BRE is helping care home providers to boost the energy efficiency of their buildings, with a new online tool that recommends ways for care homes to save energy, reduce bills and access green funding. Commissioned by the department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, BRE has created the Care Home Energy Efficiency Tool.

This free to use online tool makes it quick and easy for care home providers to identify where they can improve the energy efficiency of their buildings, which helps them to save money on their energy bills.

The Care Home Energy Efficiency tool also provides care home providers with independent guidance on how to fund and procure improvements, using green funding through loans, grants or feed-in-tariffs.

Making energy efficiency improvements means that care home operators will not only benefit from lower energy bills, but it also enables them to improve residents’ comfort and safety. The Care Home Efficiency tool also makes recommendations on how to improve insulation and use efficient heating systems and daylight and movement sensing lighting.

Andrew Gemmell, Senior Social Scientist at BRE said “From our research, we know that care homes consume large amounts of energy due to their 24/7 occupancy. They need to maintain high temperatures inside, as well as cooking and doing laundry for residents and this leads to very high energy bills and operating costs.

“That’s why we developed this easy-to-use online resource. The Care Home Efficiency tool enables care home providers to identify which energy efficiency improvements are right for them and their buildings. They can also find trusted suppliers and installers and access funding, enabling them to save money and run their homes in a more sustainable way, benefiting both their residents and the environment”.

Care home providers can also search for trusted and accredited suppliers and contractors and find details of the current energy efficiency standards and regulations.

There is a choice of assessments, with a simple version that takes only 5 minutes or a more detailed survey that takes 15 minutes. The assessment tool will make tailored recommendations for care home buildings with up to sixty bedrooms. Improvement measures can be viewed by installation cost, cost savings, energy savings or carbon savings, to suit individual requirements.