WEBVTT 00:00:06.830 --> 00:00:10.490 This is the Decarbonisation Dialogue, a podcast 00:00:10.490 --> 00:00:13.609 from Salix. Welcome to Delivering on Climate 00:00:13.609 --> 00:00:16.129 Change, our collective challenge. I'm Hannah 00:00:16.129 --> 00:00:18.809 Walker and I believe that the best way to communicate 00:00:18.809 --> 00:00:21.370 a message is by being passionate about what you 00:00:21.370 --> 00:00:23.789 are talking about. Through that passion, I believe 00:00:23.789 --> 00:00:26.429 you take people with you and create action using 00:00:26.429 --> 00:00:28.850 your influence to make change and make a difference. 00:00:29.190 --> 00:00:32.750 Our task today is to get all of us to net zero. 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:36.179 Today, I have a wonderful guest with me. I have 00:00:36.179 --> 00:00:38.359 one of my Salix colleagues, and that's Becca 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:41.479 Waite. And Becca is an Energy and Carbon Programme 00:00:41.479 --> 00:00:44.100 Manager with our team here at Salix. And I'm 00:00:44.100 --> 00:00:45.679 delighted to have you. Thank you for joining 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:49.399 us. Thank you. Becca, can we start? Can you please 00:00:49.399 --> 00:00:51.579 tell us a little bit about your career and your 00:00:51.579 --> 00:00:54.840 education, your background here at Salix today? 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:56.380 We'd like to hear a little bit about how you 00:00:56.380 --> 00:01:00.380 got here. Yeah, so I kind of started with a social 00:01:00.380 --> 00:01:04.219 science background. I did an environmental politics 00:01:04.219 --> 00:01:07.319 master's, which was kind of a holistic view of 00:01:07.319 --> 00:01:10.120 environmental management, conservation and, of 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:12.280 course, climate change mitigation strategies. 00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:17.000 I joined Salix nearly three years ago and I kind 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:19.420 of used my foundation in kind of that holistic 00:01:19.420 --> 00:01:23.560 environmental politics background to focus on 00:01:23.560 --> 00:01:26.180 energy management and the built environment. 00:01:26.340 --> 00:01:29.239 So I've kind of built my specialism there now. 00:01:30.670 --> 00:01:33.689 Yeah, so I've been here for three years and I 00:01:33.689 --> 00:01:36.010 think, you know, Salix is a great place to work 00:01:36.010 --> 00:01:39.230 to be at the forefront of watching these decarbonisation 00:01:39.230 --> 00:01:43.829 projects kind of from phase one of the public 00:01:43.829 --> 00:01:47.170 sector decarbonisation scheme, which Salix funds 00:01:47.170 --> 00:01:49.290 through the Department for Energy Security and 00:01:49.290 --> 00:01:51.349 Net Zero. We've kind of seen the development 00:01:51.349 --> 00:01:54.730 and the innovation of decarbonisation projects 00:01:54.730 --> 00:01:58.010 and the kind of different technologies and work 00:01:58.010 --> 00:02:01.129 types that... are being funded now for public 00:02:01.129 --> 00:02:03.189 sector buildings it's a really interesting and 00:02:03.189 --> 00:02:06.769 exciting place to be um at the moment so yeah 00:02:06.769 --> 00:02:08.810 it's really interesting to put that my background 00:02:08.810 --> 00:02:12.449 in social sciences and understanding why um we 00:02:12.449 --> 00:02:14.729 need to obviously reach net zero and now kind 00:02:14.729 --> 00:02:16.370 of putting that into practice in how we're actually 00:02:16.370 --> 00:02:18.590 achieving it is is a really exciting place to 00:02:18.590 --> 00:02:23.009 work thank you moving on so you mentioned the 00:02:23.009 --> 00:02:25.900 schemes some of the schemes that we deliver We're 00:02:25.900 --> 00:02:27.479 delivering hundreds and hundreds of projects 00:02:27.479 --> 00:02:31.360 over a year. Can I ask, how close do you get 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:36.099 to those projects that we deliver? And is the 00:02:36.099 --> 00:02:38.560 success or failure in your hands? What's your 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:43.280 actual role in that work? Yeah, so in the energy 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:46.240 and carbon team at Salix, we're in a really... 