At the Final Green Streets event on 1 July, Llangattock in the Brecon Beacons National Park was named as the winning community and the greenest community in Britain, receiving £100,000 to put towards a further environmental project in their community.

Following the three regional events, the three communities selected for the final were:

Llangattock Green Valleys

Bradford BMX Bandits

The Meadows

The final was hosted by Ian Peters, managing director, Energy, and presenter and journalist, Kate Silverton. The judges were so impressed with the three finalists, that the two runner-up communities were each awarded a merit prize too.

Bradford BMX Bandits were able to nominate a local school to receive Flagship School status. British Gas will work closely with the school to help them reduce their carbon emissions and to cut their energy costs, providing advice and the appropriate technologies, such as solar panels and insulation free of charge. This will be delivered through our education programme, Generation Green. The Meadows (MOZES) in Nottingham will be given support to start a social enterprise electric vehicle taxi firm, which will create jobs in this deprived area. British Gas will supply the charge point and the lease for two years on their first electric taxi, a Nissan LEAF.

“Chairing the judging panel for Green Streets was fascinating. Without exception, the 14 finalists were enthusiastic, proud of their achievements and committed to sustainability,” said Ian Peters.  

“Some were bold, imaginative and tenacious, with the initiatives spanning small scale measures across many households through to multi-million pound schemes. The common threads we saw were the power of communities to drive carbon and energy reduction - and how these initiatives help make the communities themselves more cohesive. 

“British Gas should rightly be proud of leading in a low carbon economy. We have learned a huge amount about how best to support our communities and our business agenda through this programme.”

The Institute of Public Policy Research has published its report on the competition. For copies of the report please contact: greenstreets@britishgas.co.uk.

Well…! Two of the three Green Streets celebration events have already taken place at Oxford on 27 May and Leicester Academy on 1 June. 

The events were a great success and ran really smoothly. It was lovely to be able to names to faces and meet lots of the community members who have worked so hard over the last 18 months. 

So far ten communities have presented their Green Streets journey to the panel of three judges; earning praise for their efforts to save and generate energy, and get people from their communities involved. 

Ian Peters, Managing Director, Energy for British Gas and Green Streets panel judge said “The standard of presentations has been extremely high and it’s been great to hear about the positive impact British Gas’s Green Streets has had on the communities. My fellow judges and I have a tough decision to make,”

Ian was joined on the panel by Andrew Pendleton, Associate Director for Climate Change, Transport and Energy at ippr and Arthur Butler from the Centre for Alternative Technology.  

At each of the events, the communities also had the opportunity to meet British Gas experts from Smart Homes, Dyno Rod, British Gas Solar, Renewable Heat, British Gas Community Energy, Swimming, energyshare, Generation Green, Central Heating and our Energy Experts.  

I know that many people found this event very interesting and we hope the expert advice which our team offered will help the communities in the future. I have had many comments from the exhibitors who were impressed at the sheer dedication and hard work which has been put into Green Streets.  

In the evening we held a black tie sit down dinner and an awards ceremony, which recognised individuals for there achievements. These were hosted by British Gas Directors Gearoid Lane and Andrew Hogan, as well as two Olympic swimmers Duncan Goodhew and Steve Parry.  

Below are the list of award winners, well done everyone! I got an award which I certainly wasn’t expecting too! 

Oxford Awards

Community Leadership - Michael Butterfield, Llangattock Green Valleys
Community Ambassador - Barbie Vaughn, Tackley Village
Overcoming Barriers - Jane Laurie, Climate Friendly Bradford on Avon
Creativity & Innovation - Sue Sheehan, Hyde Farm Climate Action Network
British Gas Employee Champion - Helen Shenton, British Gas Green Streets Team
Green Streets PR Champion - Diane Spencer, Llangattock Green Valleys
Greenstreets.co.uk Social Media Champion - Jon Fray, Ham & Petersham

 Images: 3146 & 3134

Leicester Awards
Community Leadership -Jenny Davey, Transition Town Horncastle “Green Babies”
Community Ambassador- Graham Norgate, Beccles Lido
Overcoming Barriers - Esther Boyd, SusMo Sustainable Moseley
Creativity & Innovation - Jeremy Brown, Bradford Bandits BMX Club
British Gas Employee Champion - Andrew Davies, Dyno Rod
Delivery Partner -John McNulty, 365 Technical Plant Services Ltd
Green Streets PR Champion -Jacky Dobson, The Meadows
Greenstreets.co.uk Social Media Champion -Shaun Crawley, Beccles Lido
Championing a cause - Ian Nicholson, The Meadows

 Images: 3684& 3650  / 3677

The last celebration event will be held in Edinburgh on 17^th June which we are all really looking forward too.  Following this three communities will be selected to attend a final event in the south of England on 1^st July where the winner will be announced. 

The winning community will collect a £100,000 prize to put towards an environmental energy project.

Images: 2811 / 2848 / 2738 / 2776 / 2606  - 3332 / 3324 / 3376 / 3392

During his visit, the Prime Minister spoke to members of the community whose homes have benefited from simple energy efficiency measures such as loft and cavity wall insulation, radiator panels, cylinder jackets and energy monitors as well as seeing the village hall generate its own power and heat. 

It was a wonderful day and everyone was buzzing! 

