encraft news

30 Jun 2010 - Encraft Win Low Carbon Economy Growth Award

Encraft last night won the Business in the Community Award for growth and diversification in the low carbon economy for the West Midlands Region. The award follows record growth for the financial year 2009-10, during which Encraft's sales have increased tenfold, the company has doubled its staff numbers and won contracts as far afield as the US.

Major areas of growth are in software and solar trading activities. This is the second year in a row Encraft has won one of these awards. Last year the company won the Cutting Edge award for low carbon innovation.

22 Jun 2010 - Encraft Position On Financing Large Scale Retrofit Projects

Encraft have continued our successful collaborations with Localise West Midlands and Sustainability West Midlands to produce a comprehensive report into financing options for large scale housing retrofit programmes. The report sets out the case for innovative delivery mechanisms, and argues that financial mechanisms should be tailored to the requirements of radical carbon reduction, not the other way round.

Click here for a copy of the report.

25 May 2010 - Websites For 80% Carbon Reduction Exemplars Launched

We have launched websites for both of our TSB Retrofit for the Future projects to demonstrate how carbon emissions and energy bills can be reduced by 80% in social housing.

Go to www.riff-tsb.com to find details of our rural exemplar project. Details of our urban hard-to treat exemplar project are at www.inspirationbirmingham2020.com .

On both sites you can find details of the project specifications, and the personal blogs of the project managers, Helen and Jon, covering their experiences as they work to deliver each project.

30 Mar 2010 - Encraft Wins Prestigious Us Wind Assessment Project

Encraft has won a high-profile 20 month contract to support development of a web-based small wind site assessment tool for the US Department of Energy. We are delighted to be contributing to this ambitious project, which aims to provide an easy-to-use visual tool that will set the standard for predicting the performance of small wind turbines, even on complex sites.

Encraft is leading a UK team supported by BRE and Loughborough University. Our contribution to the project will be to develop and supply the algorithms that predict wind behaviour around obstacles, building on leading edge theoretical and practical expertise in this area developed by Encraft, BRE and Loughborough in the past five years.

The overall project is led by The Cadmus Group Inc, a US environmental consultancy, supported by the University of California, Davis.

2 Mar 2010 - Encraft Launch New Portfolio Assessment Tool

Encraft have launched a new renewables site assessment software tool to coincide with the start of Ecobuild, where we are on stand 470. Our new tool enables estate managers and landlords with multiple properties quickly to establish where are the best spots in their property portfolio to site solar systems or wind turbines.

The tool can save hours of analysis or consultancy time, and is available online to subscribing users. You can see screenshots and pricing here .

28 Feb 2010 - Encraft Win Two Retrofit For The Future Projects

Encraft are delighted to have won both of the projects we submitted to the recent Technology Strategy Board Retrofit for the Future competition, working in partnership with Warwick District Council and Balsall Heath Housing Cooperative respectively. Both projects aim to reduce carbon emissions from existing social housing by 80% through retrofitting a replicable combination of low carbon technologies, and our projects focus specifically on achieving this with minimum disruption to occupants and maximum opportunity for existing local installation contractors to participate.

Encraft and our partners have been awarded 100% capital funding for these projects, which will be delivered in 2010-11, and will cover three rural homes in Warwick and one city house in Birmingham. More information is available here .

The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led executive non departmental public body, established by the Government. Its mission is to promote and support research into, and development and exploitation of, technology and innovation for the benefit of UK business, in order to increase economic growth and improve quality of life. It is sponsored by the UK’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). About the Technology Strategy Board www.innovateuk.org .

6 Feb 2010 - Encraft Welcome Confirmation Of Uk Feed In Tariffs

Encraft welcome this week's announcement of feed in tariffs for electrical microgeneration in the UK. We have provided a short briefing note for our customers here.

Matthew Rhodes, MD of Encraft, has long been a passionate supporter of the new scheme. 'At last microgeneration has a level playing field on which to compete in the UK energy system,' he said. 'FITs enable good engineers, financiers and lawyers to work together to create imaginative products and services that will create wealth for the economy, reduce carbon emissions, and generate income for individual property owners. Their introduction in the UK is long overdue, and removes the government-imposed artificial handicaps that have inhibited us from competing globally in this massive market for far too long.'

Encraft are already working on innovative schemes, such as the Green New Deal in Birmingham, that use FITs to create jobs and reduce fuel poverty, as well as delivering short-term financial benefits to individual homowners and tenants. For more information, contact us at enquiries@encraft.co.uk .

