This week saw us train another 13 learners as Domestic Green Deal Assessors. Offering the best rate in the market, this month our training course was filled with enthusiastic learners from all over the region, wanting to train as a GDA and/or DEA.

Spots are already being filled in for June training course. If you are interested in joining the lucrative Green Deal business, get in touch with us. Not only will you not find a better price anywhere else, our instructors and practical teaching approach will guarantee to get you qualified as a GDA.

Our practical approach is what sets our training courses apart

Our interactive approach to teaching provides a great foundation of the hands on experience and technical knowledge needed to be a success Green Deal Advisor.

Our practical approach is essential in helping learners tackle the more complicated aspects of being a Green Deal Advisor, such as recognising building age or identifying the heating systems used in the property. Our course is packed with practical examples from real energy assessments that we have carried out in the past. This ensures that when the learner graduates and goes on to do the job, they don’t get caught out by something that doesn’t quite look like what they learnt in the textbooks.

Every house is different with its own individual features and structures. Our teaching methods gives the trainees the tools recognise such individualities and the inside knowledge needed to produce accurate assessments in quicker time.

The location of our training centre is perfect to deliver our GDA training course. On our doorstep we have some great examples of properties to show our learners to compliment what they are taught in the classroom.

The properties we look at space from the pre 1900s, all the way up to 2002, allowing learners to clearly see the architectural styles that mark the different ages of properties – this is a key requirement and skill needed as an energy assessor.

When it comes to learners producing their portfolios needed to gain their qualification, they do so with very little errors. This is very much down to the level of detail covered in the classroom and the practical elements of the course, which really hammer down the skills and knowledge needed to get qualified and be a successful energy assessor.

If you would like to apply for Energy Friend GDA or DEA Training Course, fill in the online application form, email your interest to training@energyfriend.co.uk or call us on 0800 046 1972.

The home of the Energy Friend HQ

Interactive classroom learning

Stimulating classroom discussions

Thorough coverage of the basic theoretical fundamentals

Helping students understanding through the use of descriptive diagrams

Trainees are given everything needed for a guaranteed pass

Student are taken around the local estate for practical in the field learning

Using real examples of  properties to enhance learning

Helping trainees to identify different types of building structures

Trainees are taught the real hands on skills of being a GDA

Trainees are shown examples of a variety of different aged buildings they may come across as a GDA

Showing trainees examples of different building structures

In the market there seems to be a great variation in terms of Green Deal Training fees. After a thoroughly competitor analysis, it is safe to say our training course fees are one of the most competitively priced rates in the market. Furthermore, we also offer excellent group packages, at even greater rates. *
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Bespoke Green Deal Training Packages

These are particularly suited for the likes of Registered Social Landlords and SMEs in any energy related products wishing to join the lucrative Green Deal business. We offer excellent group Green Deal Assessor (GDA) & Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA) training packages, for groups of up to 12 trainees, at fantastic rates with great savings. Our bespoke training packages are fully flexible to suit your needs and requirements and you can tailor it exactly how you want it, from …

• The mix of qualifications you require i.e
  • Full GDA qualification (complete with DEA qualification)
  • GDA top-up qualification for existing DEAs
  • DEA qualification
• The time & date of the training course to suit your needs
• Number of trainees you have on the course (up to 12)

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Excellent Rates

Our training courses are all delivered in house; the NET Park Incubator is home to our head office and contains excellent facilities for training. We have no overhead costs, which means we can offer our courses at far better rates and pass the savings on to you.

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Highly competitive in the market

You can see on the table below, our training course rates are significantly competitive to others in the market.

Not only do we offer excellent rates, the training course we deliver and the instructors they are delivered by are the perfect combination to give trainees the best start to the Green Deal business. *

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What makes our qualifications different?

The GDA and DEA qualification we offer at Energy Friend are all certified by ABBE. Unlike the City & Guilds GDA & DEA training courses, the ABBE qualification is that of a very practical nature. There are no exams and all assessments are based on portfolio work, made up of sample Green Deal Assessments and Energy Performance Certificates. This allows the trainees to develop the practical skills of becoming a GDA and/or DEA. *

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Instructors with significant experience

The role of a GDA and DEA is that of a very practical nature; therefore it only makes sense to be trained how to do the job practically, as opposed to learning the theory of how to do the job in a classroom.