Check out the full news article on the British Gas Newsroom by clicking on the link below; 

http://www.britishgasnewsroom.co.uk/2011/04/prime-minister-pays-green-streets-tackley-village-a-visit/

There are also more pictures of the day on the British Gas Face Book page, feel free to click if you “like” the article!

 Facebook. 

I can’t believe how quickly the last 14 months has gone since the competition started back on 8th January 2010.

British Gas has invested £2m in the14 community projects and has helped them to save energy, generate energy and engage their local community. We are now collating all the statistical data such energy useage, savings and generation which will provide some valuable insight into the communities activity.  

In May and June there will be three regional celebration events where the communities will be able to tell their Green Street story to a panel of judges in a Dragon’s Den style event. The communities will also have the opportunity to network with industry experts and gain advice which will help them on their future journey, and, of course celebrate their successes and achievements!  Three communities will be selected to go through to a final event in London. The winner will be announced in the summer and will receive a further £100,000 to invest in another renewable energy project in their community. 

The Institute for Public Policy Research will be announcing their final findings on the Green Streets programme to key stakeholders at an event in London this June. The final report will also be available on this website too. 

Communities will still continue to share their experiences on this website by bloging and uploading materials, there is still lots to talk about and show the world. Click on the link to view what they’ve all been up to over the last 14 months and feel free to comment on blogs or even join a forum. 

http://www.greenstreets.co.uk/projects/directory/ 

Together British Gas and the 14 communities have had some fantastic achievements and it’s been great to be part of an amazing programme that has helped Britain’s communities be greener. 

Well done everyone, here’s to Green Streets!

Presented to Parliament this week, the Low Carbon Scotland: Meeting the Emissions Reductions Targets 2010-2022 report claims that each annual goal is achievable and has called for Europe and the rest of the UK to follow by setting tougher targets as well.

According to the report, Scotland will meet its target to cut carbon emissions by 42 per cent by 2020 based on 1990 levels, which could be largely down to major investment in offshore renewable energy projects and improving energy efficiency in homes.

Environment and climate change minister Roseanna Cunningham commented that the report "marks yet another significant landmark in Scotland's programme of action to tackle climate change and make the transition to a low carbon Scotland".

"A low carbon society makes sense for consumers, business and public services - it continues to makes sense for Scotland," she added.

For more information please see: Low Carbon Scotland: Meeting the Emissions Reductions Targets 2010-2022 report

The effects of energy saving lightbulbs in reducing carbon emissions in the home and cutting down energy bills have been highlighted by one expert.

Architect and TV presenter George Clarke noted that not only are energy saving lightbulbs around 80 per cent more efficient than traditional lightbulbs, they also last for years.

LEDs in particular are "absolutely brilliant", he said.

"What the industry is working very hard on is making the quality of light that comes out of an LED light better, because as you know [in our homes] we generally have a lot of warm light, and some LEDs can feel a bit cold," he explained.

"There are some great companies out there that are using gels and designing lamps that can improve the quality. That's all happening."

Mr Clarke was speaking at the Ideal Home Show in London, which features green home improvement ideas and exhibits low energy show homes, from a retrofitted terrace to the Prince's House - Prince Charles' idea of eco living - built with natural and recycled materials. 

For regular updates on energy saving tips sign up to the Energysaving Trust site below.

Sign up for regular email updates to help you save money and energy

It may be a challenge to get our younger generation to get excited about saving energy and understand the effects of climate change! 

The Energy Savers Trust have some hints on tips on how to engage your kids on the green agenda. There are some great links to youth environmental websites and  they’ve even recommended where you can purchase eco friendly baby products! 

Click on the link below to view the article. Also check out our www.generationgreen.co.uk schools website too!

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Resources/Features/Features-archive/Energy-saving-kids?utm_source=dyn&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=energy%2Bsaving%2Bkids%2Bfeature#Inspirethekidsintosavingenergy

Click on the link below to view the rest of this article and to visit the Ecobuild website to see what it's all about

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Resources/Energy-saving-news/Policy/Green-technology-will-make-new-homes-of-the-highest-quality/(energysavingtrust)/826806

On 16th February I visited the school to watch the wind turbine install, it was fantastic!  

Below are some photo and video clips of the install, don't laugh at my commentary!

I'm still getting used to adding videos and have put them in reverse order by mistake, so please view from the bottom up!

 The turbine will produce electricity for the school's chapel, the school will also receive a revenue from the Goverment's Feed-in tariff scheme too.

Already, 204kWH have been generated and 143Kg of carbon have been saved.

Mr Bowring the school's Bursar is a great advocate of renewable energy and has already installed a heat pump at the school which generates heat for the sports hall using the school's private water supply. He is also looking into installing a hydro system in the near future.  

It was wonderful to see how the school are embracing climate change and really trying to educate the pupils on microgeneration technology as well as reducing their carbon footprint and energy bills.  

Ingram Village, one of our Green Streets communities also had a similar turbine installed a few weeks ago so watch out for more footage on wind turbines! 

Nissan has named British Gas as its preferred supplier of electric vehicle car charging points for its new Nissan LEAF – Britain’s first affordable 100 per cent electric car.

To read the whole article click on the link below

http://www.britishgasnewsroom.co.uk/2011/03/switching-on-to-electric-cars/