Achieving Sustainable Low Carbon Buildings

The need to tackle climate change is now widely accepted and is a key Government priority. Reducing the carbon emissions of new development can play an important role in achieving UK targets for carbon emission reduction.
The DTI's Low carbon buildings programme provides grants for microgeneration technologies for householders, community organisations, schools, the public sector and businesses.

Grant schemes for low carbon and renewable energy systems installation

Low Carbon Buildings Programme and Community Renewables Grants

Community Renewables Grants

There are a number of grant schemes available to cover part of the costs of installing solar thermal, solar photovoltaics, wind turbines, small scale hydro turbines, ground and air source heat pumps, wood fuelled boilers or pellet boilers. Two of the schemes below are managed by BRE, one of which has closed to new applicaitons in May this year. Products approved for installation under these schemes are certified by BRE Global as part of the UK Microgeneration Certification Scheme.

Grants available

The Community Sustainable Energy Programme (CSEP) is an open grants programme run by BRE, an award partner of the Big Lottery Fund. Part of the Fund's Changing Spaces programme, CSEP has been set up to help not-for-profit community based organisations in England to reduce their energy bills and environmental impact. Both capital and project development grants are available under this scheme. Capital grants are available for the purchase and installation of a range of low carbon technologies such as solar water heating, photovoltaics or wood fuelled boilers, along with various energy efficiency measures such as cavity wall insulation. Project Development Grants are available for feasibility studies. See https://www.communitysustainable.org.uk/