Overview

Energy and sustainability have become important issues for all businesses, large and small. We are all faced with energy price rises, and for those businesses with high energy demand, such as manufacturing, bakeries, hotels etc, price rises can have a major impact on the bottom line, creating a need to find more work, just to stand still! Many people have concerns about security of their energy supply, and that the main reserves of traditional fossil fuels are controlled by countries that occasionally suffer from political instability. Many businesses are also genuinely interested in their own impact on the environment and climate change.

Whether driven by environmental or economic concerns, more and more businesses are taking action. North Energy can become your energy and sustainability partner, and work with you and your team to create the appropriate action plan that will deliver your aims, modest or ambitious.

Business, Industry and Commerce

Your energy and sustainability partner

North Energy has worked with hundreds of businesses over the years, helping them to achieve quantifiable benefits and improvements. We design studies and programmes around your own business needs, and can help you to identify and deliver the best solutions for you.

Rising energy costs

Every business has been hit with higher energy costs in recent years, leading to significantly higher energy bills. This has an immediate impact on the profitability of your business, requiring more turnover simply to stand still. This is causing most businesses to seek ways of reducing energy use by implementing an achievable and sustainable set of energy efficiency measures. Very often tangible savings can be made without significant capital outlay.

If your energy bill is over £50,000 per annum, it is likely that you will qualify for a free energy audit, funded by the government's Carbon Trust programme. North Energy are fully accredited Carbon Trust consultants, and as such we can arrange for a free audit to be carried out, which will identify and prioritise those areas for quickest gain and long term improvements. If you would like to arrange a free audit, contact Paula Little on 44 (0)1661 843545 or

enquiries@northenergy.co.uk

If your energy bill is below £50,000 per annum, we may still have access to support programmes that may subsidise the process. It is still worth giving us a call

Install on-site renewable energy

You may be at the stage where you need to look beyond energy efficiency and are looking to reduce your reliance on traditional fossil fuels, and your company's impact on the environment. Renewable energy will undoubtedly form a major part of the solution, and North Energy can help you select the most appropriate technologies for your site.

A feasibility study or an options appraisal is a valuable management tool that will help to avoid any problems and costly mistakes before significant project investment is made.

There are several renewable energy technologies available to your business, and we can advise you on which will be the most successful for your site. It may be that a wind turbine can meet a significant amount of your site energy needs, or even all at certain times, allowing you to sell any excess back to the national grid.

You may have access to a supply of biomass materials, such as waste wood, or wood chips or pellets from a local supplier. We can help you design and specify a highly efficient biomass boiler system to make use of those materials and replace your existing boiler, whether it be coal, oil, or even gas.

There may be certain areas or zones within your site that could benefit from solar energy, ground source heat, or a combination of renewable technologies. North Energy can work with you and your team and identify the right system for your business and your site.

Reduce your carbon footprint

You may be at the stage where you need to look beyond energy efficiency and renewable energy, and are looking to assess and quantify the carbon footprint of your organisation, or the full environmental impact of a forthcoming project. North Energy has designed carbon management programmes for many businesses and organisations, which clearly identify the steps necessary to reduce your company's overall carbon footprint.

We are also specialists in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). If you have a forthcoming major project, you may need to quantify the total environmental impact, from beginning to end, cradle to grave. North Energy's LCA team can do this for you. Every stage of the project is covered including capture of raw materials, transport implications, manufacturing, right through to post consumer disposal or decommissioning

Support for Planning Applications

Renewable energy projects

Regional planning teams are receiving increasing encouragement to have a positive attitude to projects that include renewable energy technologies. However at this point in time, as their experience of such projects is still developing, many planning teams are facing such applications for the first time. As such any planning application needs to be very thorough, anticipating and covering all the questions that may arise. Wind turbine projects in particular need to demonstrate that all known issues have been explored and explained. A framework is undoubtedly emerging for a minimum list of tasks, onto which needs to be added site specific issues as required.