All our training courses are delivered by our highly experienced instructors Colin Robinson & Guy Mason, both who were amongst the first cohort in England and Wales to be trained as Green Deal Assessors.

In fact, it will be rare to find a Green Deal Assessor like Colin, who has solely carried out near to 100 Green Deal Assessments.

While Guy on the other hand, is qualified both as a domestic and commercial Energy Advisor and has carried out over 5,000 EPCs, as well as having qualifications and experience in installing a vast array of energy products.

Both Colin and Guy have significant practical ‘boots on the ground’ experience, delivering energy assessments on a daily basis. Their many years of industry knowledge and practical experiences are passed onto our trainees.

Our training courses will thoroughly teach all the practical elements of being a GDA or DEA, giving trainees a better chance to first hand learn of all the pitfalls they may come across on the job and how to avoid/overcome them.

*Prices quoted from company websites on 1^st May 2013

If you are a Housing Association or a SME of any energy related products and are interested in getting involved in the lucrative Green Deal business, talk to us about tailoring a bespoke GDA training package to suit to your business needs and requirements. 

Email training@energyfriend.co.uk or call us on 0800 046 1972.

We stirred up a keen interest at the Big Eco Show

The region’s largest dedicated Eco Show took place at the Centre of Life in Newcastle yesterday and we were very excited to be exhibiting at this prestigious event.

We were set up alongside our partner companies Green Deal Products and Tadea, together forming the North East #1 One-Stop Shop in offering the complete Green Deal Package.

The Green Deal received a lot of interest at the show – With the use of our Savings Map we had set up on an iPad, attendees could pop in their postcodes and instantly see all the Green Deal Surveys we have carried out near their homes and how much potential savings customers have already been recommended.

Launched The North East Network of Green Deal Installers

MD, Colin Robinson, delivered a fantastic seminar introducing the North East Network of Green Deal Installers, which was received with a great deal of interest from many SMEs involved in installing energy products, from insulation specialists, solar installers, to heating engineers. The seminar received a lot of great feedback on the day and many saw the network ‘as a no brainer!’ as it was clear to see the need and benefits of having such a network in place to ensure the Green Deal process works effectively and smoothly for all stakeholder involved.

What is the North East Network of Green Deal Installers?

In a nutshell, the North East Network of Green Deal Installers is the last piece of the puzzle in taking the full Green Deal package to the customer.

To date, we have carried out approximately 100 Green Deal Assessments and recommended near to 400 energy efficiency recommendations in North East homes, from insulation, to double glazing, to renewable energy. We have in place a Green Deal Provider to fund the recommended installations. The only piece of the puzzle now missing is approved Green Deal Installers to actually go out and install these recommendations. We already have significant Green Deal work available, just need to installers to quote and carry them out.

If you are an energy installer and are wanting to take advantage of all this work already available, let us show you where you stand in the grand scheme of things;

Once a customer has received their Green Deal Advice Report and want to get their energy efficiency recommendations installed, what do they do next?

1. Get in touch with installers, then attempt to get funding from a Green Deal Provider. However this will not work. Why? As the Installers may not be registered with a Green Deal Provider, thus finance cannot be obtained.
2. Get in touch with installers with provider backing. Again, this route will not work as the customers can only have a contract with one Green Deal Provider.
3. However, ultimately what they are most likely to do is ..nothing!

Why? Because nowhere on the Government literature instructs customers to contact installers directly, rather your only hope is to be subcontracted by a Green Deal Provider, who provides the finance. This is because through the Green Deal, the customer’s contract lays directly with the Green Deal Provider, as opposed to the installer.

As an installer, being subcontracted by a Green Deal Provider then results in further problems; you may lose control over your customers and even worse, you could possibly lose them to your competitors.

This is where the North East Network of Green Deal Installers comes in!

