National Energy Services (NES) has announced the winner of its Energy Assessor Community Grant – a new award to help support energy assessor and home inspector networking groups.

The Devon and Cornwall Home Inspectors Association (DCHI) has received the £2,500 Grant to go towards expert lectures and training for members and new features for the association’s website, improving the marketing of members’ services and clients’ access to these services.

The association was described by judges as “an excellent model for all regional groups”. It has grown from just seven home inspectors in July 2006 to more than 80 members today, all of whom actively support each other in their businesses and promote a successful market for Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and home condition reports in their local communities.

A further discretionary award of £1,500 was also given by NES to the Institute of Domestic Energy Assessors (IDEA).

The judges felt that IDEA’s proposal to set up a free national CPD portal to promote training and record the professional development activities of all domestic and energy assessors and home inspectors had considerable industry and Government support and could be particularly useful in monitoring and boosting skills across the industry.

Brian Scannell, managing director of NES, said:

“We established the Energy Assessor Community Grant specifically to recognise the contribution that groups like these can make to the lives of energy assessors and home inspectors. National and local support groups are a vital lifeline to share knowledge and experiences, boost skills and get advice and moral support. NES is committed to supporting our members and all energy efficiency professionals, and we want to use this grant to help them build a thriving and high quality business environment.

“In reviewing the applications we were particularly impressed with what DCHI were already doing and with their plans for the future. We hope that the grant will enable them to do even more for the independent energy assessors and home inspectors in their region and we wish them every success for the future.”

Tim Baxter, secretary of the DCHI, said:

“We are very pleased indeed to learn that the DCHI has been successful in winning the Energy Assessor Community Grant. This award will enable us to move forward quickly with the design and completion of phase three of our website. It will also allow us to buy in expertise for lectures and forums for our members. Our aim is always to harness the business of the West Country for the West Country.”

Bids for the Energy Assessor Community Grant were received from a wide range of groups in England and Wales who wanted to develop further marketing, networking, welfare or other initiatives to benefit energy assessors or home inspectors.

The winners of the Grant were announced on 22 October, the first day of the NES Annual Conference in Birmingham.

More than 170 delegates at this conference took part in a series of policy, technological and market-related workshops specifically targeted to their needs as either domestic energy assessors, home inspectors, commercial energy assessors or new build specialists.

Speakers included experts from the Zero Carbon Hub, GVA Grimley, ESD, Carbon Trust, Inbuilt Consulting, AHIPP, University of Oxford, ACE, National Energy Action and Birmingham City Council.

The keynote speeches at the end of the event came from Gergana Miladinova from the European Union’s DG TREN (Directorate-General Energy and Transport) and Andrew Warren, Director of the Association for the Conservation of Energy, outlining the latest thinking in Brussels about future changes to the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and how this will shape the market for EPCs in the UK.

Delegates also had a fantastic opportunity to network and make new acquaintances at a private drinks reception held at the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham.