel savings). Even for a well-insulated property, a ground source heat pump (GSHP) might be the ideal, but the budget could indicate an air source heat pump (ASHP) as a cheaper but still effective choice.

Support

With a design and supply company such as Nu-Heat support can be given from an early stage if enough information is available. This covers additional elements like cylinders, solar thermal or even towel rails and considerations such as the most suitable floor covering. ‘Basically any questions that an installer has we will endeavour to answer, however weird and wonderful!’ comments Gary. 

By investing a short amount of time to provide detailed information for an initial enquiry will help ensure that the response is right first time, which is beneficial for everyone involved. It also gives added value by facilitating an open, professional dialogue between installer and supplier, opening channels for excellent advice and first rate price options to be offered.

Nu-Heat is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Finding an installer for a renewable energy technology should be a straight forward exercise. With all the certification an installer has to meet, such as the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), to enable a client to access grants, the installer has to know what they are talking about and be competent. Don’t they?

Unfortunately, with the installation of heat pumps about to explode due to the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and other incentives being offered, the installer market will see a number of unscrupulous companies trying to cash in, even if they have the ‘correct’ approvals. 

As an aside, there are a number of companies who aren’t approved who are more than competent, do an excellent job and have been involved in installing renewable technologies for years and are not MCS approved simply as it can be a difficult and onerous process particularly for one man bands, but that’s a different subject. [NB: if you want to benefit from the RHI, you will need to use a MCS accredited installer]

It therefore pays for the client to still do their homework on any potential installer/supplier.

The normal guidelines for entering any contract will apply, such as: references – preferably actually talking to previous clients – ideally ones who have lived with the technology for at least a year; talking to a number of companies to obtain comparable quotes; trade associations, etc.

However you would also expect the installer/supplier to ask you questions, and these questions, or lack of them, should give you an indication of whether the company actually knows what it is talking about.

1. Is the building being insulated to current building standards? This should be one of the first questions the installer/supplier should ask as it will determine whether heat pump technology is right for the building. See my blog on whether heat pumps are suitable for your home).

2. Will a SAP calculation be available? A Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) can be used to calculate the size of a heat pump suitable for the property as it takes into account the form, construction and insulation levels of the property. It can also be used to check the insulation levels of the property.

3. What is the overall area of the building to be heated? In the absence of a SAP, the overall area of the building can give an installer/supplier an initial indication of the size of the heat pump required.

4. How is the property being heated? UFH (under floor heating) or radiators? This will determine the efficiency of the heat pump and will impact on your fuel costs and hence payback.

5. How is the domestic hot water (DHW) being heated? Is solar thermal being installed? The heat pump can provide domestic hot water if required, however the installer/supplier needs to be aware of this as it does have an impact on the amount of ground arrays and the equipment supplied. DHW is an additional load on the ground and is all year round so the ground arrays need to be increased, also any hot water cylinders need to have oversized coils due to the lower temperature generated by heat pumps.

6. What is the floor construction of the building? Joisted, beam and block or other? Floor construction can again have an impact on efficiency for example for a joisted underfloor first floor system the flow temperature has to be higher than the magical 35^oC always quoted for underfloor, as the heat has to be driven through the floorboards.

7. Is a single or three phase electrical connection available on site? Some manufacturer’s single phase heat pumps are limited in size (Kensa can offer a 24kW, which is one of the largest in the market place). Three phase is better as the heat pumps are more efficient and it is a more stable electricity supply but expensive to put in.

8. Is an area roughly twice the area of the property available for the ground arrays? For ground source heat pumps horizontal arrays, i.e. slinkies or straight pipe roughly twice the area to be heated is required for these. If this isn’t available then the alternative is boreholes. While equally effective they can be expensive. 

9. Has planning permission been obtained? Ground source are a permitted development, but air source currently still require planning permission.

