Government Minister Baroness Verma opened Plumb Center’s Practical Installer at Ecobuild 2015, and said that educating the public will lead to lower energy bills and warmer homes.

Baroness Verma, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Energy & Climate Change, said: “I’m really pleased to be able to welcome you to the opening of Plumb Center’s Practical installer exhibition today, because it shows the phenomenal life that’s in the industry. How people heat and cool their homes and businesses is crucial.

“Half the energy the UK uses is for heating and cooling, and it accounts for about a third of greenhouse emissions. So we have to consider how to reduce energy bills, improve energy security and of course reduce emissions, and this is where businesses like Plumb Center come in. They can provide help to installers on the right solutions, and how best to install.

“The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is the first scheme of its kind in the world and with the launch of the domestic RHI in April 2014, any building in the UK can get help from the Government to switch to renewable heating, and plenty of people are making the most of this opportunity. We’ve seen almost 2.4 teraWatt hours of renewable heat generated and paid for through this incentive, which is enough to heat the equivalent of 160,000 homes in the UK.

“But we only get warmer homes, lower bills and fewer emissions if the people installing those systems have a good understanding of how to maximise their efficiency and how to explain how to use them to their customers, and the local plumber is usually the most trusted person to do that.

“We recognise how important small businesses are to delivering our programmes. In the longer term new technologies such as hybrid heating systems and the development of heat pumps, heat networks and heat storage will help us meet our carbon budgets in the late 2020s and 2030s, with a goal of 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions across the whole economy by 2015.”

Plumb Center’s Head of Sustainability Tim Pollard said: “We’re delighted to welcome Baroness Verma today and we’re grateful for her support,” “We’re encouraged by the government’s ongoing commitment to the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), which has provided a welcome boost to the industry and provided householders with a practical alternative to conventional systems.

“Whether customers visit us at Ecobuild or want to talk to our network of renewable experts across the UK, we’re confident we can give them the tools to succeed in the heating industry of the future.”

Making renewable more do-able: plumbcenter.co.uk/en/renewables/