22 Jan 2010 - Encraft Shape Green New Deal For Birmingham

Encraft have worked with Localise West Midlands for the past six months to design and secure funding for a £40 million pilot retrofit project across four areas of Birmingham, announced today. This innovative project will offer whole house retrofits and solar photovoltaic installations at economic costs to private householders across the city, and is designed specifically to create jobs and business opportunities for local firms.

Encraft are the lead technical advisers on the project, which aims to retrofit over 5000 homes, save over 4000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, and create 150 jobs. We wrote the business plan with LWM, developed the financial and supply chain models and are designing the retrofit products and services for the project.

The Birmingham Green New Deal is one of the first large scale UK projects to take advantage of the feed-in tariff scheme for microgeneration in the UK, and will demonstrate how these tariffs can support local innovation and new business models. Matthew Rhodes, MD of Encraft, said 'we are absolutely delighted Birmingham have taken on board our ideas and decided to lead the way in this field. They have shown tremendous confidence in Encraft's concepts and we are looking forward very much to working with the Council and partners to deliver this project in the coming months.'

12 Aug 2009 - Cut The Cost Of Code Compliance

Encraft is able to offer 50% off the costs of Code for Sustainable Homes consultancy for West-Midlands based businesses through a partnership with West Midlands Centre for Constructing Excellence.

All construction-related companies, including developers and architects, are eligible for this support provided they have 250 employees or less and are based in the West Midlands.

For more information please call us on 01926 312159 or email email enquiries@encraft.co.uk .

24 Jun 2009 - Encraft Offer Free Microgeneration Calculators To Non-profit Organisations

Encraft have made their range of independent microgeneration calculators available free of charge to local authoirities and community organisations. Organisations can add up to two of Encraft's widely used range of calculators free to their website, including with your own branding and a home page. For an example see www.encraft.co.uk/ws/councils/warwickdc

Encraft's calculators provide quick, impartial and personalised estimates of system specifications using the national SAP methodology and international databases of solar and wind resource. They are particularly useful to get a feel for what might work well on your home or property, and to establish potential costs and benefits of different renewables quickly.

Encraft's calculators are a valuable addition to websites offering advice to planning applicants, or energy advice to homeowners and businesses. Customers who want to link to more than two calculators from their website can buy annual licenses for the others for £150 + VAT per year.

1 May 2009 - Encraft Win Prince's May Day Award

Encraft were one of a select band of winners at the Prince's May Day Network celebrations last week in Birmingham. Encraft won the award in the category of "Cutting Edge, Carbon Reduction" for businesses which have shown exceptional entrepreneurial skills and actions in promoting and delivering reductions in carbon emissions. The "Carbon Plus" award specifically recognises Encraft's contributions to improving methods of reducing emissions in the domestic, public and industrial sectors of the UK economy through providing technical support to hundreds of projects. Encraft’s work in helping to make public buildings more sustainable and its recent impartial evaluation of domestic-scale wind turbines were cited as particularly good examples.

13 Jan 2009 - Encraft Warwick Wind Trials Final Results Released

Encraft today released the final results of their 30 month Warwick Wind Trials project into building mounted urban wind turbines. The report highlights the challenges of predicting energy output from systems when the national wind speed database can systematically overestimate wind resource on sites by between 40 and 75%. Location is the dominant factor affecting turbine performance, and can account for systems underperforming manufacturer claims by a factor of 15. Good sites are high rise buildings and clear windy sites, especially near the coast. These sites may be few and far between in urban areas.

The report contains case studies of 26 varied sites, enabling customers to examine in depth how a small wind turbine might work for them, and helping inform choices between competing micropower technologies so that you can select the optimum configuration for your site.

Read more at www.warwickwindtrials.org.uk

15 Oct 2008 - Suneye™ Solar Analysis Tool Launch

Encraft is delighted to be the exclusive distributor in the UK and Eire for the SunEye™ professional solar access and shading tool. The Suneye™ saves designers and installers hours of design time by accurately calculating the impact of shading on solar access for specific locations, taking into account surrounding trees and buildings.

For more information and to enquire about Suneye™ please go to our dedicated Suneye™ website at www.sun-eye.co.uk.

15 Sep 2008 - Carbon Footprinting For Lloyd Fraser Group

Encraft have completed a carbon audit for the UK operations of Lloyd Fraser Group, the logistics company. Lloyd Fraser operate over 1 million square feet of warehousing from 30 sites across the UK and have a fleet of over 500 vehicles. An initial audit of the main distribution centre in Northampton was well-received, and we were invited to extend the exercise to the whole group.

