East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) in partnership with Community Energy Solutions (CES) have been awarded a Green Apple Environment Award for their renewable heat partnership scheme and are delighted to have brought the coveted award back to the region.

The Apple was scooped for a joint project which has brought hundreds of householders across East Riding warmer and greener homes through the provision of renewable heating and insulation measures, and advice.

The Community Energy Renewables Project, lead by Community Energy Solutions (CES), aims to reduce levels of fuel poverty in rural East Riding of Yorkshire, to increase the profile of air source heat pumps and to encourage more people to see them as an alternative when their heating system needs replacing.

Representatives from both CES and ERYC attended the Green Apple Award ceremony at the House of Commons where they were presented with their trophy.

Jane Mears, senior environmental health officer for ERYC, accepted the award alongside Lee Cattermole, CES operations director and Tom Shepherd, CES project manager. She said:

“East Riding of Yorkshire Council is delighted to have received a Green Apple Environment Award.  Thanks to the great response from residents, we have been able to pilot this technology and offer an increasing number the chance of a more affordable heating system.

” By effectively, working in partnership with CES we have been able to swiftly unlock all the necessary funding and technical elements in order to help off-gas properties switch to state-of-the-art air source heat pumps, where extensions to mains gas supplies were quite simply not viable.”

ERYC is a very large rural, unitary authority covering an area of 930 square miles and a population of over 300,000 residents. Some 27 per cent of these communities within the district are so remote that they have no access to mains gas supplies.

Having worked together for over two years, CES and ERYC have reached hundreds of households who, due to their remote locations, have previously relied on coal, oil, LPG or storage heaters to heat their homes. By installing air source heat pumps, a low carbon, cost effective heating solution, into homes, the project reduces household heating costs, improves the warmth of peoples’ homes and assists in reducing fuel poverty.

Tom Shepherd of CES said:

“We are delighted to have been working with East Riding of Yorkshire Council on this project and it’s an honour to receive such official recognition for the joint work we have carried out. Not only are we at the forefront of helping people out of fuel poverty, but our project is fundamental in reducing the carbon footprint of whole communities.

The Green Apple Awards are organised by the Green Organisation, an independent, non-political, non-activist, non-profit environment group dedicated to recognising, rewarding and promoting environmental best practice around the world.