Derby City and Derbyshire County Council’s Energy Efficiency (D2EE) Project has been shortlisted for two awards.

D2EE is in the running for the Institute for Environmental Management and Assessment Sustainability Impact Award for Consultancy and Collaboration and the Association for Public Service Excellence Service Award for Best Renewable Energy or Energy Efficiency Initiative.

The team of four work with small-medium sized business to improve energy efficiency (decreasing carbon emissions) and reduce operating costs via the provision of specialist technical consultancy and grants.

Grant-funded energy efficiency measures have made an annual carbon saving of 1,182 tons (more than double the target), and saved over 3.5 million kWh of energy and £355,000 for 166 businesses.

Over 400 businesses have received free energy consultancy including an energy audit and report of recommendations for their site and activities.

D2EE has already won the East Midlands Energy Efficiency Awards Council of the Year for 2018 and 2019. They have gained this recognition following continuous positive feedback from customers and businesses who they have helped become more energy efficient.

One such customer, GTA Derby Ltd, was awarded a grant to help install bespoke secondary and double glazing, LED lighting, roof insulation and high efficiency gas boiler.

When Architects Guy Taylor Associates purchased an old Coach House to use as their new offices, they decided to transform it to an efficient building that was sympathetic to the history of the building. The Coach House had been empty for several years and required a complete refurbishment. Director Paul Stanton made contact with the D2EE Team to help with this, which included site visits and a grant.

Paul said: 

The improvements made a huge difference as we have worked to refurbish The Coach House in an energy efficient way that is respectful to the heritage value of the building. We now have a warm, light office space with low bills. Since moving in we have been able to expand our work in Derby and take on more staff, which would never have been possible in our old office. The support and encouragement of the D2EE team has been really important through this.

World-renowned clockmaker, Smith of Derby, was also awarded a grant from D2EE of £10,937 to assist with the next phase of its energy efficiency journey. The grant covered 50% of the cost of upgrading lighting within the rest of the premises to LED, saving £5,300 and 42,655kWh of electricity per year.

Another customer, Hunters Furniture, has been furnishing homes in Derbyshire since 1928 from its iconic home on Babington Lane in Derby. As part of the 90 year celebrations the company wanted to invest in energy efficient lighting, to improve the store for customers while reducing energy bills.

Matthew and Nina Sheard, Directors of Hunters Furniture, were keen to work with the D2EE team, who provided a free energy audit and then awarded a £7,370 grant towards the £14,740 project.

Nina said: 

The D2EE grant has been beneficial to our business not only in energy savings, but also in customer experience. We have had many comments about how much brighter the store looks with the new lighting. We expect payback from the project to be less than 12 months and we started to see the cost savings straight away, which, in an environment of rising costs, is very welcome. The grant award has allowed us to review our overall lighting scheme and has resulted in a better, more consistently lit store significantly improving the overall look of the business.

The team has been successful in securing further external funding to enhance the current service, to include resource as well as energy efficiency and the provision of support for low carbon transport. The new project, DE-Carbonise D2N2, will run for three years from November 2019.

The D2 Energy Efficiency (D2EE) project is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The project is run by the University of Derby, Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council.

Learn more about D2EE on its webpage. Grants and support are available to eligible businesses until October 2019.