Experienced in-house planners

North Energy can offer you many years experience of planning project management, in a wide range of renewable technologies, particularly wind energy. Our in-house planning team include fully qualified planning experts, from local authority backgrounds, with considerable experience of guiding renewable projects to planning success.

Planning projects for wind turbines

A framework is undoubtedly emerging for wind projects, which sets out the minimum tasks that need to be explored and resolved. This task list then needs to be personalised depending on the specific needs of each site location. Whilst it is certainly true that every application is different, the system is enabling potential applicants to use this framework. Carrying out these tasks is of course where the hard work and time consuming activities begins. The North Energy planning team can become your planning partner and help to guide your project towards planning success. We offer proven success in this area, and would be delighted to work with you. For a more detailed list of the activities we can deliver for you, please check on the Planning Support tab under our Projects area.

An actual demonstration of North Energy's planning work will soon be available on this website.

Architects

Your energy and sustainability partner

The building industry is facing new legislation that requires architects and designers to demonstrate high levels of understanding of renewable energy technologies and sustainability issues. North Energy has already been delivering this expertise for many years, and can offer you a proven and successful route to meet and exceed legislative requirements.

How we can help architect teams

With the increasing demand for truly green and sustainable buildings, architects are requiring more specialist design advice. We can provide guidance on integrating renewable energy technology and energy efficiency methods into building designs from concept stages through to more detailed design. We can help to ensure that sustainable solutions are truly integrated within the building and how the building functions, providing the right balance of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency.

With our unique mix of engineers, planners, and architects we have the ability to become essential members of the design team. We offer:

• Experienced architects who have a comprehensive understanding of the design process and can give essential assistance during the concept stage
• Planners with vast experience of the planning process and the integration of renewable energy solutions - we can also provide assistance with community consultations
• Accomplished engineers able to provide technical assistance with renewable energy technology

Planning Policy Statement 22 (PPS22) requires architects and designers to address the environmental impact of developments. Targets for renewable energy as set out in the various Regional Spatial Strategy Frameworks often require a reduction in carbon emissions by the adoption of 10 per cent on site renewable energy generation. In addition, the code for sustainable homes and the requirement for Zero Carbon housing by 2016 present new challenges for developers and designers.

North Energy can help by:

• Providing assistance in complying with the Merton Rule or 10 per cent on site renewable energy generation
• Giving planning support to ensure planning consent is secured
• Assessing the most suitable way of meeting low carbon targets
• Working with the design team to deliver the most appropriate renewable energy schemes in urban and rural locations which produce electricity and / or heat
• Providing guidance on designing and managing community heating schemes
• Preparing financial forecasting for community heating schemes
• Exploring the feasibility of low or zero carbon energy sources for housing developments
• Helping to achieve compliance with Policy 39(e) of the Regional Spatial Strategy

North Energy are fully accredited consultants under the Carbon Trust programme, and as such are able to provide qualified reports on energy use in commercial, industrial and business buildings.

House Builders and the Construction Industry

Your energy and sustainability partner

North Energy offer you our extensive experience of working with house builders and construction companies. We can help you with a range of proven, practical and successful solutions that will take away your energy and sustainability concerns.

Increasing legislation

As our political leaders commit to ever increasing environmental targets, new legislation can force the private sector into new methods to meeting demanding and complicated plans. Many building projects now have to demonstrate that ten per cent of on site energy requirements are being met from renewable resources. By designing and specifying this from the outset, we can help you take advantage of passive solar gain concepts, energy efficient materials,

Biomass district heating

With the correct specification, design and installation a biomass district heating system can offer you a proven and successful way of achieving low carbon targets, or even zero carbon 'Eco' status.

Nicola Smith and the North Energy biomass team have been actively involved in many district heating schemes over the years, from a small group of farm buildings or business units, to systems that heat entire villages. We are currently looking at designing biomass systems for new housing estates of 50, 100, 400 and 1,000 houses around a central biomass boiler that will meet the full heating requirements of the estate.