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Fantastic First Friday in Petersfield
21/04/2011
The December Petersfield First Friday networking lunch attracted a record attendance of more than 50 people. They all enjoyed making excellent business contacts and the superb food served by Mary Arshadi at the Folly Upstairs. She is joint organizer of this monthly event with Gareth Gammon, of Navigate Design, and Amanda Gale and Mike Kirby, at Antrobus House.
The speakers on 2 December were John Charnock-Wilson and Paul Ciniglio, from the East Hampshire Environment Network (EHEN). John gave an insight into EHEN’s work and aims, which are to provide information, support, financial advice and promotion to all local environmental groups and sustainability projects. They target individuals, businesses, local authorities, civil servants and special interest groups.
The areas of public interest include energy (insulation of properties, Green Deal, Green Transport, cycle routes etc); recycling (including waste for Business); Grown Your Own); and Biodiversity (including water and bio fuels).
He drew attention to business feedback to and involvement with EHEN. Ideas include action on solar panels, an online business forum, lobbying local authorities, education, a ‘badge’ for sustainable issues, and management certification through STEM (Steps to Environmental Management).
This step-by-step guide for SMEs is financed by the EU and backed by Portsmouth City Council (but not by Hampshire County Council). Originating from and managed by Kent CC, STEM has Gold, Silver and Bronze accreditation, and is compatible with ISO 14001 and BS8555.
EHEN, www.easthampshire-environment.net
Built environment
Paul Ciniglio’s Sunpower C2ottage in Stroud has won many awards, including the Life in Petersfield 2010 Green Initiative Award. He said that the built environment had the greatest affect on our quality of life and that 11 December was the deadline for using current green incentives from the Government. That marked the end of an eight-week consultation.
The Government’s flagship policy was the Green Deal, set to be available to business and domestic customers from late 2012. This was a huge opportunity to grow a multi-million pound market and create jobs, Paul explained. The Green Deal has no upfront cost, relying on the ‘principle’ that energy savings would exceed installation costs over the lifetime of an efficiency scheme.
Typical measures included insulation and gas boilers; typical loans would be less than £10,000 over 25 years. Loans would be repaid through a charge on the meter (shown on the bill) and it would remain with the building rather than the occupier until repaid.
Paul told First Friday that there were several questions, including: the cost of borrowing and where it would be sourced; the uptake by customers; the outcome if there were no savings or a customer default; and whether the Green Deal would meet carbon reduction target.
The Government has planned for zero carbon standards in new homes by 2016 and in commercial buildings by 2019. Building regs would change in 2013 and 2016. And smart meters are set for introduction from 2014 to 2019.
The biggest challenge lay in retro-fitting older houses to achieve 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050, With 85% of the 26 million homes still around in 38 years that works out as half a million houses a year and £10,000 worth of business per hour until 2050.
Paul Ciniglio told First Friday that EHEN have undertaken some ‘scoping work’ on potential risks to business – transport, building and production and weather (e.g. water shortages) – from adapting to climate change.
February meeting
There is no Petersfield First Friday in January and the next lunch meeting is on 3 February 2012, when the guest speaker is Simon Greenly, who runs his own business and is Chairman of the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce. He will tell First Friday about new ways of businesses raising money.
Contact: www.first-friday.org