00:02:47.289 --> 00:02:50.289 important and interesting part of the business 00:02:50.289 --> 00:02:53.009 because we receive all the applications for for 00:02:53.009 --> 00:02:55.270 funding so there's the public sector decarbonization 00:02:55.270 --> 00:02:57.969 schemes there's the devolved Scottish and Welsh 00:02:57.969 --> 00:03:01.840 schemes as well And we've obviously got our recycling 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:03.740 fund programmes and we still assess projects 00:03:03.740 --> 00:03:05.460 for that. So there's various different criteria 00:03:05.460 --> 00:03:07.120 that these applications need to meet, but they 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:09.659 all come through us. And we have a great team 00:03:09.659 --> 00:03:12.219 of staff and we work with our technical contractors 00:03:12.219 --> 00:03:15.319 to assess the feasibility of these projects and 00:03:15.319 --> 00:03:17.300 decide ultimately whether they're suitable for 00:03:17.300 --> 00:03:21.620 funding. have various different documents that 00:03:21.620 --> 00:03:23.159 applicants fill out so that we can access all 00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:26.300 of the information about why they want to do 00:03:26.300 --> 00:03:29.039 these projects. It really is a story. What is 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:31.419 their net zero journey? What have they considered 00:03:31.419 --> 00:03:33.840 for their portfolio of buildings that they can 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:37.319 do and target our funding to the most needed 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:40.960 buildings and needed areas as well? So we get 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:44.379 those applications in and it's quite a gruelling 00:03:44.379 --> 00:03:46.979 time and assessment period to look through tens 00:03:46.979 --> 00:03:50.680 and hundreds of projects. doing a variety of 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:56.960 different interventions. So it can just be LED 00:03:56.960 --> 00:03:59.039 lighting projects for some of the loan schemes, 00:03:59.460 --> 00:04:02.939 can be quite extensive in that respect to the 00:04:02.939 --> 00:04:06.039 really complex heat network projects across cities. 00:04:06.379 --> 00:04:10.560 You know, we see it all and we decide ultimately 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:13.139 whether they're suitable for funding. And so 00:04:13.139 --> 00:04:15.560 going back to that decision that you're making, 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:19.269 because you do see... hundreds if not thousands 00:04:19.269 --> 00:04:21.490 of applications throughout a year and you met 00:04:21.490 --> 00:04:25.009 you you used the word grueling um what is it 00:04:25.009 --> 00:04:27.709 about the what is it that i mean there are huge 00:04:27.709 --> 00:04:30.110 differences but what is what are the commonalities 00:04:30.110 --> 00:04:32.410 in these projects you're looking at the paperwork 00:04:32.410 --> 00:04:35.730 and presumably also speaking to the project managers 00:04:35.730 --> 00:04:38.709 and those aspiring to get their projects over 00:04:38.709 --> 00:04:41.170 the line what is what is the commonality about 00:04:41.170 --> 00:04:50.689 what what these projects are trying to do Everyone's 00:04:50.689 --> 00:04:55.069 trying to achieve their net zero targets. Everyone's 00:04:55.069 --> 00:04:57.370 trying to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. 00:04:58.970 --> 00:05:01.569 It's just sometimes trying to put that into the 00:05:01.569 --> 00:05:04.329 same sort of template is quite difficult. So 00:05:04.329 --> 00:05:07.300 I think when I say gruelling, I mean... You know, 00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:09.740 you're looking at various different heat decarbonisation 00:05:09.740 --> 00:05:12.600 plans, feasibility studies, different public 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:14.639 sector bodies and different contractors, consultants 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:16.459 do things in different ways. So whilst we're 00:05:16.459 --> 00:05:19.839 all trying to deliver these projects and achieve 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:22.139 those carbon savings and achieve that value for 00:05:22.139 --> 00:05:25.120 money and actually deliver them on the soil, 00:05:25.319 --> 00:05:28.959 on the ground, it can be hard to kind of intersect 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:32.319 all that information over a desktop kind of study. 