E factor winners wow judges

Projects from Sheffield, Barnsley, Hebden Bridge, Masham in North Yorkshire and Todmorden have swept the board to be crowned the region’s energy superstars.

Earlier this year, the search was launched for green energy pioneers to take part in the 1st Yorkshire and Humber Microgeneration Awards.

Categories included the popular Best Home Installation section, giving local people the chance to show how well they’ve used renewable sources like solar panels or ground sourced heat pumps to power their homes.

Entries were also being judged on how much energy is produced sustainably and steps the householder has taken to reduce energy demand in the home.

The Awards, set up by the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly and the Energy Saving Trust and presented by BBC weatherman Paul Hudson at a ceremony in Harrogate last night (Thursday 26 April ), showcased the best small renewable energy projects in the region, from wind turbines to solar panels.

They dovetailed with a major conference, entitled ‘Mainstreaming Microgeneration’’, to address the planning policy, skills and technical implications of new approaches to tackling renewable energy issues.

Below is a list of the winners and a description of their entry.
Andrew Cooper, Energy Policy Manager at the Assembly said, "The quality of regional entries was extremely high and shows the excellent work going on in this exciting and expanding area. More and more people are taking the opportunity to generate their own heat and electricity from on-site renewable sources such as solar, wind, heat pumps or biomass boilers.

“This saves the householder money but also means that the more people who use renewable energy, the greater the benefit to the environment".

Best Home Installation - winners Glen Mattock and Clare Townley, from Todmorden.

Details- With their 5 Kilowatt peak installation they have managed to generate 60% of their own electricity. They have also reduced their electricity usage by over 30%, despite having 2 growing children who use computers and watch television. They have ensured that their appliances are low energy and regularly monitor their own usage. When they found the roofspace on their house hadn't enough space to accommodate their solar panels they built a mock roof on the banking by the side of their house.”

Highly Commended: Jane Smith and David Barnard from Sheffield.

Best Public Building - winners Barnsley Council

The Council has demonstrated consistent commitment to the use of biomass in public buildings. They have substituted coal for wood pellets in existing boilers, designed new buildings to incorporate state of the art biomass boiler running off locally derived wood chips; and developed a whole infrastructure to support production of their own fuel from their forestry practices. “

Highly Commended: National Trust, for the Gibson Mill Visitor Centre at Hardcastle Crags, Hebden Bridge

Best Community Installation - winner South Yorkshire Energy Centre, Sheffield

The organisation has raised awareness of renewable technologies to thousands of people. They have increased the amount of renewable energy generated on site using evacuated tube solar water heating, trombe walls, ground sourced heat pumps and built Yorkshire's only solar wood drying kiln.”

Best Business Initiative - winner Swinton Estate and Swinton Park Hotel, Masham, North Yorkshire

The company has converted the heating and hot water of its building from oil to wood and in the process has saved around £20000 a year as a result. The wood to fuel the boiler is harvested from the estate in the immediate vicinity.

Best Policy/Policy Tool - winner Barnsley Council

The Council has demonstrated a consistent approach to reducing Carbon Dioxide emissions through use of biomass. They have a presumption in favour of Biomass Heating in all new installations in public and commercial buildings. As a consequence they have transformed from being a King Coal Council and are increasingly becoming a Council of Carbon Neutral buildings.”

Each of the winners receive £1000 worth of residential courses at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales where they’ll be able to use the knowledge they’ve gained to make further improvements to homes and developments.