The UK Government are phasing out gas boilers and providing grants for heat pumps. The problem is most homes are not energy efficient enough for a heat pump. The heat loss means larger heat pumps would be required and the capital and running costs would be higher than if the homes had adequate insulation. 

With a number of project partners, we decided to address this issue. The project plan was devised by Milton Keynes Council and Wolverton Community Energy. The Parish Councils asked for volunteers to have their homes assessed for heat loss. A range of 23 typical MK houses were chosen. For three weeks of February, monitors were placed in volunteers’ homes. Meter readings and monitored temperatures were fed into the software. Each house was provided with a four page report on heat loss, risk of mould and options to improve energy efficiency.

Following the successful partnership in the pilot, in January 2023 a new insulation scheme in partnership with Wolverton Community Energy launched with Milton Keynes City Council funding of £150,000.   Full details can be found at Home Energy MK.

Milton Keynes City Council plan to mount solar panels on all Council owned properties. Last year the sheltered accommodation at Everglade House had PV installed and 140kWp was retrofitted onto Granby Court social housing. PV is already on the roof of the Civic Office and there are plans to fit PV on the facia of the building.

In addition, the MK POTEnT project team are supporting an off-gas village in the early planning stages of installing a ground source heat pump network and a solar farm.

Green business funding of £500,000 investment has been offered to MK businesses and various community groups.

Milton Keynes Council has partnered with Ngage Solutions and awarded them £100,000 to support more than 150 businesses with the understanding, knowledge and resources to become more sustainable through their PRISM scheme. Ngage will use its expert knowledge to engage, advise as well as signpost businesses to the support they need in various ways including:

• providing practical engagement live events covering how businesses may be impacted by climate change and what they can do to mitigate the impacts.
• providing access to alternative grant funding to the uptake of low carbon technologies and connecting businesses through community engagement and develop and inform members on the best ways to save and grow sustainably.

Businesses who engage with the project will gain access to a specialist team that will help to demystify climate jargon, access to tools and resources that will support them to measure baseline emissions and set actionable long-term carbon reduction targets.

A grant of £60,000 was awarded to Bridgman and Bridgman LLP to construct a green roof on MKC owned Saxon Court.

Green Roof presentations and workshops, both online and in person, have been delivered in 2022 and early 2023.

Bridgman and Bridgman are training eight young unemployed individuals from YMCA MK and Groundwork UK to install and maintain green roofs.

The Parks Trust in Milton Keynes have been awarded £54,585 to take on four new trainees to help maintain green spaces in MK.

The business Green Growth funding of £250,000 for Cranfield University is currently running to train 50 Businesses​​. This is a highly bespoke and innovative scheme at the Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurship with a focus on:

• Adopting green business practices​
• The creation of green jobs​
• The reduction of carbon emissions and​
• The deployment of green technologies