To enquire about our footprinting services, click here

10 Sep 2008 - New Factsheet Available: Selling Your Electricity

Encraft today launched a new low cost subscription service for microgeneration companies who wish to keep their customers informed of tariff and grant developments. For a low annual fee customers get quarterly content to go in their own format to their customers. This makes it easier for microgeneration companies to sell their products professionally and helps create a more informed market.

To enquire about our briefings service, click here

1 Jul 2008 - Air Source Heat Pump For Warwickshire Police

Warwickshire Police today commissioned their first air source heat pump installation on a police station on the M6 near Birmingham. The project was designed and managed by Encraft following a feasibility study, and delivered by local firm New World Solar to Encraft’s specifications after a competitive tendering process.

To enquire about our project management and design services, click here

4 Apr 2007 - Interim Results Of Warwick Wind Trials Published

The findings of the first nine months of the Warwick Wind Trials were published today (see www.warwickwindtrials.org.uk ). This project, initiated and led by Encraft, is the largest independent trial of urban wind turbines in the UK. The results include comprehensive experience of the planning processes, technical performance and wind data.

1 Jan 2007 - Encraft Move Into Larger Offices

As of 1 January 2007, our main office address is 6b Park Street, Leamington, CV32 4QN. All phone and emails remain unchanged.

1 Dec 2006 - Encraft Awarded 16 Month Regional Contract

Encraft have been selected from a highly competitive field to lead a 16 month project to help develop a competitive low carbon technology supply chain for building technologies in the West Midlands. The Sustainable Public Buildings Project will work with eight building projects across the region. Encraft and our project partners will provide expertise to show how the projects can be made more sustainable and work with supply businesses to develop supply chains for the necessary technologies.

16 Jun 2006 - Encraft Launch Rooftop Wind Trial Project

Encraft are working with Pilkington Energy Efficiency Trust, Warwick District Council, Action21 and other partners to install and monitor a number of microwind turbines in the Midlands.

The project will evaluate the technical performance of the systems over 12 months, and also explore planning and installation issues. The idea is to create an objective and rounded knowledge base to support customer and political decision-making and to help the market and industry to develop effectively.

The project has its own website at www.warwickwindtrials.org.uk

1 Feb 2006 - Encraft Finalists In National Award For Climate Change Innovation

Encraft have been shortlisted for a Shell Springboard award for small businesses with innovative projects to combat climate change.

The Encrafthome project was chosen as one of 25 projects from over 250 applicants, and is the only purely IT-based project to make the shortlist for the Central region.

26 Oct 2005 - Encraft Briefs Mps On Microgeneration's Potential

Encraft provided a technical briefing for MPs on the potential for microgeneration to contribute to tackling climate change - our analysis shows how microgeneration and energy efficiency could in theory reduce UK carbon emissions by at least 8%.

Factors under political control can account for more than 60% of microgeneration costs to homeowners.

This briefing can be provided as a seminar with more technical or financial material on request. Please contact Matthew Rhodes for details.

26 Sep 2005 - Encraft Submission To Dti Microgeneration Strategy

Encraft set out our views on the best ways government can support faster growth of microgeneration to the benefit of customers and the economy in a comprehensive response to their consultation.

5 Jul 2005 - Energy Minister Launches Consultation On Microgeneration

Malcom Wicks, the Minister of State for Energy, launched a formal consultation process on the government's microgeneration strategy at a series of events this week.

The strategy will include announcement of the shape of future grant and incentive schemes for small scale projects, and efforts the government will make to eliminate market distortions in the regulation system and distribution system that tend to favour centralised energy supply in the UK.

14 Jun 2005 - Encraft Quoted In Green Alliance Report 'small Or Atomic'

Green Alliance, a respected think tank and lobby group, today published a report on the comparative costs of nuclear and microgeneration.

Encraft's work was quoted extensively in the report, titled 'Small or Atomic'. We are the only organisation who've provided comprehensive, market-independent information on the comparative costs of different microgeneration options for the past two years.

16 May 2005 - Encraft Contributes To Debate On Finding Solutions To Global Energy Problems

Matthew Rhodes, Managing Director of Encraft, published a letter in the Times today highlighting how arguments about energy and microgeneration should be debated in an informed way.

The way we generate and use energy shapes our society. The more people who understand the issues so we can have an informed debate, the better for all of us.