Join the Network and our new chair, Sir Ed Davey, to celebrate the achievements of the Network and its members this year.

There’ll be:

• Presentations showcasing the best projects from within the Network
• One-to-one surgeries with the next generation of innovators and solution-providers
• Future-facing workshops covering everything from storage to new supply models
• The chance to meet many of the hundreds of practitioners involved in the Network and start new collaborations

This is your Network, so where do you want it to go? Sir Ed Davey will launch the public consultation of the strategy and ask for your input. The event will be followed by a drinks reception to which all Network members are warmly invited. To register your place and for more details, click here.

UPDATED! Agenda for the day:

10.00 – Arrival, refreshments and networking in the Innovation Area: A chance to meet a number of solutions providers who offer a range of products and services to support your work around energy efficiency. Solutions-providers include Centre for Alternative Technology, the Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance, Open Energi and Monodraught.

11.00 – Welcome and introduction from Dame Helen Ghosh, Director General of the National Trust, followed by keynote speech from our new Chair, Sir Ed Davey.

11.30 – The Best of the Network – Presentations of inspiring and innovative environmental sustainability project from our members. Presenters include the Crown Estate, the National Trust, RNLI, Oxfam and Adnams.

12.45 – Lunch, networking and one-to-one sessions with solution-providers in the Innovation Area

14.00 – Workshop session one

15.10 – Workshop session two

All four workshops are available in both sessions and have been curated by Ashden – full details for each workshop listed below.

16.10 – Tea and coffee

16.30 – Fit for the Future Network – Energy speed networking

16.55 – Closing remarks from Sir Ed Davey followed by drinks reception for all members

17.00 – Drinks reception

17.45 – Introduction from Sarah Butler-Sloss, Founder Director of Ashden, followed by speeches from  Stephen Pugh, Financial Director at Adnams, Paul Boissier, Chief Executive of RNLI, and Sir Ed Davey.

Workshops

How flexible energy use and storage can work for your organisation, as well as the environment

The National Infrastructure Commission’s ‘Smart Power’ report earlier this year stated the possibility of £8 billion a year of savings for consumers, if the UK makes its energy system smart. Find out how you can be a part of this transition. Energy storage and flexible demand have been identified as essential components of the new system; this workshop will hear our panellists speak about the opportunities for land and property owners to engage with and benefit from these new technologies.

Panellists include:

Chris Wright – Moixa

David Hill – Open Energi

Paul Lowbridge – National Grid

Chair Cheryl Hiles – Regen SW

New models for funding renewable energy projects post-subsidy

This workshop will look at ground-breaking models that are currently being tried and tested in the world of energy generation and supply. Across the country there are communities, organisations and consumers exploring innovative new ideas as the UK energy policy landscape changes. Panellists will speak about peer-to-peer generation and supply, local generation and purchasing, and how land and property owners can be a part of these schemes.

Panellists include:

Chris Blake -TGV Hydro

Graham Ayling – Energy Saving Trust

Rob Ellis – Coop

Chair Clare Hierons – ShareAction

Mind the Gap: How to ensure that both new and retrofitted buildings live up to their energy saving promises

There’s often a significant gap between projected and actual performance when it comes to energy use for new builds and building retrofits; a recent Innovate UK report on non-domestic buildings found that only 1 of the 49 buildings investigated had actual carbon emissions that matched their design estimate. This workshop will look at what is bringing about the performance gap, how you can rectify it and strategies to avoid it.

Panellists include:

Tamsin Tweddell, Senior Partner, Max Fordham

Jason Palmer, Cambridge Energy (author of Innovate UK report)

Chris Spicer – RE:FIT

Chair Sarah Alsbury – RSPB

How to be a good client: knowing who to involve and what to ask for

The end result isn’t always what you originally asked for, but sometimes that’s because the right questions haven’t been asked or in some case, you don’t even know what you want in the first place. Delivering a project from inception through to operation involves many different stages and things can often get lost in translation and drift from the original project brief. This workshop will hear from key people in the project delivery process; researcher, consultant, industry standard, design engineer and of course client. Speakers will discuss the key questions that clients need to be asking during project delivery and exploring with workshop attendees whether there is a need for a more joined-up approach, perhaps even a new building standard…?

Panellists include:

Margaret Hamilton – Arup      

Paul Southall – National Trust

Neil May – Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliace

Dominic Evans – Domec Ltd

Sara Kassam – CIBSE