So how will the process work and as an energy installer, how can you make the most out of your customers? 

1. Customer comes to Energy Friend for a Green Deal Assessment then asks us to project manage their installations
2. We then dip into our network of approved Green Deal Installers and provide customers with quotes for the recommendations they want installed
3. We then negotiate the finance from our partner Green Deal Provider
4. You install the recommendations for your customer and receive payment from our partner Green Deal Provider

Benefits to you:

• 100% control of your customer and supply chain
• Have a large network of installers to dip into, should you need to subcontract work you are not qualified to install
• Make the most out of your existing customer and obtain further new business – See how

For more information North East Network of Green Deal Installers and the many benefits it presents, see Colin’s Seminar, delivered at The Big Eco Show.

If you would like to apply for Energy Friend Green Deal for Installers Training Course,  register online, email your interest to training@energyfriend.co.uk or call us on 0800 046 1972. 

If you are an installer of boiler products, you may have access to funding that will allow you to replace boilers for free. However, in order to qualify, you will need to be able to carry out a Domestic EPC on the said property, before you can get access to such funding.

If you are not accredited to carry out EPCs, we can help…

Our Domestic Energy Assessment (DEA) qualification can provide you with the full training and accreditation needed to carry out Domestic EPCs.  Not only will this qualification allow you to gain access to the funding to replace boilers for free, you will also become a qualified Domestic Energy Assessor, allowing you to carry out Domestic Energy Assessments.

However, if you feel this course is not for you, but would still like access to the funding to replace free boilers, our qualified domestic energy assessors can carry out and produce the EPC for you.

Our domestic energy assessors have got extensive knowledge and experience in carrying out domestic energy assessments and can produce an EPC for you in your required properties.

If you would like to find out a bit more about our DEA Course, or have a property you need an EPC produced for, call us now on 0800 046 1972 or email us on training@energyfriend.co.uk.

Despite the terrible weather, we’ve had a very exciting few months here at Energy Friend; lots have been going on and many customers have received their Green Deal Advice Reports (GDAR) and now going on to the next stage of the process and requesting quotations to get their energy efficiency recommendations installed in their homes.

Though there were a few setbacks from the Government, with regards to making the software available to lodge the Green Deal Surveys, causing some details in getting customers GDARs out, such issues have been resolved and more than 1,800 Green Deal Assessments were lodged in the first month of the launch of the Government’s Flagship Energy Efficient Scheme, between the end of January and the end of February. This shows that the Green Deal has had a very positive response from the domestic market and interest will continue to grow.

How we’ve been getting along…

To give a better idea on the potential savings we have recommended for our customers; we have recommended energy efficiency measures that would result in a total combined potential saving of £24,964 and save 197.4 tonnes of CO2 emissions, based on the Green Deal surveys we have carried out so far. That’s an average annual saving of £489.49 and 3.87 tonnes of CO2 emissions per household.*

Prior to the surveys, the average Energy Efficiency Rating per household was rated at E. Should all the recommendations we’ve made be installed, the average Energy Efficiency Rating per household goes up to a rating of B. This shows that once GDARs are put in to action and get the recommendations installed, there are valuable savings to be made, at no up-front cost.

We Project Manage it, so you don’t have to!

What’s more, we offer the Project Management service, managing the whole process for customers; from getting the best quotes from our network of local, trusted and accredited Green Deal Installers; to agreeing a finance package that’s ideal for the customer with an Approved Green Deal Provider; to overlooking the recommendations being installed, so the whole process is as seamless and convenient as possible.

If you haven’t already done so, book for your Independent Green Deal Assessments today and see how much saving you could be making, by improving the energy efficiency of your home, at no up-front cost.

On the other hand, if you’ve already had a Green Deal Assessment carried out, speak to us about how we can project manage your Green Deal Package.

Energy Friend has gone Social!

Over the past few weeks, we have introduced more social avenues to allow us to keep in touch with our customers and update you with all that is going on within Energy Friend and the industry.