00:05:33.639 --> 00:05:38.139 So it's communicating. through each of them even 00:05:38.139 --> 00:05:39.319 though they're trying to achieve the same thing 00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:40.420 obviously they're different projects they're 00:05:40.420 --> 00:05:42.620 different people so trying to do that in quite 00:05:42.620 --> 00:05:44.500 a short amount of time and obviously we've got 00:05:44.500 --> 00:05:46.860 quite strict rules in terms of when money can 00:05:46.860 --> 00:05:49.839 be spent and when things need to be done so that's 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:52.180 why those those assessment periods can be difficult 00:05:52.180 --> 00:05:54.540 but also really really interesting and presumably 00:05:54.540 --> 00:05:57.040 you see a huge amount of passion come across 00:05:57.040 --> 00:05:59.379 from those individuals trying to get their projects 00:05:59.379 --> 00:06:01.939 through and perhaps if they're not successful 00:06:02.589 --> 00:06:05.470 At one stage, you might see that same project 00:06:05.470 --> 00:06:07.689 or similar project from them later on down the 00:06:07.689 --> 00:06:10.910 line in another scheme. Yeah, exactly. I think 00:06:10.910 --> 00:06:13.029 that's one of the best things about this job, 00:06:13.029 --> 00:06:14.750 to be honest, and about working in this area 00:06:14.750 --> 00:06:17.069 is the passion that you see. It's not just a 00:06:17.069 --> 00:06:20.709 job for a lot of people. This is what's really 00:06:20.709 --> 00:06:23.250 important to them and what drives them. So it's 00:06:23.250 --> 00:06:25.470 seeing the passion from public sector bodies 00:06:25.470 --> 00:06:29.670 and the applicants that kind of really is quite 00:06:29.670 --> 00:06:37.000 motivational in our work. um and as you say if 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:39.000 they're not successful in one round we can see 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:41.540 the project come up again it's that determination 00:06:41.540 --> 00:06:44.000 to really get this project over the line but 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:47.379 we also see projects that huge capital projects 00:06:47.379 --> 00:06:50.779 that might take five uh five years or a decade 00:06:50.779 --> 00:06:54.040 to actually complete and they can access multiple 00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:56.759 years of funding and one year is an extenuation 00:06:56.759 --> 00:06:59.199 of of the previous and you're really linking 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:01.879 up what is being achieved so it's great to go 00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:03.920 on site and actually see what is being achieved 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:06.480 i'd love to hear about those site visits because 00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:08.180 it gives you another opportunity to get under 00:07:08.180 --> 00:07:10.199 the skin doesn't it of the project and and actually 00:07:10.199 --> 00:07:14.089 appreciate the challenges that those people have 00:07:14.089 --> 00:07:16.910 faced trying to pull that through? Yeah, exactly. 00:07:17.170 --> 00:07:20.170 It's going to hospitals and to schools. We've 00:07:20.170 --> 00:07:22.129 been fortunate enough to see kind of projects 00:07:22.129 --> 00:07:25.829 all over the UK, you know, different projects. 00:07:26.009 --> 00:07:29.689 I've seen one where the local community has really 00:07:29.689 --> 00:07:31.490 rallied for this project to go over the line. 00:07:31.589 --> 00:07:33.990 Schools where children are writing letters to 00:07:33.990 --> 00:07:36.269 say how excited they are about their biomass 00:07:36.269 --> 00:07:39.629 boiler. And just understanding when you go to 00:07:39.629 --> 00:07:41.850 a listed building, why it's so difficult for 00:07:41.850 --> 00:07:44.500 works to carry out. the beautiful kind of architecture 00:07:44.500 --> 00:07:46.439 of the building. And it kind of puts everything 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:49.000 into perspective of why these projects are sometimes 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:51.980 really hard to deliver. Super. So very technical. 00:07:52.139 --> 00:07:54.579 Obviously, your job starts with being very technical. 