Helping a community energy group secure green funding for community hall energy upgrades.
Dragonfly Power, a not-for-profit community energy group dedicated to increasing the uptake of renewable energy and accelerating community decarbonisation, is committed to supporting local businesses, schools, and community organisations across Test Valley in their decarbonisation efforts. We partnered with Dragonfly power to help secure green funding for community halls, enabling them to adopt low-carbon technologies to reduce their energy consumption and improve overall energy efficiency and, in some cases, ensure their resilience in the event of power failures.
The Challenge
Many community halls rely on outdated infrastructure and struggle with poor energy efficiency, resulting in high operational costs and a larger carbon footprint. To secure funding for their energy efficiency upgrades, Dragonfly power required our commercial energy surveys to identify improvement opportunities, cost-saving measures, and viable retrofit strategies – ensuring eligibility for the grants and strengthening their funding applications.
The Solution: What was undertaken?
We conducted surveys across seven community halls. Our process included:
Comprehensive Energy Assessments
- On-Site Energy Surveys: Evaluating insulation, heating systems, lighting efficiency, and building fabric.
- Air Tightness Testing & Thermal Imaging Surveys: Identifying areas of heat loss and inefficiencies using advanced diagnostic techniques.
- Energy Modelling & Performance Analysis: Conducting energy calculations using DesignBuilder SBEM (Simplified Building Energy Modelling) to simulate different improvement scenarios and their impact on EPC ratings, energy efficiency, and running costs.
Many of the halls had outdated heating systems, resulting excessive energy consumption. Poor insulation and significant air leakage were also common, further increasing heat loss and operational costs.
Tailored Recommendations
Based on the client brief as well as our site surveys and modelling, we developed a set of priority measures, in this instance focused on:
- Reducing carbon emissions
- Improving energy efficiency
- Affordability: Considering initial installation costs, long-term savings, and grant availability
- Resilience planning: In some cases, ensuring reliable access to warmth, shelter, and hot water in case of emergencies or power outages
For the listed buildings, we carefully assessed retrofit options, ensuring that recommendations aligned with heritage restrictions. Where certain measures were deemed unsuitable, we provided alternative energy-saving strategies that aligned with the halls’ constraints and could still deliver meaningful improvements.
Due to budget constraints, our recommendations focused on cost-effective measures with the highest impact, balancing quick wins with long-term investments.
Grant Application Support
Recognising the critical role of structured reporting in securing funding, we tailored our reports to align with grant eligibility criteria. Each report clearly outlined:
- Current energy usage patterns
- Priority improvements measures
- Projected energy savings and cost reductions
- Viable retrofit strategies with return on investment considerations
This structured approach not only strengthened funding applications but also helped hall owners make informed decisions about the most impactful upgrades.
The Results
Out of the seven halls assessed, five applied for low-carbon technologies grants from Scottish and Southern Electricity Network’s Powering Communities to Net Zero fund, resulting in:
- Hall 1: Secured funding for an extensive solar panel array and backup battery unit.
- Hall 2: Successfully received a grant for a 40kW PV system, a 32kW battery, and a heat pump installation.
- Hall 3: Won two funding bids for a 30kW PV system and a 16kW battery.
- Hall 4 & 5: While these applications were not successful, the energy reports remain valuable tools for future funding opportunities.
Client Testimonial
Dragonfly Power (a not-for-profit community energy group) work with local businesses, schools and other community organisations to increase the uptake of renewable energy. We appointed Building Energy Experts to do a number of energy assessments for local community halls. Their reports were thorough and they were structured in such a way that the hall owners could see the “cheap wins” and which measures would take more investment. Furthermore, the reports have formed the basis for a number of successful grant applications for the refurbishment of the buildings including the installation of solar panels, batteries and heat pumps. This has been a very successful arrangement and we look forward to working with BEE in the future.
Anton Page, Chair of Dragonfly Power
Lessons Learned
Firstly, the importance of clarity & accessibility in reports. Structuring findings in a clear and actionable way improves grant success rates.
As always, collaboration & expertise matter. Combining technical knowledge with an understanding of funding requirements increases the likelihood of securing investment.
Finally, data-driven decisions drive impact. Our tailored recommendations helped the community halls not only secure funding but also to prioritise the most effective, low cost energy saving measures.
What’s Next?
As Dragonfly Power expands its decarbonisation efforts, we look forward to helping them secure funding for more community organisations to implement sustainable upgrades. Our expertise ensures that more organisations can access funding and make their buildings more energy-efficient, resilient, and ready for the future.
If you’re looking to secure funding for energy performance improvements, get in touch today to learn how our commercial energy surveys can help with your application.
