Elmhurst Energy has announced that Shirley Paterson, one of its domestic energy assessors, has seen her Scottish home awarded ‘SuperHome’ status by the ‘SuperHome’ network.
The network started life in 2007 and was initiated by the Sustainable Energy Academy. To qualify as a ‘SuperHome’, a property must be assessed by the scheme as having achieved a minimum of 60% carbon savings.
Shirley is passionate about the environment and energy conservation and discovered her calling almost by accident. Having spent a career in human resources, it was only during a period of illness that she began to look at her energy bills to see how she could reduce her expenditure. It wasn’t long before she discovered the benefits energy efficiencies and green technologies could have on her own life and that of the wider community.
It was this realisation that led her to retrofit her home to be eco-friendlier and over time she made the following improvements:
- Condensing boiler
- Double glazing
- Draught-proofing
- Electric car charging points
- Floor insulation
- Loft insulation
- Low energy lighting
- Smart technologies
- Solar PV panels
- Solar water heating
Financially such home improvements make sense, both for the environment and people’s pockets. Shirley has seen annual savings of more than £3,000 in her home energy and electric car fuel bills. Overall, her home has reduced its carbon footprint by 64% and saved 42% on household bills.
Those awarded ‘SuperHome’ status invite members of the public in to view their homes’ retrofits on ‘SuperHome’ open days, something Shirley started to do through the Energy Saving Trust.
As well as inspiring people who visit her home, the Glenrothes based ecopreneur founded her own eco-business, nextGenergy, which offers customers home energy surveys and advice, Energy Performance Certificates. This helps them to access Scottish government funding to make home energy saving improvements, an optional installation service, and continued support throughout their own retrofit journey.
Martyn Reed, managing director of Elmhurst Energy, said: “We would like to congratulate Shirley on her ‘SuperHome’ and it is great to see an Elmhurst Energy member leading the way in terms of energy performance improvements in the home.”