00:07:54.660 --> 00:07:56.060 You talked about your educational background, 00:07:56.199 --> 00:07:58.160 the social science behind all that and that holistic 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:03.819 view. The term net zero, it's something I work 00:08:03.819 --> 00:08:06.019 in communications and it's something we obviously 00:08:06.019 --> 00:08:10.100 talk about in every other sentence. But in simple 00:08:10.100 --> 00:08:13.980 terms, how would you explain? net zero to someone 00:08:13.980 --> 00:08:18.540 who's not technical and it's such a huge part 00:08:18.540 --> 00:08:21.519 of obviously the work here how do you put that 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:25.180 into an easy to understand format for people? 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:29.160 Yeah I think there is a lot of jargon but net 00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:31.100 zero essentially refers to the balance between 00:08:31.100 --> 00:08:33.779 the amount of greenhouse gases produced and the 00:08:33.779 --> 00:08:37.019 amount removed from the atmosphere. So essentially 00:08:37.019 --> 00:08:38.919 just making sure we're removing as much as we're 00:08:38.919 --> 00:08:41.460 producing, acknowledging that some emissions 00:08:41.460 --> 00:08:44.320 are unavoidable, especially as we're transitioning 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:47.519 to that net zero kind of landscape. So obviously 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:49.100 you've heard of things like carbon capture and 00:08:49.100 --> 00:08:51.840 storage where you're kind of removing that carbon 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:55.200 rather than using kind of natural sinks such 00:08:55.200 --> 00:08:57.179 as, you know, planting more trees and things 00:08:57.179 --> 00:08:59.600 like that. But it's essentially making sure that 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:02.259 we're kind of reducing our reliance on fossil 00:09:02.259 --> 00:09:04.860 fuels and not emitting as much as we have previously. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:08.720 Thank you. So very technical indeed. And it's 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:10.720 great to have you here because I want to mention 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:13.159 the other issue that I know we've talked about 00:09:13.159 --> 00:09:17.080 in other discussions is, do you think there are 00:09:17.080 --> 00:09:22.299 enough women in this area? Your background is 00:09:22.299 --> 00:09:25.740 very technical in terms of those qualifications. 00:09:26.539 --> 00:09:31.690 How do you feel working in this sector? Yeah, 00:09:31.730 --> 00:09:34.370 I feel like sometimes, you know, particularly 00:09:34.370 --> 00:09:37.409 in my job, I speak to a lot of engineers. It's 00:09:37.409 --> 00:09:41.110 typically quite a male heavy industry. I think 00:09:41.110 --> 00:09:44.230 diversity is obviously important in any workplace. 00:09:45.230 --> 00:09:47.809 Just I think with engineering in particular and 00:09:47.809 --> 00:09:49.889 the built environment and the innovation that 00:09:49.889 --> 00:09:51.450 we need in this sector, it's really important 00:09:51.450 --> 00:09:54.070 to solve these diverse problems with kind of 00:09:54.070 --> 00:09:56.169 diverse backgrounds and perspectives and solutions. 00:09:58.330 --> 00:10:00.629 I think that's being reflected more in kind of 00:10:00.629 --> 00:10:02.129 some of the more graduate schemes that we're 00:10:02.129 --> 00:10:04.730 seeing. But it really does need to be reflected 00:10:04.730 --> 00:10:08.269 at every level. And I know from experience and 00:10:08.269 --> 00:10:10.350 speaking to other women in the industry, it can 00:10:10.350 --> 00:10:12.470 be difficult when you're the only woman in a 00:10:12.470 --> 00:10:16.309 call or in a meeting. It can be difficult to 00:10:16.309 --> 00:10:20.250 come across as reputable. But I think it's a 00:10:20.250 --> 00:10:23.830 lot of workplaces are respectful and it's great 00:10:23.830 --> 00:10:30.200 at Salix. There are a lot of opportunities. It's 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:32.019 probably not something I think about every day, 00:10:32.120 --> 00:10:35.259 but sometimes it does get drawn out in certain 00:10:35.259 --> 00:10:38.559 situations. But I can see in the graduate schemes 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:41.320 that I think there is a little bit of shift in 