‘Look after your pennies and your pounds will look after themselves’ with our #EnergyFriendDailyTips

We know it’s the little things that can help to make the big difference when it comes to saving energy – Introducing our Energy Friend Daily Tips. Every day we post tips , on the small yet effective changes you can make in your homes and lifestyles to help you save energy and money on your bills. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn, and follow the hash tag #EnergyFriendDailyTips – make these small changes and start to save the pounds on your energy bills today.

Furthermore the Energy Friend Blog is now updated on a regular basis; bringing you more updates about all things exciting at Energy Friend and the wider community.

Exciting to be exhibiting at The Big Eco Show

This year The Big Eco Show will be held at the Centre for Life in Newcastle City Centre, bringing together to showcase businesses from across the region operating in the low-carbon and climate resilient economy. It will focus on how businesses can grow, thrive and build their resilience within the green economy.

With over 50 businesses exhibiting, this will be the region’s largest dedicated Eco Show and we are very exciting to be a part of the prestigious event. Not only will we be exhibiting at the show, Managing Director, Colin Robinson, will also be delivering a workshop introducing the North East Green Deal Installer Network.

Read all about it here …

Launch of the Energy Friend Green Deal Training Centre

As the North East’s 1st accredited Green Deal Advice Organisation, we have now launched the Energy Friend Green Deal Training Centre; offering specific training and accreditation needed to carry out Green Deal assessments and installations that will create sustainable and well-paid jobs in the region.

February saw the Launch of our Green Deal Advisor training, which saw all trainees qualify as a Domestic Green Deal Advisor, which could see them earn up to £30,000 a year.

Read all about it here…

Expanding into the non-domestic market

As well as the positive response from the domestic market for the Green Deal, we have also been receiving a lot of interest from local SMEs. Small businesses have approached us to carry out Green Deal Assessments on their business properties, in hope to identify effective efficiency means that could help to make their business more energy efficient.

Energy Friend also has also made proposals to tackle the challenges of the Durham County Council’s New Asset Transfer Programme via The Green Deal.

Read all about it here…

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed our March Edition Newsletter.
As always, if you have any thoughts you would like to share with us, do get in touch!

Energy Friend

This year the show will be held at the Centre for Life in Newcastle City Centre, bringing together to showcase businesses from across the region operating in the low-carbon and climate resilient economy. It will focus on how businesses can grow, thrive and build their resilience within the green economy.

With over 50 businesses exhibiting, this will be the region’s largest dedicated Eco Show and we are very exciting to be a part of the prestigious event. Not only will we be exhibiting at the show, Managing Director, Colin Robinson, will also be delivering a workshop introducing the North East Green Deal Installer Network.

As the North East’s 1^st accredited Green Deal Advice Organisation, we have now launched the Energy Friend Green Deal Training Centre; offering specific training and accreditation needed to carry out Green Deal assessments and installations that will create sustainable and well-paid jobs in the region.

Colin Robinson, will be delivering the workshop introducing the North East Green Deal Installer Network and the many opportunities its membership presents.

Our aim is build a North East Network of local, trusted and approved Green Deal Installers, whom can work together and build enough resources amongst them to compete against large national organisation, which will no doubt be moving into the Green Deal market very soon.

The purpose of the North East Green Deal Installer Network is to build a pool of trusted resources, in which customers can be referred to, to get their Green Deal recommendations installed, delivering more work for North East SME’s and overall lower energy bills for North East homes through the Green Deal.

Colin will deliver a workshop, introducing the Energy Friend Green Deal Installer training course, which will consist of a 30 minute presentation on the benefits of joining the North East Network of Installers and a 30 minute Q&A session. Installers will also get the chance to sign up to the training course during the workshop and learn how membership to the network can help develop and increase their business.

If you are an installer of any energy related products or technologies, come along to Energy Friend Green Deal for Installers Workshop at The Big Eco Show:

Place: The Big Eco Show 2013

Date: 18th April 2013

Time: 2:15pm – 3:15pm

Book your free ticket today!

