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The Scottish Executive's Central Heating Programme and the Warm Deal
Annual Report 2002 2003
Footnotes
1 The built form is important because it effects the energy efficiency of a property. Flats and maisonettes tend to be more energy efficient than houses because in most cases they will be sheltered by other dwellings above, below and on either side. Top and ground floor flats are less energy efficient that mid floor properties and those in the middle of a row of flats will be more energy efficient than those at the end of the row. Similarly, detached and semi-detached properties will be less sheltered and hence less energy efficient than mid-terraced properties.
Built form is also important because it has an influence upon the type of insulation measures that can be installed. For cavity wall insulation to be installed in a flat or maisonette, it is necessary for the measure to be installed in the entire block in which the property is located. In a block were some residents qualify for the Central Heating Programme and others do not, it may be impossible to install cavity wall insulation.
Some flats and maisonettes were located in high rise properties, where it is only possible to install electric storage heaters.
2 The period of construction is significant because properties built within an age band will be of broadly similar construction and thus of broadly similar energy efficiency. Prior to 1963, the age bands reflect the types of materials used and building techniques, for example before 1918 most properties in Scotland were constructed using stone. Before 1930 properties had solid brick walls, after this date properties were mostly constructed with cavity brick walls (although there are exceptions). The age band of a property can also indicate the suitability of a property for certain improvement measures. Obviously, cavity wall-insulation cannot be applied to properties with solid walls, as is the case with most properties built before 1929.
3 National Building Regulations were introduced in 1963; the intervals after this date refer to the period in which particular Building Regulations were in force. The Building Regulations determine minimum levels of insulation, size of windows and other factors that effect the energy efficiency of a dwelling. Only, since 1963 have thermal standards been consistently improved.
4 The NHERs of the properties have been calculated using Autoevaluator 3.47. The NHER measures the energy efficiency of a home based on heating, lighting and appliance use. It also reflects the location of a dwelling, thus two identical dwellings one in Shetland and the other in the centre of Glasgow will have different NHERs: the property in Shetland will have a lower NHER than property in Glasgow, because of the overall colder, wetter and more windy climate.
Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) ratings have also been produced and can be found in the tables in Annex XX. The SAP is on a scale from 1 to 100. It differs from the NHER in that it measures the efficiency of the home for heating and hot water provision only. It also does not take account of geographic factors. For the example used above, two identical dwellings one in Glasgow and the other in Shetland, the properties would have identical SAP ratings.
5 The figure for CO 2 includes emissions from power stations that can be attributed to domestic properties as a result of their demand for electricity: this is expressed as an average amount in kg of CO 2 per kWh of electricity. Any reduction in emissions is based solely on the improvements in the properties and does not take account changes in the way electricity is generated, e.g. more electricity being produced from renewables and gas-fired power stations and less from coal-fired stations.
6 These gases are produced from the combustion of fuel, in particular heavy oil and coal. The primary sources of these pollutants are power stations and transport. As with emissions of CO 2 the predicted changes in the emissions of NOx and SOx are based solely upon the changes made in the properties improved under the Central Heating Programme. Reductions will be caused not only improving energy efficiency, but also by fuel switching away from solid fuel and on peak electricity to gas.
7 The figures for the reduction in the amount of pollutants produced and the reduced expenditure on fuel needed to heat and light the home are calculated from the energy efficiency of a property, how long it is heated for and to what temperature, and the number of occupants. The heating regime used in this calculation is the standard heating regime: the main living area is heated to 21°C and the rest of the property to 18°C, for 7 hours a day during the week and 16 hours a day during weekends. The occupancy is determined in proportion to the size of the dwelling by the software. This means that where under-occupancy occurs (e.g. a person living alone in a three bedroom house), calculations based upon the standard occupancy model will overestimate the expenditure on fuel and the amount of emissions produced as a result of heating and lighting the home.
8 No postcode data for 1% of properties.
9 The heating costs calculated for pensioners are based upon actual levels of occupancy and the sheltered heating regime.
10 The Minimum Income Guarantee for single pensioners is 98.15 a week (5,103.80 a year) for a single pensioner and 149.80 a week for a pensioner couple (7,789.60). In addition, all households aged over 60 are entitled to an annual Winter Fuel Allowance of 200 (averaged over a year, this is the equivalent to 3.85 extra a week).
This means that to avoid the risk of fuel poverty, a single pensioner should be living in a home in which they are required to spend less than 10.20 a week (530.4 year) on fuel and a pensioner couple should be living in a home in which the fuel costs less than 15.36 a week (798.98 a year).
11 Not available for Local Authority Warm Deal
12 Unlike the Central Heating programme, reductions in the emissions of these pollutants will be due solely to increased energy efficiency of the dwelling as a result of the measures installed, as no change in the heating fuel used occurs under the Warm Deal.
13 Figures unavailable for properties improved under the local authority Warm Deal Programme.
14 No postcode data provided for 1% of properties.
As Figure 22 shows rural properties have the biggest reduction in the predicted annual expenditure on fuel (75 a year).
15 In a home where there is no central heating and which therefore has a poor NHER, insulation measures alone can have a dramatic effect. For example, the following property was improved in 2001/2002 under the Central Heating Programme - a top floor flat built between 1930 and 1949. There was no loft insulation, although the cavity wall has been filled. The windows were all double-glazed. The occupant heated their home with on-peak electric heaters and the hot water was provided by an electric immersion system. The hot water tank was only insulated with a poorly fitted jacket. It scored 1 on the NHER scale and prior to improvement it would cost the occupants 1,036 a year to heat their home to the standard heating regime. After the installation of central heating and insulation measures the NHER was increased to 9 and the cost of heating to the standard heating regime reduced to 258 a year.
16Benefits of Energy Advice Report, Report on a survey, March, 2002. www.est.org.uk/partnership
17 The number of properties improved in this table includes those for which an NHER could not be calculated. Predicted change in emissions is calculated using an average emission figures for those properties where an NHER was not calculated.
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