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:43.379 getting more women in engineering. And do you 00:10:43.379 --> 00:10:45.299 think that goes all the way back to school? Because 00:10:45.299 --> 00:10:46.860 we go into a lot of schools, don't we, and we 00:10:46.860 --> 00:10:49.679 talk to a range of children. And this is really 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:53.600 obviously ignited. everyone's interest, you know, 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:56.779 especially young children and especially children 00:10:56.779 --> 00:10:58.500 in the way they talk about climate change and 00:10:58.500 --> 00:11:01.820 saving the planet. Where does that come from 00:11:01.820 --> 00:11:05.980 for you originally? Yeah, I think in school I 00:11:05.980 --> 00:11:08.820 was not brought into STEM subjects. It was not 00:11:08.820 --> 00:11:13.379 something that was exciting or kind of, you know, 00:11:13.379 --> 00:11:15.559 one of the first things that was brought to me 00:11:15.559 --> 00:11:20.269 as an opportunity. I do think that's why it is 00:11:20.269 --> 00:11:23.830 so great to see these school children being so 00:11:23.830 --> 00:11:26.470 excited about the solar PV on the roof and actually 00:11:26.470 --> 00:11:29.789 seeing the technologies being installed, how 00:11:29.789 --> 00:11:33.600 an air source heat pump can transfer heat. into 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:35.980 the radiators, just actually seeing it and talking 00:11:35.980 --> 00:11:37.460 about it, because I would never have spoken about 00:11:37.460 --> 00:11:40.899 how the boiler works at my school. So it's really, 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:42.860 it's actually just putting it into practice. 00:11:42.899 --> 00:11:44.700 And I think it can really, when you link it to 00:11:44.700 --> 00:11:47.019 the net zero agenda and what we're doing for 00:11:47.019 --> 00:11:48.679 the planet and what we can achieve, I think it 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:50.720 really excites all children about, you know, 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:53.620 their prospects for the future. So when you mentioned 00:11:53.620 --> 00:11:56.779 the site visits a few moments ago, it is a chance 00:11:56.779 --> 00:12:00.799 to meet those children and see how they are interpreting 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:05.320 that. whole dialogue around net zero and looking 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:06.960 at their ground source heat pumps and being very 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:10.259 much part of that and teachers integrating all 00:12:10.259 --> 00:12:12.059 of the science and all of the technology into 00:12:12.059 --> 00:12:14.480 their curriculum that can only be a good thing 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:18.080 for everyone yeah i think schools are really 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:20.820 incentivized to do that as well um any schools 00:12:20.820 --> 00:12:22.659 that apply always talk about how they're gonna 00:12:23.080 --> 00:12:24.919 plan it into their curriculum and the parents 00:12:24.919 --> 00:12:26.600 although they're not happy about the car parks 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:28.679 being closed for the you know electrical upgrades 00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:30.840 and things like that it's the bigger picture 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:32.980 and I think everyone is really really excited 00:12:32.980 --> 00:12:35.480 and kind of on board it's you need that buy -in 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:38.299 to deliver these projects. OK, so going back 00:12:38.299 --> 00:12:41.200 to your day to day work, you're assessing a lot 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:43.700 of projects and something that I've worked with 00:12:43.700 --> 00:12:46.279 you very closely on, Becca, is our webinars. 