Aims/priorities:
This scheme offers voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations (VCSE) based in England the opportunity to apply for a free Independent Energy Assessment (IEA), a comprehensive evaluation of their building’s energy usage, efficiency and potential for energy savings.
The IEA will be carried out by a team of independent energy assessors who will work with successful applicants to help identify energy-saving opportunities in their building.
In addition, those who qualify may apply for a capital grant which can be used to install capital energy efficiency measures, identified in the applicant’s IEA, to reduce their building’s energy costs and support the delivery of their frontline services.
Who can apply:
To be eligible for an Independent Energy Assessment, applicants must be:
A single applicant with charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes. If the organisation distributes surpluses to individuals such as members or shareholders, they must have an asset lock and reinvest a minimum of 51% into charitable, benevolent, or philanthropic purposes. In addition, the organisation must have one of the following legal structures/statuses:
- Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
- Community Benefit Society (CBS)
- Trust
- Unincorporated Association
- Co-operative society
- Community Interest Company (CIC)
- Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG)
- Company Limited by Shares (CLS)
- Based and operating in England.
- Delivering frontline services or managing a building as a hub that delivers multiple frontline services.
- Able to evidence a need for energy efficiency support.
- Financially sustainable, and likely to continue operating for at least the next two years.
- Able to upload their organisation’s governance document, last set of annual accounts and, if available, their building’s energy bills from 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023.
To be eligible for a Capital Grant (in addition to the above), applicants must:
- Have been operating for at least two years.
- Have an existing IEA that identifies capital energy efficiency measures, includes potential cost savings, has been completed within the past two years and was conducted by a qualified and experienced independent energy assessor.
- Provide evidence that the energy efficiency measure(s) being requested will enhance their financial resilience and support the delivery of their frontline services.
- Have a long-term arrangement with their premises, either owning the building or having a minimum of two years left on their lease and be able to provide documents evidencing this.
- If they have a lease, have the building owner’s permission to carry out the capital works and they must complete the Building Owners Permission Form.
Grant amount:
A total of £25.5 million is available.
The scheme offers:
- Free independent energy assessments
- Option of capital grants of between £2,000 and £150,000
All funds must be spent and projects completed by March 2025.
Application process:
The guidance notes, frequently asked questions and eligibility checker can be found on the Groundwork UK website.
The first step in the application process is for groups to use the online eligibility checker to see if they are eligible to apply for the cost and delivery of an Independent Energy Assessment (IEA).
Those who are successful will be matched up with an independent energy assessor who will assess the building and help identify energy-saving opportunities.
Deadline:
Applications for IEAs are currently open with notification of decisions within 15 working days. The deadline for Independent Energy Assessment applications is 20 June 2024.
The deadline for Capital Grant applications is 14 August 2024.
Contact information:
Tel: 0121 237 5894
Email: EES@groundwork.org.uk