Energy

On Thursday evening (21st July) the North West Construction Awards staged their sixteenth celebration of best practice and best value in the North West - the only event of its kind that connects every single discipline of construction working towards a sustainable built environment.

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Energy
Homes & Workplaces
Published: 25/07/2022
News
North West Construction Awards – Three Greater Manchester Winners!

On Thursday evening (21st July) the North West Construction Awards staged their sixteenth celebration of best practice and best value in the North West – GMCA funded projects scooped three awards…

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Carbon Coop at The Boiler House
Energy
Home & Workplaces
community
Published: 12/07/2022
News
GM Local Energy Market: What the people think

Rachel Lewis, staff member at Manchester’s Carbon Coop, provides an overview of the work asking people in GM their thoughts and views are on the Local Energy Market project and involving them in decision-making on the project…

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Close up of a bulb
Energy
Innovation
Published: 27/06/2022
News
Energy Innovation Agency Launch & Challenge Event Review

Read more about the Greater Manchester Energy Innovation Agency April launch event and the first in a series of decarbonisation of heat challenge events.

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Notepad on desk
Skills
Energy Saving
Energy
Housing
Buildings
Published: 30/05/2022
Blog
Boosting the Skills and Talent Pipeline – RetrofitGM Blog #2

Attracting the right people with the right skills to manage and install retrofitting is crucial to delivering energy and carbon emissions reductions from our homes and public buildings.

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Green Energy Awards 2022
GM Green City
Energy
Awards
Published: 19/04/2022
News
GMCA recognised for “extraordinary” contribution to the energy transition

Greater Manchester Combined Authority was announced as winner of the Local Energy Leadership award at this year’s Green Energy Awards

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woman using calculator
Energy Saving
GM Green City
Energy
Housing
Published: 11/04/2022
Blog
Financial advice and energy efficiency tips to keep the heat on at home

Energy efficiency measures in homes can reduce carbon emissions and lower energy bills.

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Energy
Housing
Buildings
Published: 29/03/2022
Blog
It’s not just hot air

Tina Gandhi, Principal Environmental Strategy Officer GMCA, discusses why we should all start thinking about Air Source Heat Pumps

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Close up of a bulb
GM Green City
Energy
Published: 23/03/2022
News
Energy Innovation Agency Launch and Challenge Event

The Greater Manchester Energy Innovation Agency invites innovators to pitch at their launch event 28th April

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Terraced houses
Energy Saving
Energy
Housing
Buildings
Published: 15/03/2022
Blog
The Retrofit Task Force #RetrofitGM

The Greater Manchester Retrofit Task Force is leading on a three-year programme aiming to tackle the climate crisis through innovative finance and building supply and demand for skills and jobs.

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Energy
Published: 07/02/2022
News
Go Neutral Smart Energy

Greater Manchester ‘Go Neutral Smart Energy’ is a GMCA-led ‘smart’ energy programme aiming to deliver impact against our city region’s carbon neutral 2038 target, build our local green economy and make our energy supply more affordable.

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Turbines on moorland
GM Green City
Energy
Published: 11/01/2021
News
Government sets out plans for clean energy system

The government has published long-awaited plans for shifting away from fossil fuel energy in the coming years, providing a vision of what our future clean energy system will look like.

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GM Green City
Energy
Housing
Published: 09/12/2020
News
Construction begins on ground-breaking Energy House

The University of Salford’s cutting-edge Energy House 2.0 will allow researchers and technology developers to test energy use in houses built inside two giant weather-controlled chambers.

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Take action…

To make a big change, we must all take small actions. Becoming greener and making an impact is easier than you might think. We have put together a range of blogs, articles, toolkits and checklists to help you make a start.

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Although we set out with a simple mission to reduce plastic waste, we’ve quickly realised that it’s just one piece in the sustainability puzzle. One of the biggest, but most easily attainable actions we can achieve is to look at where our goods come from and reduce the carbon footprint needed to get a product from manufacturer to consumer. Many of the products we stock are made by local, independent manufactures, who provide us with a wide range of things from reusable face wipes, wax food wraps, face coverings, soap bars, plant pots, kitchen cloths/sponges and butty bags.