00:12:46.379 --> 00:12:50.000 We do a number of webinars. We do webinars when 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:53.659 we launch schemes. We do webinars. The decarbonisation 00:12:53.659 --> 00:12:57.159 dialogue is a webinar to bring in speakers to 00:12:57.159 --> 00:12:59.159 talk about their own experiences of these kind 00:12:59.159 --> 00:13:02.980 of projects. Now, in webinars, I hear a lot of 00:13:02.980 --> 00:13:06.659 talk and a lot of questions in spite of all the 00:13:06.659 --> 00:13:09.320 information that we put on our website. And I 00:13:09.320 --> 00:13:11.460 think it's good that we still hear quite basic 00:13:11.460 --> 00:13:14.399 questions about whole building approach, what 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:19.100 end of life is, carbon cost criteria. And you 00:13:19.100 --> 00:13:22.519 talk about those in your webinars. You're often 00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:25.100 referring to guidance notes from whichever scheme 00:13:25.100 --> 00:13:27.940 it might be. But when you're talking about whole 00:13:27.940 --> 00:13:31.129 building approach. And end of life, particularly, 00:13:31.230 --> 00:13:32.809 that's something that comes up again and again. 00:13:32.970 --> 00:13:36.409 How exact can you be? Sometimes I hear a little 00:13:36.409 --> 00:13:39.289 bit of a struggle in the answers that we provide 00:13:39.289 --> 00:13:43.149 at some of those webinars for people. Yeah, I 00:13:43.149 --> 00:13:46.090 think it can be difficult for people to understand 00:13:46.090 --> 00:13:48.990 because it's obviously it's a policy. It's for 00:13:48.990 --> 00:13:51.629 our scheme in particular, the public sector decarbonisation 00:13:51.629 --> 00:13:55.480 scheme. And in people's everyday lives, you don't 00:13:55.480 --> 00:13:57.539 often come across, you know, there's a lot of 00:13:57.539 --> 00:14:01.220 jargon, different terms of use are used. Obviously, 00:14:01.240 --> 00:14:03.419 one of the key criteria for the public sector 00:14:03.419 --> 00:14:06.679 decarbonisation scheme is to retire those end 00:14:06.679 --> 00:14:09.100 of life fossil fuel heating plants, you know, 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:12.419 the dirtiest oil boilers and the oldest gas boilers 00:14:12.419 --> 00:14:15.220 and that infrastructure and really just retrofit 00:14:15.220 --> 00:14:18.399 those buildings. So to be eligible for the scheme. 00:14:18.990 --> 00:14:20.789 Though that fossil fuel heating equipment needs 00:14:20.789 --> 00:14:23.009 to be considered to be at the end of its useful 00:14:23.009 --> 00:14:25.809 life and therefore it makes good, you know, value 00:14:25.809 --> 00:14:28.190 for money sense to replace it with a low carbon 00:14:28.190 --> 00:14:31.909 alternative. You know, it's not as effective 00:14:31.909 --> 00:14:34.230 to replace a one -year -old gas boiler that's 00:14:34.230 --> 00:14:36.909 working quite efficiently with a new low carbon, 00:14:36.950 --> 00:14:40.590 you know, heat pump. There's not as much sense 00:14:40.590 --> 00:14:44.200 there economically. End of life heating requirement, 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:46.740 a fossil fuel heating plant needs to be at least 00:14:46.740 --> 00:14:49.419 10 years old to be eligible for the scheme. Again, 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:52.679 in terms of the scheme making sense, the applicants 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:54.360 are encouraged to take a whole building approach. 00:14:54.580 --> 00:14:56.679 So really not just think we're going to take 00:14:56.679 --> 00:14:58.340 out a heating plant and replace it with a heat 00:14:58.340 --> 00:15:01.320 pump. Really thinking about how you can make 00:15:01.320 --> 00:15:04.899 that building as thermally efficient as it can 00:15:04.899 --> 00:15:07.039 be. So putting in double glazing where there 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:10.149 is only single glazing. Thinking about... um 00:15:10.149 --> 00:15:14.570 any roof insulation or solar pv that you can 00:15:14.570 --> 00:15:16.330 ensure that you're reducing your heat demand 00:15:16.330 --> 00:15:18.850 and getting that as low as it can be putting 00:15:18.850 --> 00:15:22.370 in a suitable sized low carbon heating system 00:15:22.370 --> 00:15:25.309 so heat pumps heat networks electric boilers 00:15:25.309 --> 00:15:28.269 and we fund a variety of low carbon heating technologies 00:15:28.269 --> 00:15:33.990 and then any energy storage solar pv making that 00:15:33.990 --> 00:15:36.730 running cost kind of as low as possible so that 00:15:36.730 --> 00:15:38.909 you're kind of making it work for you rather 00:15:38.909 --> 00:15:41.769 than just you know doing a like for like heat 00:15:41.769 --> 00:15:43.769 pump in for a boiler it doesn't it doesn't make 00:15:43.769 --> 00:15:46.269 sense it's not best practice so we really do 