The new Durham County Council Asset Transfer Programme has giving community groups the prospect to take ownership of all their community buildings, by April 2014. While this presents a both an opportunity for community groups by giving them a bigger voice in the running of their community buildings, this also means that community groups will now be fully responsible in funding itself and will be required to use the building for the benefit of the community in a way that it pays for its own upkeep without outside assistance.

Furthermore, before the handover, the buildings must also be improved to a certain standard. While the council will provide 70% of the funds to make these improvements, it is down the community groups to raise the other 30% of the funds.

While this asset transfer programme presents a great opportunity for community, they also face many challenges;

• How to raise finance to cover the funding gap required to improve the buildings.
• Engage with the community to make use of new and existing services.
• Develop a sustainable business strategy for the community centres, by increasing revenue and decreasing costs.

How Energy Friend propose to tackle the challenges of the new Asset Transfer Programme?

We propose 3 steps to help complete the asset transfer programme and overcome its key challenges;

1. Energy Friend will use the available finance from Central Government to carry out Green Deal Assessments at the community centres

• This will identify effective improvements that can be made in the buildings.
• Recommended improvements will be financed through the Green Deal, reducing the initial capital required to implement the improvements and complete the asset transfer.
• Has the on-going benefit of reducing the on-going energy and maintenance costs of the buildings.

2. Appoint a Community Energy Champion and use finance available from Central Government to train them as a Domestic Green Deal Advisor

• They will be based at community centre and available to provide free advice and support to the local people on how to reduce their energy costs in their homes.
• Community Energy Champions will also be able to carry out Green Deal Assessments in homes, creating a source of revenue for the community centre (See Step 3).
• The community centre will act as a presentation piece to the local community exhibiting the impact of the improvements facilitated in Step 1.
• Overall this step will create a new job within the community centre, tackle fuel poverty in the community, all while creating a source of revenue for the centre.

3. Assist the Community Energy Champions to deliver the Green Deal in their local community.

• Community Energy Champions will carry out Green Deal Assessments in homes, creating a source of revenue for the community centres.
• Energy Friend will act as the overall quality manager for the Community Energy Champions and provide remote support and technical advice as they develop into their roles.
• Support the Community Energy Champions in their marketing activities, to engage with the local community, to use this service.
• The Community Energy Champions will deliver the Green Deal on our behalf in their local communities, earning them a salary and generate a profit, which can then be re-invested into the community building.

Energy Friend will begin to carry out Green Deal Assessments in the community buildings up until May 2013 and then start to roll out the Community Energy Champion’s Scheme after the Asset Transfer handover.

The Energy Friend Vision:

• Train and place Community Energy Champions in all community buildings around the County.
• Enable community buildings to become sustainable through reducing it’s biggest cost – Energy.
• Tackle fuel poverty in the community and create a community hub, allowing people to share good practice for saving energy.

On the week starting 25^th February, here at Energy Friend we held our first Green Deal Advisor 5-Day Training Course, which saw all trainees qualify as a Domestic Green Deal Advisor.

It was a great success and hopefully will be the first of many, creating sustainable and well-paid jobs within the region.

No one has more practical experience of Energy Assessments and Green Deal Advice than Colin & Guy, who delivered the 5-Day training course. Over the 5 days, Guy & Colin took candidates through a series of practical workshops, which gave them the required practical experience and knowledge to quality as a Green Deal Assessor.

This is what Colin Robinson, CEO of Energy Friend, had to say about the training course:

“This training gives people all the accreditations they need to become Government approved Green Deal Assessors who can then go into customer’s homes and advise them on the best way to reduce their energy bills.

“But what is really unique about this training programme is that, not only do we provide candidates with all the required accreditations to carry out the job, but they also leave with a portfolio of readymade work which they can start on immediately. Furthermore we will continue to feed them through enquires we receive through the Government’s application process.”

Some of our first trainees to take part in the programme are already getting ready to start surveying their first jobs this month.

Nick, was one of the first to sign up for the course and has already secured employment with a Newcastle based Energy Consultancy firm, Green Deal Products, and is expecting to survey several jobs in his first week as a qualified Green Deal Advisor, this month.

