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Why we did the survey:

● To explore why some residents of Bromborough area have not taken up free home insulation (Warmer Wirral)

● To guide development of theGovernment’s new scheme; the Green Deal, later in 2012

● To investigate whether community net-works could help residents; sharinginformation, peer-support or practical action

● We asked whether vulnerable groups, including older people, may find it more difficult to access insulation schemes

Areas surveyed (red):

Port Sunlight

Bromborough Pool

Spital (east of railway)

Bromborough

Dibbinsdale Roadarea

Brookhurst Avenuearea

FINDINGS FROM TRANSITION VILLAGE EASTHAM AND BROMBOROUGH

NEIGHBOURHOODENERGY WATCH SURVEY

Thanks to the Mayor for launching the project

ATTITUDES AND PRIORITIES● We knocked on 2000 doors!● We spoke to 541 residents of Bromborough, New Ferry, Port Sunlight and Brookhurst● 12% were tenants of private landlords, 10% were tenants of housing associations. Most people that we spoke to were homeowners (74%)● We were interested in people’s views about climate change. Residents who expressed alternate views to the scientific consensus about climate change and thegreenhouse effect may be less motivated to insulate their homes● 84% of responses indicated they viewed that human activity was partially or totally responsible for climate change● 16% expressed the ‘sceptic’ view; that climate change is a natural phenomenon

Approximately 90% of residents take some action to reduce their energy use

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Natural phenomenon - 16%

Consequence of industrialdevelopment - 14%Combination of naturaland industrial - 70%

40%

No

insu

latio

nor

don

’t kn

ow

Som

ein

sula

tion

28%

Saving moneypriority

Turn down thermostat

Only one room heated

Turn off heating

None of above

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

19%59%

62%10%

Within the group of residents who had no insulation or didn’t know, a greater proportion said that money was a priority, rather than being an equal priority with protecting the environment. This suggests that it is important to continue raising awareness of the impact of climate change.

Participant’s views aboutClimate Change

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● Cavity wall insulation - 46% of residents already have this.

● Residents who do not have cavity wall insulation could benefit from Warmer Wirral - they were encouraged to get in touch, as the free offer will close soon

● Older properties with solid walls cannot have cavity wall insulation • Some areas within the survey have a greater proportion of these (orange bars in figure) • Next page gives opportunities for insulating solid walls

HOW CAN WARMER WIRRALHELP RESIDENTS INSULATE THEIR HOMES?

Has maximumloft insulation - 77%

Warmer Wirral offers free cavity wall and loft insulationto every homeowner or tenant of private landlords

Do you have maximum loft insulation (27cm thickness)?

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Don't have suitable walls

Don't know

Doesn't have CavityWall InsulationHas Cavity Wall Insulation

New

Fer

ry S

outh

Port

Sun

light

Sou

th

Bro

mbo

roug

h C

entr

al

Bro

mbo

roug

h So

uth

Bro

mbo

roug

h R

ake

Bro

okhu

rst a

nd D

ibbi

nsda

le

Bro

mbo

roug

h N

orth

Loft insulation - the majority of participants (77%) said they have the maximum amount● If you have less than 15cm thickness of insulationWarmer Wirral can top it up to 27cm● Some residents had technical difficulties about loftaccess or storage of items

Has Cavity Wall InsulationDon't know Doesn't have CavityWall Insulation

Don't have suitable walls

Don’t know - 10%Less than maximumloft insulation - 13%

Do you have cavity wall insulation?

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What is the Green deal?

● What is the Green Deal? The Governments new programme to help people finance home insulation (and other energy efficiency measures) • This will include solid wall insulation ● Amongst households that weren’t fully insulated, a majority (56%) were interested in schemes such as the Green Deal (of 307 participants whose houses were not fully insulated)

What is solid wall insulation?

● Houses built before 1920 are likely to have solid walls, and cannot be insulated in the same way as modern walls● Instead, insulation can be applied to the outside or the inside of the wall● Cavity walls have a regular brick pattern, whereas solid walls have an alternating pattern

How many homes need it?

● Almost a quarter of participants said they had solid walls or didn’t know.These residents could benefit from the Green Deal to finance insulation

For more info on the green deal:http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Take-action/Grants-and-savings/Green-Deal

GREEN DEAL OPPORTUNITIES

From October 2012the Green Deal will offer

financing for up-front costs of fitting insulation. Residents

will repay costs over time from energy savings, resulting

from the insulation.

Interested - 56% Not interested - 38% No response - 6%

All participants = 541

Vulnerable = 138

Older than 70 = 82

Within our survey participants reported that members of the household were;

• Older than 70 years old (15%)• Older than 80 years old (7%)• Had learning difficulties (2%)• Had sight or hearing problems (4% ) • Or had health needs (12%)

These households may find it moredifficult to engage with home insulation schemes – issues included:

• Unknown representatives calling atthe door

• Mobility issues mean no longer able to access loft space

• Special modifications in bathroom may be disrupted with improvement work

Within our survey, houses with solid walls but with loft insulation had a higherproportion of households with vulnerable people than other types of house.

This may indicate that vulnerable people are more likely to live in older houses. However it also indicates that vulnerable people have had their lofts insulated, which may mean that insulationprogrammes are reaching vulnerable groups.

This group may be a priority for the Green Deal solid wall insulation.

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HEALTH ISSUES AND VULNERABLE GROUPS

No response - 6% Size of circles do not represent data.

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Community networks may be important to help people with more difficult insulationimprovements. Would you like to discuss insulation and other issues with neighbours?

● Local meetings or online ● www.transitioneastham.ning.com

Transition Village Eastham and Bromborough would like to facilitate groups ofneighbours getting together to share problems about a particular house construction, orproblem with financing. We’re not experts, but we can support each other.

HOW YOUR COMMUNITYCAN HELP

This project was funded by Local Energy Assessment Fund (Energy Saving Trust) and has been led by the community organisation Transition Village Eastham and Bromborough, in partnership with the social enterprise Healthy Cities Community Interest Company, and the charity Energy Projects Plus.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

fully

insu

late

d

parti

ally

insu

late

d

solid

wal

ls +

loft

insu

latio

n

6%

17%14%

8%

Scheme

not i

nsul

ated

Some people expressed aninterest in ‘NeighbourhoodEnergy Watch’ Scheme

This report was written byNeil Chadborn and Bill McGarry,Healthy Cities CIC. April 2012.

Helpful Links www.transitioneastham.ning.com www.healthycitiescommunityinterestcompany.co.uk www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Take-action/Grants-and-savings/Green-Deal Warmer Wirral: www.warmerwirral.org.ukWarmer Healthy Homes: http://www.warmerhealthyhomes.org.ukGoverment’s site: www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/tackling/green_deal/green_deal.aspxCentre for Sustainable Energy, Solid-wall insulation: options for older homes:www.cse.org.uk/pages/skills/advice/energy-advice-leaflets/solid-wall-insulation