After reading an article in his local paper about the grants available for solid wall insulation, Trevor jumped at the chance of getting a Green Deal assessment done on his house.

Built in 1955, Trevor’s detached three-bedroomed property in Bristol had un insulated solid walls which meant that the house was constantly cold and draughty. Despite the loft insulation and double-glazing Trevor had installed, he has always considered it a difficult house to heat. To ensure that they weren’t constantly cold, Trevor had to keep the heating on for the whole day, resulting in huge energy bills, eating through his life savings.

At the end of January, Trevor came across an article in his local paper on the possibility of securing a grant for solid wall insulation. This involved cladding the outside of the house with special thermal panels. The panels are then treated, rendered and painted.

An initial Green Deal assessment was made and works were carried out under the Bristol Home Energy Upgrade Scheme, which involved external wall insulation with Envirowall Enhanced EPS. ‘I didn’t think it was possible to insulate solid walls’ Trevor commented, ‘When they came to assess the property, they said we were losing about 45% of our heat through the walls.’

Conveniently for Trevor and his neighbours, there was virtually no disruption and as the house already had a rendered exterior, there was no major change to the way it looks.

The new external wall insulation fitted has made a tremendous difference, ‘Now we have a warm house, whereas a month or so ago we had a cold house. Every so often I go out and read the gas meter and whereas before we were using up to four units a day, that’s certainly down below three now.’

Furthermore, Trevor has been told he can expect to save around £600 a year on his energy bills, which could be a cut of over 40%.

Trevor is delighted with the works that he has been encouraging his friends and neighbours to get a Green Deal assessment done on their properties.

We at Ball Contractors of Ashford Kent are so excited about our new business called 'Green Deal Assessors Kent', as this will now put us in an even stronger position, in being able to offer Green Deal Assessors in Kent and surrounding counties, to carry out Green Deal Assessments.

Learn all about how the Green Deal works, and how you can take advantage of this ground-breaking scheme to improve your property, save money on your energy bills and help reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions.

You can follow this government link;

https://www.gov.uk/green-deal-energy-saving-measures

Or you can go to a fantastic site called Green Deal Locator;

http://www.greendeallocator.co.uk/

If you already know about the huge possibilities in retrofitting your property under The Green Deal scheme and are interested in having a Green Deal Assessment undertaken on your property, please complete a pre-assessment form by following the link below;

http://thegreendealassessmentcompany.co.uk/online-pre-assessment/

At the end of the questionnaire you will be asked for your full contact details. We will then get in touch with you to discuss the results and arrange an assessment date with you.

Good luck on your Green Deal journey.

BSI Audit – 6 month assessment and 5 year re-certification

Matthew Ball of Ball Contractors in Ashford is pleased with the recent BSI audit which took place on Friday 27th September.

This visit was to review our entire quality management system as this is our 5 year anniversary.

We successfully passed this assessment and continue to monitor and improve our quality management system to meet the ISO standard and enhance the services we offer.

A great thanks to Mel and the team as I know this was a nervous time for them all, being our very first recertification and as Mel is still relatively new to the role of Quality Manager, she felt the pressure this time.

Ball Contractors are very proud of everyone’s input and involvement in building and maintaining our QMS, as we continue to improve our systems and company reputation as one of Ashford longest and reputable building companies.

Press Ed Davey pushes Green Deal at Lib Dem Conference

Now that Matthew Ball and Green Deal Assessments in Kent are available through our sister Company with their own Green Deal Assessors, Matthew was pleased to see the government stand by its flag ship energy saving plan 'The Green Deal', especially after all the recent negative reporting on it.

Ed Davey has used his speech at the Liberal Democrat conference to push forward with the Green Deal whilst in the background further incentives are being discussed within industry.

At the Lib Dem Conference , Mr Davey used his speech to ask critics to give the Green Deal more time to succeed. He argued that the plan is designed to deliver improvements that will last for “decades”, so it cannot be judged after just a few months.

