Sustainable Energy Academy wins a 2009 Ashden Award for
Sustainable Energy

The Sustainable Energy Academy (SEA) has won first prize in the Charity category of the 2009 Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy . SEA was one of eight UK winners at the awards ceremony, held on 11th June. Its winning ‘Old Home Superhome’ network enables people to visit old homes that have been refurbished to high levels of efficiency.

Twenty eight homes, most of which were built before 1919, are currently members of SEA’s ‘Superhome’ network. Carbon emissions from these homes have been reduced by 70 per cent on average, through the installation of low carbon and energy efficiency technologies. Measures installed include insulation, double and triple glazing, draught-proofing, efficient lighting and renewable energy technologies. Improving these homes is not cheap – typically costing between £15,000 and £25,000. But the owners of these homes have demonstrated that substantial carbon savings are achievable in existing buildings.

SEA provides training and support for the home owners to help them open their homes to the public several times a year. So far, this has enabled more than 36,000 people to visit these demonstration homes – including policy makers from national and local government. Working in partnership with the National Energy Foundation, SEA aims to expand the Superhome network to 200 houses over five years. The eventual aim is for most people in the UK to be within 20 minutes’ travel from an exemplary low carbon home.