Funding body: Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
Maximum value: £150,000
Application deadline: 20th June 2024
Free independent energy assessments and/or capital grants are available for voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations delivering frontline services in England to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings.
Background
The £25.5 million VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme is provided by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) as part of a package of more than £100 million of support being delivered by the Government to help frontline delivery organisations in England with the increased cost of living.
The scheme is delivered by a consortium of partners, led by Groundwork UK and supported by Energy Saving Trust, Centre for Sustainable Energy, Locality and Social Investment Business.
Objectives of Fund
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.
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.
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.
The scheme’s intended outcome is to support diverse organisation types and ensure a good geographic and demographic spread of funding, so these are also factors that will be considered during assessment.
If the scheme is oversubscribed, priority will be given to:
- Organisations directly supporting individuals and communities with critical needs, particularly those related to the rising cost of living.*
- Organisations for whom energy is the biggest concern.
- Micro, small and medium-sized organisations. Priority will be given to organisations with an income of less than £1 million per year.
Examples include:
- Services that address poverty, including by providing food, warmth, emergency supplies or personal grants.
- Shelter, accommodation and housing for those most in need.
- Advice services for people experiencing financial, housing or legal challenges.
- Services that address specific physical and mental health issues (such as disability, addiction and dementia).
- Education, training and employment services that improve employability.
- Community hubs or centres, out of which a number of these services operate.
The following are not eligible for funding:
- Educational institutions, eg, schools, colleges, and universities.
- Statutory healthcare facilities, eg, hospitals, clinics, and healthcare centres.
- Other statutory organisations, eg, local authorities, town and parish councils.
- Religious buildings primarily used for worship, such as churches, mosques, temples. (Religious buildings primarily used to deliver services to the community regardless of faith are eligible.)
- Organisations applying for domestic building, eg, those occupied for personal domestic use by one person or family.
- Measures that do not reduce energy bills significantly.
- Measures that have a significant payback period (ideally not more than seven years).
- Measures that are likely to need replacing before the end of the payback period.
- Maintenance works (unless they are required to support the installation of a new energy measure).
Eligible Expenditure
Capital Grants 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.
The funding is to be used to help improve the energy efficiency of the building and could support, for example:
- Building fabric enhancements – wall, roof or floor insulation/draft-proofing, and windows and doors (efficient glazing and thermal doors), green or cool roofs, dynamic glass and phase-change materials, lowering of ceilings (especially if in conjunction with installing PCM/lighting upgrades).
- Space and water heating measures – efficient boiler/heating (HVAC improvements), heating controls, point of use water heaters, smart building management systems, heated water low-flow fixtures, Heat Recovery Ventilation systems, Ductless Mini-Split Systems, Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Systems, Voltage optimisation, Radiant heat emitters, passive or low-energy cooling.
- Lighting – LED lighting systems, light fittings, lighting controls and occupancy sensors, daylight harvesting systems.
- Renewable energy measures – heat pumps, solar panels, wind turbines, Micro-Hydro Systems, battery storage.
- Fossil fuel measures by exception and only in the event that they have been particularly recommended for the premises as part of the IEA, with limited other options available.
- Other capital measures by exception and recognised as proven to make significant reductions in energy.
- Minor capital works required to support the installation of energy efficiency measures may also be covered, but will be assessed on a case-by-case basis
How To Apply
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.
Applications for IEAs are currently open with notification of decisions within 15 working days. The deadline for Independent Energy Assessment applications is 20th June 2024.
Groups are encouraged to apply as early as they can to ensure their independent energy assessment is completed and satisfactory, and they have sufficient time if they decide to apply for a Capital Grant.
The deadline for Capital Grant applications is 14th August 2024.
Webinars will be held for each Capital Grant round. The next webinars will be held for the spring and summer rounds with bookings via the Groundwork UK website.
The scheme will close to IEA and Capital Grant applications on 30th August 2024.
Contact Groundwork UK for further information.
VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme – Groundwork
Apply for a grant – Groundwork
For further information on how to obtain this fund, please contact the following:
- Enquiries
Groundwork UK
Suite B2
The Walker Building
58 Oxford Street
Birmingham
B5 5NR
Tel: 0121 237 5894
Email: EES@groundwork.org.uk