MICROGENERATION

Rising energy costs and awareness of climate change and the availability of grants are leading to growing interest in building-scale renewable energy systems.

Through our Microgeneration specialist Joe Fergusson, Bell Ingram provide independent and objective advice and support to developers, landowners, businesses and householders on wood and other biomass heating systems, heat pumps, solar, micro wind, micro hydro, biofuel generation, community heating and combined heat and power (CHP).

It is predicted that within the coming few years, steeply rising world oil demand will exceed supply, resulting in a sharp increase in inflation and particularly energy costs.

At the same time climate change is driving governments to encourage saving of fossil energy and to penalise its over-use by fiscal and other means.

The gradual introduction of Energy Performance Certificates for buildings will affect property values, with energy efficiency-related variations growing over time and buyers and tenants attracted by homes with low running costs.

As a direct result of all of the above, pay-back times on energy-efficiency measures and renewable energy systems, such as automated wood systems, heat pumps and solar collectors, will shrink. Demand is keeping costs fairly high but government grants are available which make some schemes attractive in the right circumstances, even at today’s energy prices.

The market for renewable energy systems is fast-growing but is fairly impenetrable by non-specialists. Quality of advice and pricing vary. Fortunes are being made and lost and the customer is in a very vulnerable position.

Some government-funded bodies such as the Energy Saving Trust and the Energy Efficiency Advice Centre network can provide basic and generic advice. However, except for larger businesses, detailed and genuinely independent site-specific advice is hard to find but is important and valuable.

In the past, the choice of methods for heating and powering a building was limited and basic. However with the arrival of a great variety of renewable energy options it is now broad and complicated.

The most cost-effective arrangement for a particular building will involve some combination of insulation and draft-proofing measures, heat recovery, gas, oil, wood (logs, chips pellets, grain, straw), heat pump (ground, air or water-source), solar (thermal or photovoltaic), micro-hydro or small-scale wind.

The suitability of the myriad combinations of these systems is very site-sensitive. The difference in the capital cost and the payback between the right and the wrong choice can be huge – a fast payback or no payback!

We recommend that, whether you are just starting to contemplate an evaluation of your current system or close to committing to a purchase, you should invest first in our independent, specialist services. This will remove the risk of making the wrong choice and provide reassurance, and the cost could be quickly recovered.

We can give as much or as little help as is required, such as:

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