Scotland's Energy Efficiency Programme Consultation - Have your say

8th March 2017

The EAUC is a Member-led organisation. We represent you, and ensure that your views on topical issues are conveyed to the rest of the sector and to the Government. One important way we can do this is by responding to consultations from the Government and other organisations.
 
The Scotland's Energy Efficiency Programme (SEEP) Consultation is one of five currently open around the draft Scottish Energy Strategy. EAUC-Scotland is seeking feedback on the consultation questions from Universities and Colleges in Scotland to submit a sector response.
 
The full Consultation Document is available here.

Please find the background as it applies to the further and higher education sector below, and follow the link to the Survey to submit your thoughts for inclusion in the Sector Response. We have selected the questions for the survey which we think are of most relevance to universities and colleges.

If you would also like to respond to the Consultation directly we would strongly encourage you to do so.

The deadline to have your opinions included in the EAUC-Scotland response is Friday 19th May.
 

Background

 
The Energy Strategy is independent to but sits alongside the Climate Change Plan, using the targets from the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. The Plan outlines the steps that Scotland will take to reduce emissions in the services sector 98% by 2032 on 2014 levels.
 
Improving energy efficiency and decarbonising heat supplies will be extremely challenging, but also have many positive social and economic benefits. Energy efficiency has been designated a national infrastructure priority, and Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme (SEEP) is the coordinated programme to lead on this, operating for up to 20 years with an estimated investment of over £10 billion.
 
SEEP will be developed over a number of years, allowing design of incentives, standards and regulations, supply chain advice and information, consumer protection and monitoring and evaluation, through public consultation, engagement with delivery partners, and pilot projects. The design phase will run until 2018 and involve setting targets for the programme, the development phase will allow development and deployment of key programme elements up until 2021/22, and then full deployment of the programme will follow with regular review, evaluation and refinement.
 

“Once fully operational SEEP will be a whole system approach to delivering energy efficiency improvements and the provision of low carbon heat. A framework of standards, advice and funding will help create long-term consistency and confidence for consumers and industry. The programme will also help develop supporting skills and supply chains across Scotland with appropriate protections for consumers.”

Situation Report

 
Scotland’s building stock is extremely varied. Significant progress has already been made, with improvements in energy efficiency reflected in energy demand and emissions, which for the public sector have fallen by 36.2%.
 
SEEP will build on and learn from current energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation schemes, including loans programmes such as the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme and Public Sector Energy Efficiency Procurement Framework, and continue to fund Home Energy Scotland and Resource Efficient Scotland who provide free and impartial advice.
 
During pre-consultation workshops stakeholders identified a number of schemes, initiatives and approaches that are already driving improvement, including Energy Performance Certificates, the Renewable Heat Incentive, and area-based schemes. They also identified a number of issues and challenges that SEEP’s development should consider, including challenging grant application deadlines, lack of long-term certainty around support, concerns about Energy Performance Certificate-based building assessments, and the difficulties of changing behaviours.

 

Aims and Objectives of SEEP

 
2050 Vision –
Scotland’s buildings are near zero carbon by 2050 and this is achieved in a way that is socially and economically sustainable.
 
SEEP is the Scottish Government’s main policy vehicle to deliver on challenging targets around energy demand reduction and decarbonisation of heat supply, as well as tackle fuel poverty. The policy outcomes in the Climate Change Plan which SEEP has as its objectives are:
 

• By 2032 94% of non-domestic buildings’ and 80% of domestic buildings’ heat is supplied using low carbon heat technologies
• Improvements to the fabric of Scotland’s non-domestic buildings result in a 10% reduction,  and Scotland’s domestic buildings result in a 6% reduction, in their heat demand by 2032

The draft Energy Strategy is also seeking views on whether the new 2030 energy efficiency target for Scotland should mirror the EU ambition of a 30% improvement, as we far surpassed our 12% 2020 target for energy consumption reduction in 2014. We have included this question in our Survey for this Consultation, and you can find more information about the setting of this target on page 56 of the Scottish Energy Strategy Consultation document.
 
Demand reduction measures (e.g. fabric improvement to buildings or process improvements to equipment) and heat decarbonisation measures need to operate together. However, success will depend on the decarbonisation of gas and oil used for heating the vast majority of buildings, which is a reserved matter and dependent on UK Government priorities. The Climate Change Plan prioritises demand reduction from now until 2025, when more clarity on the future of gas in the UK is expected.
 
SEEP is expected to deliver on meeting climate change targets but also offer significant wider economic, social, health and regeneration benefits.
 

Find the full Consultation Document here.

 

Consultation Sector Response

The Consultation questions we have included in our Sector Response Survey cover:
 

• The current successes and challenges around current Government schemes to support energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation
• How Scotland can best meet the 2050 vision above and what milestones should be identified on the way
• How regulation and standards on energy efficiency can be most effectively used
• What the benefits of using financial and fiscal incentives are in relation to energy efficiency improvements
• How assessing energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation improvements to buildings is most effectively done
• How improvements should be funded (loans and grants) and how private investment can be encouraged
• What advice and information is required and it is best communicated
• At what scale SEEP should be delivered and how national and local schemes can work together
• How targets should be set and responsibilities divided on a national and local level
• Designing an effective monitoring framework

Submit your thoughts to be included in our Sector Response to this Consultation here.

Find out more about the draft Scottish Energy Strategy here.