This is what Nick had to say about our Green Deal Advisor Training Course:

“The energy reduction agenda is here for the long run and in the current climate is one of the only sectors that appears to be growing and has the potential to drive future economic growth. Because of this reason it felt right for me to enter into it and what better way to do this than by training to become an assessor on a Government energy programme that is expected to run for many years to come.

“Importantly the outcome of this training is the Government accreditation it gives me and which is a requirement of working in people’s homes. If I didn’t have that I wouldn’t be able to do the job. It’s like a gas engineer really; if they weren’t registered you wouldn’t let them in your home. It gives people the reassurance of knowing they’re getting energy advice from someone who is properly accredited, registered and knows what they’re talking about”

Nick has already seen the benefits of taking the Green Deal Advisor Training Course and joining the Energy Friend network, in less than a month.

If you would like to find out a bit more about the Energy Friend Green Deal Advisor Course, call us now on 0800 046 1972 or email us on training@energyfriend.co.uk.

If your house is supplied with Gas or Electricity then the chances are your prices have just gone up around 10%.  For the average consumer that means finding another £130 next year.

What can you do about it?

Will switching supplier work?  Not really, everybody has put their prices up – its safety in numbers as far as energy companies are concerned, however if you haven’t switched before its definitely worth doing so.  Two ways you can do this:

1. Contact your current supplier and ask them to put you on their cheapest tariff for you.
2. Click here and complete the information about your consumption from your latest bills.  This will identify the cheapest tariff available to you and you can switch on-line.

What else can you do?

Switching supplier is papering over cracks, though you will save, eventually all prices go up.  The only true way to save is to reduce your consumption.  Think about:

• Insulating your home
• Switching to low energy lighting
• Upgrading your heating system
• Installing renewables

If all of this seems to much to think about and you just don’t have time – call in one of our independent experts who will find you the maximum possible savings from your bills.  As a government accredited Green Deal Advice Organisation, Energy Friend can help you install insulation, new heating, and renewables all at no up front cost.

Book an Energy Survey

• What does it really mean? and
• How will it really work?

Well, for many years now if you contact your energy company and ask if they have a cheaper tariff they have to tell you and switch you, the new legislation announced yesterday changes the onus to the energy company.  Once a year, they will review your annual consumption and send you a statement – in with this statement they will offer you a cheaper tariff if one is available.  They will of course only tell you about their cheaper tariffs, and not if anyone else has a cheaper tariff so shopping around is still advised.  You can search tariffs on-line here and switch today

Switch my energy tariff

• Won’t the energy companies just do away with their tariffs and just have one expensive tariff?

Many companies are already announcing a reduction in the number of tariffs offered but this is due to a previous piece of legislation that requires them to do so and for them also to do away with so-called “two-tiered” tariffs, where you get your first 100 units at an expensive price and every unit after at a cheaper price.  The government have ordered this type of tariff to be scrapped because they are too complicated for consumers to compare.  From next year all tariffs will only have a fixed daily standing charge and one fixed amount per unit.

Energy companies will still have different tariffs because they need to cater for different users.  People who use more generally get a slightly better rate in a sort of bulk-buying mentality.  This is why it is a good thing that energy companies will now have to offer you a cheaper tariff.  If your consumption increases for whatever reason – maybe you’ve had a child and need to have the heating on more? Then you may be put in a higher user category and be offered a cheaper rate for your consumption – of course you bills will still be more expensive because you’re using more energy, but they will be better than they would have been on your old tariff.

The other good thing is that energy companies are always introducing new tariffs, on-line tariffs, fixed deals etc.  If no-one tells you about these and you dont have time to look around then chances are you are on a standard tariff – which is likely to be very expensive.  From next year you will be offered these new deals as part of your annual statement – so do look out for them.

Finally I would like to say that whilst this is a positive step towards helping us all lower our bills, switching your tariff can only do so much – as we have seen this month, all of the energy companies have announced across the board price rises.  The only true way to cut your bills is to think about your consumption and to reduce it by living more efficiently.  Our energy survey helps you do that by putting an independent energy saving expert on your side, why not book a survey today?