The Guardian today features an article claiming “Wales is fast becoming Europe’s testbed for sustainable development and what the UN would call the green economy.”
The article highlights the Welsh location of three of Europe’s pioneering solar cell makers in Sharps, G24 and Dyesol, its aim to be totally self-sufficient in renewable energy, it being the only country in the UK to introduce statutory recycling and waste targets, and its local authorities investing heavily in renewable energy technologies.
The report says: “Moreover, it is one only three nations in the world to have sustainable development enshrined in its constitution, and later this year, it hopes to underline its growing divergence from Westminster by passing one of the world’s first laws to force all government spending to take into account environment and social needs.
“The country of three million people now stands a chance of picking up another accolade when the National Trust in Wales comes under consideration for a coveted Ashden award for reducing energy use by 46% in just two years.
“Most of the castles, mansions, farms, holiday cottages and other buildings that the trust owns in Wales have been quietly retrofitted since 2009 with better heating, lighting and energy saving systems, with over 0.5MW of solar, and hydro electricity installed along with heat pumps and insulation. The trust now saves £280,000 a year on bills as a result. The £2.2m investment in energy saving and renewable systems is expected to repay itself in under eight years.”
The National Trust now, apparently, plans to expand the scheme across Britain, where it has some 29,000 properties.
Where the National Trust in Wales seems to have been particularly successful is in developing and sharing knowledge on the best ways to retrofit older properties, which the article points out energy companies often shun and ordinary property owners find “expensive and laborious to tackle”. In a blog highlighted in the piece, Keith Jones, the person largely responsible for the Welsh pilot scheme, says: “The key is not to try to find a technological quick fix, but to understand how the buildings are used.
“The technology is the stuff we only do at the end. We have learned to understand the building first. Buildings are being asked to do different things today than when they were built. We’ve also learned to manage what we have better. The clever stuff comes only at the end.”
Sensible words.
