Zero Carbon Business Partnership to Help UK SMEs work towards net zero
Aiming at helping UK SMEs access the education, expertise and opportunities for collaboration needed to meet or better the UK’s 2050 net-zero target, the Federation of Small Businesses, British Chambers of Commerce, British Retail Consortium and Make UK have joined forces to create the Zero Carbon Business Partnership, a recent news report has been able to suggest.
In the first instance, the new Partnership polled 254 SMEs across all of the UK’s main regions and sectors, to gauge their appetite for net-zero and their key opportunities and challenges.
Results show that many are having trouble deciphering jargon, accessing relevant resources or finding the funding needed to reduce emissions. While two-thirds of respondents claim to understand net-zero, seven in ten said that could not find an online source of help for SME decarbonisation that was accessible and high-quality.
Costs were expected to be raised as another major battier, especially in light of Covid-19. 40% of respondents said a lack of funding was a blocker to accelerating sustainability action.
The report on the results of the survey takes these trends into account and provides recommendations as to what UK SMEs need to align with net-zero. These include clear and accessible information; financial and digital literacy support for new skills and peer-to-peer relationships for sharing case studies and challenges.
The authors of the report also urge the Government and local authorities to provide more support to help SMEs financially recover from Covid-19 in an environmentally sustainable manner and better help them see the true opportunities of a green recovery.
HeatingSave – an excellent energy efficiency and money-saving solution for SMEs
SME owners who’re particularly worried about the adverse effects energy price hikes might have on their bottom lines should seriously consider investing in a high-end solution designed specifically to help them optimize their energy consumption, and this is specifically where the HeatingSave Building Management System could help.
By using data coming from a variety of sources (boiler flow and return sensors, internal and external temperature sensors, occupancy sensors, humidity sensors, etc.), HeatingSave optimizes a building’s boiler-based central heating system and helps customers save anywhere between 20 and 30%+ on their bills.
HeatingSave is also approved to work and save fuel within the Energy Technology List, which is managed by the Carbon Trust on behalf of the Government. It is also approved by the Department of Energy & Climate Change and the Energy Savings Trust and was specified by the Building Research Establishment for the energy efficient homes retro-fit program, called The Greenhouse Project.