A building services firm has launched a national network to help consumers and engineers get the most from the Government’s green initiatives.
The Futureproof network, developed by AP Mitchell, allows gas heating engineers to grow their businesses by enabling them to draw down Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) funding and access Green Deal finance.
It also enables members of the public to find out whether they qualify for the ECO scheme and advises them on how best to use the Green Deal.
This week, Ministers said that the ECO scheme was likely to be extended by two years to 2017 in order to help as many people as possible take advantage of the grants available.
The ECO is the grant-funded element of the Government’s Green Deal. Under ECO, the Big Six energy suppliers are obliged to pay for home insulation and heating for the poorest and most vulnerable householders and hardest to treat properties. The scheme allows many people on low income or benefits to have new A-rated boilers installed for free.
The Green Deal aims to increase energy efficiency for 14 million households by offering homes and businesses around 50 energy efficient measures at no upfront cost. All loans are attached to the property rather than the individual homeowner and can be structured over 25 years and repaid through the savings made on electricity bills. The Green Deal’s “Golden Rule” states that the homeowner will not pay back any more than they make in energy bill savings.
Adam Mitchell, a director of Neston-based AP Mitchell, said: “There has been a huge amount of confusion around ECO and the Green Deal, but the opportunities for both consumers and installers are considerable.
“The Futureproof network aims to provide consumers and installers with all the information they need whether they are trying to find out if they qualify for a free boiler or whether they are a gas heating engineer trying to find jobs through the Government’s green initiatives.
“Because we are PAS 2030 certified, there is no need for engineers to worry about investing time or money securing this accreditation for themselves.
“Instead, they can sign up to be part of a national brand and start receiving jobs and earning money straightaway.
“For customers, there is the knowledge that by using a Futureproof installer they are in safe hands with highly qualified engineers using only the very best materials.”
Other benefits, include a paper-free Installer Cloud workflow management system to process all jobs, national trade supplier network for materials, guaranteed payment structure, lead generation and sales and marketing support.