Subject: AGM 2025 announced!🎉 Demonstrating a just transition.🌻

Carbon Co-op AGM announced! Register now.

Hi Friend,

We have announced the dates for the Carbon Co-op AGM. Taking place on the 23rd of April, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation and Online. Carbon Co-op members and supporters alike will be meeting to discuss the future of our organisation and how we can demonstrate a just transition. The AGM will be held in a hybrid format, so you can either join us face-to-face (and join us for refreshments and a light buffet) or participate online. We welcome all our supporters, but only Carbon Co-op members will be able to take part in the formal AGM proceedings. Register today for your place.

If you can't make the AGM, then perhaps you fancy joining this month's EcoHome Lab on the 10th of April, looking at the 'Energy Management for Home Assistant' (EMHASS) integration with the lead author and maintainer of the project, Dr David Hernández giving an introduction and overview of the tool.

We also have some great blogs and presentations for you to catch up on, looking at different aspects of the retrofit process, from the training opportunities in an community-led area based scheme, to how we speak about retrofit grant programmes and delivering the right outcomes on retrofit.

Finally, if you missed out on Energy System Catapults exciting offer of a free air-to-air heat pump last time, you are in luck. They have extended the sign up period, and now is your chance! Sign up now or share the opportunity with eligible friends and family.

Carbon Co-op AGM

A photo of a room full of people meeting in a cafe space around several tables

An opportunity for Carbon Co-op supporters and members its members to reflect, celebrate and plan for the year ahead.

You can attend the event in person or dial in online. Members and non-members can attend - only members can vote at the formal AGM

Refreshments and a light buffet will be available on the night.

In addition to the formal elements of the AGM we will be asking the question: How can the work of Carbon Co-op demonstrate and inform the action needed to accelerate an effective as well as just, energy transition?

We will do this by reflecting on two recent projects:

We will present on our ground-breaking LevABS street retrofit project and reflect on how our approach has changed since our last forray into construction, the Community Green Deal project from 2015. We hope to welcome householders from the scheme and Aileen McDonnell CEO of award winning social enterprise training/contractor B4Box.

We will review our Energise Manchester work which has been delivering in person energy advice over the past 2 years with some excellent case studies videos to showcase the work. Our Energy Saving Champions (who are also members) are keen to get involved, so some of them may attend and share their experiences.

EXTENDED: Could you get a free air-to-air heat pump?

Energy Systems Catapult have extended their offer for a free air-to-air heat pump. Are you eligible or do you know someone who is?

We've been approached by Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) to help with their recruitment for a pilot of air-to-air heat pumps.

The Energy Catapult is collaborating on a government-funded initiative with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

The project, Homes for Net Zero (HFNZ), explores the benefits and consumer insights of using air conditioning units (air-to-air heat pumps) for both heating and cooling homes.

The program is open to electrically heated properties only.

We are seeking up to 70 flat owners to have a unit installed—free of charge (valued between £2,000 and £7,000)—while The Catapult collects data to understand the impact on their daily lives.

Additionally, we are inviting 400 homes to participate in a one-year electricity usage monitoring program, with a £50 incentive for participants.

Further Afield, an MRS registered market research company, is assisting with the participant sign-up process.

Learn more and apply

EXTENDED: Could you get a free air-to-air heat pump?

A Diagram of different energy data feeding into the EMHASS integration

We are delighted to welcome Dr. David Hernández the lead author and maintainer of the open source EMHASS project, to give an introduction to the tool.

EMHASS (Energy Management for Home Assistant) is an optimisation tool designed for residential households. The package uses a Linear Programming approach to optimise energy usage while considering factors such as electricity prices, power generation from solar panels, and energy storage from batteries. EMHASS provides a high degree of configurability, making it easy to integrate with Home Assistant and other smart home systems. Whether you have solar panels, energy storage, or just a controllable load, EMHASS can provide an optimized daily schedule for your devices, allowing you to save money and minimize your environmental impact.

How we speak to households about retrofit grant programmes

An illustration of lots of speech bubbles with ellipses inside them

Over the last year we’ve been increasingly asked about grant funded programmes for retrofit. Do we recommend them? Do we refer people into them? So we’ve done a lot of thinking about what our position is, because we want to provide clarity to our staff and the households we talk to. This blog post from Carbon Co-op staff member, Helen Grimshaw, sets out our position, at the moment. We envisage that we’ll need to revisit this from time to time, as our organisation and services grow, and as external factors change.

Read the blog post

Real-time Training: A Reflection

A photo of a worker fitting external wall insulation

Carbon Co-op’s area-based retrofit project is upgrading a group of homes in Levenshulme, South Manchester, aiming to improve energy efficiency, keep bills low and reduce carbon emissions. The key contractor for the scheme, Stockport-based B4Box, are not only a contractor but also a training provider, who are using the experience of retrofitting traditional Victorian terraced buildings to develop hands-on training and upskill the local workforce.

Through this project, fourteen operatives from a variety of trade backgrounds have completed the Level 3 Award in Energy Efficiency for Older and Traditional Buildings.

Learn about the impact of this training

What we are watching...

Carbon Co-op's Eleanor Radcliffe speaks at NEA conference

Carbon Co-op project manager, Eleanor Radcliffe joins other experts from the world of retrofit for a panel on 'Delivering the Right Outcomes on Retrofit' at the National Energy Action conference.

Watch the session

Session 6 | Delivering the right outcomes on retrofit

In the community

A photo of some twisted and tangled ventilation ducting

dMEV, infiltration and heat losses

One Carbon Co-op community member is looking into Decentralised Mechanical Extract Ventilation (dMEV) and is interested to understand the pros and cons of such a system in more detail. Do you have knowledge on this topic, want to learn more, or have another idea for a conversation on the forum? Take part now!

Join the conversation

Upcoming Events

EcoHome Lab: EMHASS (Energy Management for Home Assistant)

10th April, 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Online

How can we demonstrate a just transition? Carbon Coop AGM 2025

23rd April, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm International Anthony Burgess Foundation / Online