10. Finally be aware of any significant differences for claimed COPs. This should be quoted at standard conditions as laid out by EN14511-2 and should provide a means of comparing like for like. Any other standard will give different figures. In fact COPs from one brand to another should be roughly the same as many will contain similar if not the same key components

About the author: John Barker-Brown is special projects manager at British heat pump manufacturer Kensa engineering. First published on YouGen blog on heat pumps

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Prof harold Goodwin has been leading the campaign for responsible travel for some 15 years. The following is from his blog

The Experience of a Lifetime? The V Word – caveat emptor by Harold Goodwin on Wed 21 Apr 2010 21:12 BST  |  Volunteering should be the experience of a life time, deeply fulfilling, fun. It should be rewarding, a chance to discover yourself, to test yourself and to get to know people and places.

Too often it isn’t.

Do something about it.

For examples of what goes wrong see www.irresponsibletourism.info

There are plenty of complaints about volunteering companies – look on the web. Many of the organisations offering volunteering abroad are for profit companies, but even if they’re not, they still owe you a duty of care – you’ve paid them for a service. Demand delivery of what you’ve paid for. It is time to raise the bar on volunteering companies.

1.    As a volunteer travelling abroad you should expect the UK organisation that is organising your volunteering experience to treat you at least as well as any tour operator would: if things go wrong, you must complain and assert your consumer rights – you’ve bought an experience and they must deliver.  If the operator is in ABTA consider using the complaints procedure. If not, think about complaining to your local Trading Standards office.

2. Ask yourself how much local communities are gaining from your volunteering. How much of what you are spending will end up in the local economy? I hear of cases where locals are sacked to make space for a volunteer. You should check that you will be adding to the resources in a school – you need to be additional, not replacing local labour. Do not assume that all not-for-profits or charities will offer a quality opportunity – ask questions – check the answers. Expect to speak with returned volunteers and check out the web. I have suggested below some sites to check on.

3.    Demand a worthwhile experience: ask some hard questions of the organisation which you are handing a good deal of money to provide you with an amazing and fulfilling experiences. These questions will help – and you should demand answers. There are answers which suggest the kind of reply you many want to hear at

peopleandplaces suggest that you ask the following questions and think about the answers – if you’re not sure, then don’t spend the money. You are buying an experience.

1. How can I be sure that what you’re telling me is true and not just marketing hype?

2. How and where is my money spent?

3. How will my skills be used effectively?

4. I’m only going to be there for a few weeks – how can my input be of any real use?

5. Who decides what my role will be?

6. Who knows about me before I arrive and what do they know?

7. Whose idea was the project and who runs it?

8. Can I talk to previous volunteers? They will be able to tell you how much they enjoyed it, what they got out of it, whether the experience was what they had hoped and paid for.

9.  Can I talk to local people before I travel?

10. Will I be safe?

11. What’s all this I hear about adequate insurance?

12. Is there any continuity?

13. What kind of support is there for me?

 If you are not happy with the answers go with someone else.

Volunteering was something we used to do at home, in our community. In the UK many of us still do, an estimated 20 million people volunteer in Britain every year and it appears from research to be increasing. Colin Rochester  undertook a review of volunteering in 2006 for Volunteering England and identified three kinds of volunteering: unpaid work, activism and as leisure. As Colin Rochester points out these categories overlap.

Academics and commentators have shied away from leisure volunteering because of the association of leisure with amateurism and hobbyism, and particularly overseas volunteering, with frivolity and fun.

Increasing numbers of people are volunteering abroad, some for months others for a week or so, some for a day or a few hours. Some of the latter are tokenistic, little more than feel-good-photo-opportunities.

There are probably three main motivations for volunteering abroad, they all have altruistic elements, but in many cases one suspects that the altruism is pretty limited

1. To build a cv and get experience – particularly relevant to gappers

2. To learn more about what life is like in another society – a deeper form of experiential travel which is increasing rapidly in importance

3. To put something back – to make a contribution in someone else’s place where the needs appear simpler and more worthy; and the impact which one volunteer can make is large.

So remember – it’s your money, your time, your dream.  Caveat emptor – you deserve a worthwhile experience

Check out the project you are thinking about, you may find these sites useful
www.abroadreviews.com
www.thestudentroom.co.uk

www.voluntourism.org

planeta.wikispaces.com/volunteer

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