Please click on the link below to reserve your place online for the Advantage West Midlands Seminars

on Wed 21 April 2010 within the Sustainabilitylive! Exhibition.

There you will be able to see the speaker list and the topics being presented.

www.climate-change-solutions.co.uk/sustainabilitylive.php

You are cordially invited to attend one or more of these sessions focussed on the specifics of

Achieving Low Carbon Business Opportunities.

Shropshire schools have been taking part in a series of energy and climate change related workshops over the past six months run by Shrewsbury based charity Marches Energy Agency.

The children from four schools have been chosen to receive prizes for their amazing Eco Community designs and an award presentation evening sponsored by Müller Dairy is taking place at the Council Chambers, Shirehall on the evening of 22^nd April 2010.

The schools taking part are: Oakmeadow Primary, Bayston Hill; Market Drayton Juniors; Meole Brace Science College, Shrewsbury and Mary Webb Science College, Pontesbury. Pupil's ages ranged from 9 to 12 years old. A range of topics were covered including energy use, transport, climate change, renewable energy, land use and ideas for a more sustainable future.

Project Manager at MEA, Sarah Meredith said: "All together we have invited 40 children and their parents to see the awards given out. The designs were of such a high standard and with many really impressive ideas incorporated in to them, it truly was a hard task to choose the winners. We are very grateful to Müller Dairy for sponsoring the competition and to the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund and Shropshire Council for supporting the project which led up to it.

"It's also been good to support the schools with the work they've already done with initiatives such as Eco Schools and help them as they become more sustainable. We were made to feel most welcome and the children put in a lot of time and effort with the project."

Chief Executive of Müller Dairy, Gharry Eccles, said: "This is a brilliant initiative that encourages young people to engage with issues that are crucial to their future. It's something we are proud to support because education, as well as waste and energy reduction, are at the core of our company ethos. They've all done extremely well and the winners will most definitely have earned their prizes!"

All the winning children will receive prizes and certificates, with the overall winners also earning a prize for their school.

Visitors: approx 1020
Bulbs distributed: 1480

CO2 saved (lifetime): 77,670 kg
Retained economic benefit (lifetime): £35,786

This was the first event in a series of five for Stafford Borough Council. We were assisted for the day by Natasha and Ben from Stafford Borough Council and MEA also brought a volunteer along as well.

We were kept quite busy most of the day, with Natasha and Ben directing people to the stand which was located next to the start finish line. Most visitors already had low energy light bulbs in some of their fittings but not all. Many had struggled to find spotlights and GU10 replacements and we were able to direct them to online retailers as well as outlining the costs and savings associated with the bulbs.

On the few occasions when the stand was quiet we were able to give Natasha some training in climate change and energy issues as well as outlining recent research in to attitudes towards energy efficiency. She was alarmed to find out her carbon footprint using our paper footprint calculator, having just flown back from Australia.

As well as light bulb enquiries we had discussions with community groups, one in Doxey needing a speaker on climate change (this has been passed to Sebastian). The second group are considering re-roofing their community building and wanted advice on solar panels.

There was some confusion amongst people about the different types of solar panels and we were able to advise and point them to reputable installers as well as give them factsheets and discuss the new feed in tariffs. One lady had nearly fallen foul of one of the disreputable installers who recently cold called offering her a discount on a solar thermal system - £8000, down from £12000, when really the maximum should be £6000 and averaging £4000.

The energy bike was popular with the fun runners and especially the children, but not with the half marathon runners, many of whom were struggling even to hold on to the bulbs we gave them.

A very busy day and we look forward to the next.

On 11th and 12th March 2010 representatives from all 7 partner countries involved in the SECHURBA project met in Athens to discuss project progress.

MEA is the coordinating partner of the consortium, which is taking part in a 2 ½ year project looking at ways of making historic buildings more energy efficient and highlighting the role that such buildings can play towards historic urban communities' carbon reduction targets.

The meeting comes hot on the heels of a recent report published by the Heritage Lottery Fund which estimates that heritage tourism contributes £20 bn to the UK economy and has an important role to play in our economic recovery.

The first day of meetings took place at a hotel which was a mere 10 minute walk from the Acropolis where an on-going conservation project is taking place using traditional materials and techniques to preserve the Parthenon and surrounding buildings.

The Acropolis	The Parthenon

Partners were given a demonstration of the software tool that is being developed under the project to help decision makers choose what type of interventions might be allowed to be introduced into case study buildings which are mainly Listed and usually situated in Conservation Areas. Each partner country has also been compiling a database of new technologies that are emerging which can be applied to historic buildings. Information on all data so far compiled will be available for download from the partner website next month (www.sechurba.eu).

Partner Meeting	Software Demonstration

Each project partner is looking at a number of case study buildings within their communities and will produce a strategy to reduce carbon emissions from the buildings by a minimum of 40% from current situation.

Project Coordinator, Nicole Solomons, who is leading the project on behalf of MEA said: "Holding the meeting in such an historic location as Athens was the perfect setting to consider how such buildings have survived this long, and how much we can learn from the building methods and materials that were used at that time. By emulating their use of passive (non-mechanical) systems for ventilation, heating and cooling, could save us energy today."

Four pro-active South Shropshire Housing Association (SSHA) families have agreed to take part in a pilot project, with the aim to demonstrate that real people can engage with the issue of sustainable energy.

Each household uses a different heating fuel, and will be tracked over several months to see how they can save energy and money, whilst doing their bit for the planet.
Energy audits have led to action plans, and training has been provided to help families understand how to make their homes more energy efficient.

David Hunt (pictured), a tenant from Bishop Castle, is taking part in this pilot because: "It is an eye opener for my children to understand the value of energy, whilst it is an interesting experience for us to know where the energy goes. This pilot will increase our awareness of energy efficiency, and will help us save money."

Not only will these energy champions benefit from lower fuel bills, but also from an improvement in their skills. They now use a plug-in energy monitor, a real-time energy monitor, and log onto www.wesave.org.uk to work out their carbon footprint and find ways of reducing it. This could potentially have a wider impact on their respective communities, once they start sharing their experience and knowledge.

The project, which started in February 2010, is funded by SSHA and is delivered by Marches Energy Agency.

Housing associations that would like to take part in a similar project are welcome to contact the Project Manager: sylvia@mea.org.uk

In partnership with