"Our aim in the Energy Group is to help establish a more sustainable use and supply of energy in and around Bath, to minimise our contribution to climate change and improve our local resilience in the face of peak oil.
There is so much we can do as a community, from eco-refurbishment of our homes and buildings, to encouraging more sustainable construction of our new buildings, to generating our own energy from renewable and low carbon sources. This will mean working with individuals, community groups, businesses, policy makers and other organisations in Bath, to help turn vision into practical reality.
Come and join our dynamic group of interested individuals and see how you can get involved!"
If you are interested in becoming involved contact us here.
Energy Group Projects:
Planning and Consultations
We comment on government consultations, B&NES consultations and major planning applications which have the potential to impact the future sustainability of Bath.
To find out more about the consultations and planning applications we have provided feedback on in the past click here. If you are interested in becoming involved or want to discuss any consultations or planning applications please email us at consultation@transitionbath.org .
Thermal Imaging
Transition Bath’s Thermal Imaging Project aims to help the residents of Bath reduce their energy bills and carbon emissions by providing low cost thermal imaging surveys. We aim to increase the take-up of recommended measures following surveys by providing low cost materials, further advice and neighbourhood draught-busting groups.
We have trained over 50 volunteers to use the camera and provide advice on how to make your homes warmer and reduce your energy bills. Many of the measures we recommend only cost a few pounds each and often payback within a year. To find out more click here
Blower Door/Air Permeability
Blower doors can be used to accurately quantity and determine where draughts are in homes. Transition Bath owns a commercial blower door which can be borrowed if you would like to carry out draught-proofing work on your home. It comes with a very large fan which is fitted into an external door which is used to pressure or depressurise a home. Once running because of the volume air being moved by the fan (equivalent to a hurricane) it is very easy to find air leaks in your home. It can accurately measure air leakage for your home so you can find out how it compares with an average home. More information here.
LED Halogen lighting replacement project
The halogen lighting replacement project is a brand new project for the energy group and aims to persuade people to switch from using halogen to LED downlights. LED downlights have come of age, not only are they just as bright as halogens but they are now a very cost effective (£1 to £10). Spending as little as £50 replacing your halogens can save £60 per year in electricity bills and potentially saves more CO2 then if you installed triple glazing throughout. We have an innovative try-before-you buy kit available from Bath Central Library. To find out more click here.
Past Projects
Bath and West Community Energy
We are supporting Bath & West Community Energy to identify opportunities for renewable energy generation in the Bath area which can be financed through community investment - check out BWCE's website and get involved. Would you like to invest, or do you have a community building or land area suitable for renewables? BWCE is the first big success to grow out of Transition Bath's Energy Group and is a wonderful example of what we can achieve together as a community. BWCE has raised over £10,000,000 in community share investments for renewable projects.
Energy Sparks
Energy Sparks is a FREE online school specific energy analysis tool and energy education programme which teaches primary and secondary school pupils about energy, and empowers pupils, teachers, school management and the wider school community to take action to make their schools more energy efficient. Energy Sparks started as a Transition Bath project and is now a standalone charity supporting over 200 schools throughout the UK.
Schools Energy
The Transition Bath Schools Energy project has been running for 3 years and aims to reduce the energy consumption of the 75 state schools in the Bath and North East Somerset Area. Schools in Bath spend £3,000,000 on energy each year, 45% of which is out of school hours - something we are helping schools reduce.
We offer energy surveys, advice, sophisticated smart meter analysis and loan out monitoring equipment to parents, governors and school management, and have recently been involved in a professional energy survey of 72 schools in the area. To find out more click here.
Bath Green Homes
Bath Green Homes is community project organised by Transition Bath, BPT and B&NES Council, to inspire and inform the community about how to make our homes warmer, greener and cheaper to run. We try to organise an Open Homes Weekend each year, so that visitors can see energy efficiency measures in-situ and talk to the people who have made these changes to their home. We are particularly looking for volunteers who would like to help us run such an event sometime in the next year? If you are interested, could you get in contact?