Extract from speech;

“That’s why the Green Deal is so different. Different to anything that has gone before. First, everyone is included. Every home in your community – every house, every flat – all can benefit from the Green Deal. Indeed, every business can benefit too. Past schemes were full of red tape. If you didn’t qualify for this benefit you weren’t eligible. If you didn’t want the work done in a certain way you couldn’t have it done at all. Well, we won’t save energy and keep people warm by wrapping them up in in red tape. And the Green Deal is creating a new market – a competitive market. Open to all, not just the big energy firms. With local builders and plumbers, DIY chains, boiler firms. 60,000 jobs. The energy of liberal free enterprise unleashed to save the energy leaking from our homes.”

Latest DECC figures, which came out in August, showed that 133 households had signed up by the end of July and that 266 more were poised to embark on a Green Deal Plan after getting a quote. Some 58,124 Green Deal Assessments were undertaken by the end of July.

The UK Green Building Council, has called on ministers to provide further incentives, such as tying energy efficiency improvement to cuts in stamp duty when properties are sold or to council tax breaks.

Mark Bayley, chief executive of the Green Deal Finance Company, said: “We have a great opportunity to help people protect themselves against rising energy bills in the years ahead with our £244m funding package. Many people will be surprised by how much energy they could save in their home, and it makes sense for people to take a second look at Green Deal payment plans.”

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Napit MCS Accreditation – Solar Panel Yearly Practical & Administration Assessment 2013

We at Ball Contractors of Ashford who can install solar in Kent had our 12 month audit  Today 10th September.

We successfully passed our assessment and the Napit assessor commented saying ‘you are still doing great’!

Matthew Ball Managing Director would like to say a great big thank you to James Chapman  Electrical Qualified Supervisor and Charlie Revell our Quality Systems Administrator and their team for another successful assessment in the Electrical Department.

Matthew said 'Here's to another year of installing solar in Kent'

NICEIC Annual Audit – Practical & Administration assessment

Matthew Ball Managing Director of B Ball Contractors Ltd is pleased to announce that we had our 12 month audit  yesterday and successfully passed our assessment for an ninth consecutive year running, we also managed to get full points again.

A great big thank you to James Chapman BBCL’s Electrical Qualified Supervisor and his team for another great years work in the Electrical Department.

Green Deal Government 6 month update

The Green Deal is the Government’s flagship energy saving plan which aims to transform the UK’s building stock to make all properties more energy efficient to run and more comfortable to live and work in at the same time.

Matthew Ball director of Green Deal Assessors Kent Ltd, says,
” The uptake on Green Deal Assessments and the percentage of people that wish to go forward with the work has been very comforting to see and really is having a positive buzz within the construction industry”

Since the end of, all households and businesses have been able to benefit from impartial energy advice and improvements to their properties, with no upfront installation costs, for energy efficiency improvements (covering 45 measures, including everything from replacement boilers and different types of insulation to renewable energy technologies).

58,124 Green Deal Assessments have been completed since the launch of the Green Deal, on 28th January with 13,645 of them being completed in July alone, official Government statistics have revealed.

The DECC report also highlighted that 175 million worth of contracts had now been issued through the ECO (Energy Company Obligation)  system, compared to the 145m at the end of June. View the full report here

Should you require any further information on The Green Deal, please contact Green Deal Assessors Kent Ltd on 01233 628743 where our team will be happy to help.

The Green Deal Assessment Company are the first GDAO in Kent

The Green Deal Assessment Company have had notification from Stroma today that they are now an Accredited Green Deal Assessment Organisation (GDAO). Matthew Ball of Ball Contractors is pleased to be associated with The Green Deal Assessment Company, as this enables them to be in a position of have assessors available.

The Green Deal Assessment Company are the first GDAO in Kent and they are thrilled about the huge opportunities this will give to them and anyone in Kent wanting to have a Green Deal Assessment undertaken.

MD Bill Hawthorne said ‘This is so exciting, we can really now give Kent what they are looking for in GD Assessments, especially as The Green Deal is a NO BRAINER!’

If you a home or business owner, that is looking for an assessment, or an accredited assessor who are looking to lodge with a GDAO, please don’t hesitate to contact The Green Deal Assessment Company on 01233 628743.