Carbon neutral village project benefits from RSK's pro bono support

Efforts by the residents of Ashton Hayes, near Chester, to reduce significantly their village's carbon emissions have secured up to £500,000 in funding from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc). Less publicised has been environmental consultancy RSK's pro bono support for Ashton Hayes' goal to become England's first carbon neutral community.

Speaking with Environment Analyst, RSK director Garry Charnock explained that the consultancy has offered free assistance and some funding since the project began four years ago. With three RSK directors happening to live in the village, the consultancy initially offered support with behavioural change measures and the production of publicity material.

Through behavioural change alone Ashton Hayes cut its domestic carbon footprint by 23% , while the recently-announced funding from Decc is aimed at delivering a further, significant cut in carbon emissions through the installation of renewable energy generation technologies. “We realised that to go further we need to invest in renewable energy generation,” explained Charnock, who is an Ashton Hayes resident. Plans include a sustainable bio-diesel combined heat and power plant linked to an underground heat store as well as photovoltaics and a wind turbine.

RSK will provide environmental impact assessment (EIA) services free of charge, should these be needed prior to installation of renewable energy technologies. Meanwhile, pro bono legal and contractual advice will be offered by other members of Leapfrog, a business-led, not-for-profit organisation that offers advice to projects that are designed to deliver carbon emission reductions. Other environmental consultancies that have signed up to offer pro bono services via Leapfrog include WSP and ERM.

While RSK's support has been of assistance to Ashton Hayes, Charnock is keen to emphasise that the project has also had a “major influence” on RSK: “It has helped us to understand how behavioural change can be achieved and how to overcome some of the technical challenges of managing energy demand”. As a direct result of its involvement in the Ashton Hayes project, RSK has taken measures to reduce its office-based energy consumption.

• Decc funding news release