Carl from Lentils and Lather

Our aim is to start changing the habits of families in Greater Manchester by getting them to ‘borrow’ rather than ‘buy’ brand new toys. We’re making sure that toys can be reused again and again by children who need and want them – and they are not just sitting in a cupboard or under someone’s bed.

Kim from That Toy Thing

The best part of upcycling is that old furniture is often better made than the equivalent flat-packed furniture we get today and with a little bit of time, love and care, you can create a completely unique piece of furniture for your home that no one else will have. I also love that these pieces of furniture have a history of their own and through transforming and updating them we can breathe a new lease of life into them.

Hannah from Tread Softly

The Green Recovery Challenge Fund is providing a further boost to the ambitions of the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership to create a thriving, inspirational and connected landscape. It supports the recovery of wildlife through habitat creation and improvement as well as community recovery through providing opportunities for local people to develop skills, knowledge and beneficial connections to their local natural environment.

Jo Kennedy, Coordinator of the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership

The reason I signed up to the Green Homes Grant scheme was two-fold, selfishly the measures will add value to the properties and make them more valuable in the future. But more importantly it benefits the tenants, keeping them warmer and prevents problems like damp and condensation. Ultimately measures like external wall insulations should keep tenants happier and ensure they remain in the house for longer.

Neil, Rochdale property owner

We used to think we didn’t have enough time to shop on our local market because we were working; how wrong we were?  We discovered it is an amazing place to shop for plastic free. We swapped tea bags for tea leaves and coffee jars for beans which we buy from The Market Grounds on Ashton Market – well worth a visit as the homemade cakes are delicious. All the stall holders have been amazing, not one of them minds us taking our containers to be filled with meat from the butchers. We get our bread, cheese, fruit and veg from the market too.

Julie from Ashton-under-Lyne

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

Although becoming carbon neutral is important to our organisation, it’s a lot of work for a small team to put the measures into place. The Journey to Net Zero course has given me practical, step-by-step advice that has made it easy for me to lay the foundations for our organisation to be able to take action and achieve our goal of becoming carbon neutral.

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

The Business Growth Hub has given us focus and extra knowledge. They’ve helped us form the base to grow sustainably and work efficiently as a team while making us conscious of our environmental impact as a business.

 

Ollie Birchall, Founder of Nutri Bar

I’ve not really been a cyclist throughout my life, more of a runner to be honest. And certainly not commuted. But I just thought if I’m going to change, surely now is the moment to change. I’m feeling the personal benefits of doing it. You just feel better when you come into work. It clears your head. There are benefits of cutting congestion, cleaning up the air. Everyone benefits when people cycle.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester

We think our water fountain is INCREDIBLE, it’s the perfect place for people to ‘refill’ and help themselves to any of the free edibles we’ve got growing in Market Place. We’re so grateful to all the organisations that helped make this happen. Alongside the plastic free motion that was passed by council and helped us achieve our first Surfers Against Sewage objective and in turn our Plastic Free Community status, it shows real commitment in reducing plastic waste and supporting our community.

 

Pete Fillery, Plastic Free Rammy and Incredible Edible Ramsbottom

I guess I’ve always been what you would call a conscious consumer. I’ve always detested plastic bags, all of my skin care products at home are plastic-free, vegan, and sustainable. My toothbrush is made of bamboo, there’s no plastic anywhere in the house. Everything in the salon has to be vegan – that was the first rule for me. We started with one brand of haircare products that was vegan, organic, and Fairtrade, but the distributor in the UK was wrapping all of the deliveries in plastic, and it felt really needless, so we ditched them.

 

Rachael, Gronn eco-salon in Bury

Although becoming carbon neutral is important to our organisation, it’s a lot of work for a small team to put the measures into place. The Journey to Net Zero course has given me practical, step-by-step advice that has made it easy for me to lay the foundations for our organisation to be able to take action and achieve our goal of becoming carbon neutral.

 

Kat Mulhall, Victoria Baths Trust, Manchester

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