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Report calls for “relaunch” of Green Deal for non-domestic market

The Government should “relaunch” the Green Deal for the non-domestic market and enable small businesses to access cheap energy-saving loans in order to stimulate the energy efficiency market, according to a coalition of leading businesses, parliamentarians and civil servants. The Westminster Sustainable Business Forum (WSBF) and Carbon Connect have today published a report calling on the Government to use a national advertising and a “sector-specific marketing campaign” to drive up demand for the Green Deal scheme in the non-domestic market. The report also urges the Government to stimulate demand for energy efficiency investments among small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through low interest loans. Rather than being funded through Government subsides, the report recommends these cheap loans are financed by the Green Investment Bank, under guarantee from the Treasury and administered through a new subsidiary set up at the Green Deal Finance Company (GDFC). Rising energy costs are cited as one of the biggest barriers of growth by members of the Federation of Small Businesses, but according to the report published yesterday, a lack of available upfront capital is preventing SMEs from investing in energy efficiency. As well as low cost loans, the report recommends scrapping the ‘Golden Rule’ for the non-domestic Green Deal because this is likely to also be a barrier to take up. Under the domestic Green Deal’s ‘Golden Rule’, the repayments are set so they do not exceed the savings on energy achieved by the improvements on a typical house. For more information visit the Green Wise website.

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