Hounslow Council has launched Enlighten Hounslow, a new initiative to help improve domestic energy efficiency in the borough and support residents’ understanding of energy.
Published: Wednesday, 31st January 2024
The mission is a simple one: to help make energy use a topic that people can discuss freely when considering environmental impacts and cost of living challenges.
The new Enlighten Hounslow campaign will help simplify the often-confusing language associated with energy, and will provide clear and accessible support for residents seeking tips and advice on how to maintain a healthier home.
The awareness campaign is utilising webpages, shareable social media graphics and physical materials – including a new four-page flyer – to assist with household energy reduction tips that can save residents 100’s of pounds on their annual bills.
Homes generate 35% of all the energy used in the UK, and emit 20% of the country’s carbon dioxide. In Hounslow alone, 32% of households on average are currently classed as energy inefficient.
(Pictured below) Heston resident takes home a draught excluder, and Enlighten Hounslow flyer that provides energy and cost-saving advice
Councillor Katherine Dunne, Deputy Leader of the Council, and Cabinet Member for Climate, Environment and Transport, said: ‘We want to help enable families to make sustainable and financially beneficial energy choices in the home.
‘Being able to understand the link between domestic energy and a home’s bills and health is a vital first step in making more informed decisions about energy use.
‘Because energy generated in the home is such a big contributor to our borough’s – and the UK’s – overall energy use, it’s crucial that our residents know the impact that is has, and how it can be reduced. Not only for the positive impact of energy reduction on the environment, but to aid households and residents in lowering energy bills.’
In addition to short-term, immediate advice that can help residents reduce energy consumption and improve energy efficiency, the Enlighten Hounslow initiative is also raising awareness of the benefits of longer-term retrofit improvements for households.
Retrofit measures include installing insulation, improving ventilation, upgrading windows, and adding solar panels and air source heath pumps where suitable. Benefits can include better energy efficiency, warmer buildings that are cheaper to run, and less of a negative environmental impact.
The Council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and adopted a Climate Emergency Action Plan in 2020, which committed to reducing its organisational footprint to net zero by 2030, as well as a wider carbon reduction in the borough.
Key projects undertaken since the adoption of the plan have enhanced renewable electricity generation and delivered extensive retrofit to decarbonise council buildings and schools. Successes include the Council receiving almost £5m in funding to carry out retrofit projects targeting over 350 social housing properties, generating nearly 4000kW of renewable energy (by installing Solar PV at 48 Council-owned sites), and a retrofit of 32 schools and 29 corporate buildings that will save a combined 17.5m kilowatts of electricity each year.
