Official statistics are not yet available but the Department of Energy & Climate Change has commented that initial interest in the scheme has been underplayed and that figures, indicating that very few Green Deal assessments have been carried out, are wrong. It reports that anecdotal evidence from assessors suggests that hundreds of assessments have in fact been conducted. It was never expected that, on the day of launch, the floodgates would open to mass take-up of Green Deals, but the anecdotal evidence reinforces predictions that Green Deal momentum will build.
The Green Deal presents an opportunity for microgeneration technologies to be installed at properties at no up-front cost, where they are recommended by a Green Deal assessment and comply with the Green Deal ‘golden rule’. This rule states that improvements should, at a minimum, pay for themselves through the resulting savings on the energy bills at the property. Technologies covered by the Green Deal include:
- Ground, water and air source heat pumps;
- Solar water heating;
- Photovoltaics;
- Biomass boilers;
- Micro combined heat and power;
- Micro wind generation;
- Transpired solar collectors.
For a renewable energy efficiency installer to participate in the scheme as a Green Deal Installer it must:
- be authorised by an accredited certification body such as the Energy Saving Trust;
- comply with the relevant requirements of the Green Deal Code of Practice;
- have a relationship with a Green Deal Provider.
Where installation work will be carried out under a contract with the Green Deal Provider there will be liabilities, such as consumer guarantees, that the Green Deal Provider will be keen to ensure are passed on to installers. Installers are in turn advised to seek similar guarantees from their suppliers and consider whether their supply chain is sufficiently financially robust to support such guarantees.
For installers who are prepared to comply with the new requirements, the Green Deal presents an opportunity to access a market that was not previously available.