00:15:46.269 --> 00:15:49.210 encourage that in all applications and of course 00:15:49.210 --> 00:15:51.809 we're talking about large public sector projects 00:15:51.809 --> 00:15:55.519 but also at Salix we work And I appreciate you 00:15:55.519 --> 00:15:58.679 don't work in the housing area, but for a lot 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:02.019 of people now at this point, they'll be considering 00:16:02.019 --> 00:16:04.519 whether they install an air source heat pump 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:06.980 at the back of the house and looking at planning 00:16:06.980 --> 00:16:11.120 regulations and all of that. Because the built 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:13.960 environment is responsible for 40 % of the UK's 00:16:13.960 --> 00:16:16.799 carbon emissions. Now, I appreciate that we are. 00:16:17.780 --> 00:16:20.740 A small part of the big picture, but it's a significant 00:16:20.740 --> 00:16:22.720 part of the big picture. And the work that you're 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:25.899 doing is a significant part of all of that. Big 00:16:25.899 --> 00:16:31.299 question. So are we going fast enough? I think 00:16:31.299 --> 00:16:35.679 we're definitely on the right trajectory. As 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:37.600 you mentioned, kind of we're a small slice of 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:39.360 it, but I think the public sector are responsible 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:42.820 for 2 % of total UK. territorial emissions and 00:16:42.820 --> 00:16:45.600 we've got a target to reduce emissions in public 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:50.299 sector buildings 75 % by 2037. So it is a big 00:16:50.299 --> 00:16:53.620 task and you know just working in my job I can 00:16:53.620 --> 00:16:55.700 see there's hundreds and thousands of buildings 00:16:55.700 --> 00:17:00.100 that need this type of funding to decarbonise. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:03.539 Funding obviously is available and it's a huge 00:17:03.539 --> 00:17:05.960 catalyst for achieving net zero but the scale 00:17:05.960 --> 00:17:09.240 of change needed is huge and the demand obviously 00:17:09.240 --> 00:17:11.019 kind of outweighs that at the minute unfortunately 00:17:11.019 --> 00:17:14.059 so it's getting those kind of leveraging those 00:17:14.059 --> 00:17:16.460 funding mechanisms is really important for public 00:17:16.460 --> 00:17:20.900 sector organizations um but kind of the output 00:17:20.900 --> 00:17:23.220 could be tens and hundreds of thousands of carbon 00:17:23.220 --> 00:17:29.640 saved each year um yeah so i'd say we're going 00:17:29.640 --> 00:17:32.059 in the right in the right direction but maybe 00:17:32.059 --> 00:17:34.960 not quick enough i think a big step is decarbonizing 00:17:35.420 --> 00:17:39.740 decarbonising the power supply as well. I think 00:17:39.740 --> 00:17:41.960 an interesting fact recently is that Britain's 00:17:41.960 --> 00:17:47.519 last coal -fired power station has been decommissioned. 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:52.220 So I think we need more pressure. We need... 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:54.819 political incentives we need financial buy -in 00:17:54.819 --> 00:17:57.559 but we are seeing those kind of big steps on 00:17:57.559 --> 00:17:59.220 our way to reaching net zero that are really 00:17:59.220 --> 00:18:01.839 encouraging and you know encourages people you 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:04.000 know to carry on those good those good projects 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.559 and technologies are changing all the time aren't 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:08.980 they in developing and there's a lot of pressure 00:18:08.980 --> 00:18:11.839 and a lot of uh focus isn't there on the actual 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:15.279 technologies that we're we're looking at um that 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:17.400 perhaps aren't available yet but they're there 00:18:17.400 --> 00:18:21.509 for the future Yeah, so I think some people are 00:18:21.509 --> 00:18:23.349 still a bit cautious about putting heat pumps 00:18:23.349 --> 00:18:25.690 in. So there's still a lot of work going into 00:18:25.690 --> 00:18:28.069 improving the efficiency of heat pumps and how 00:18:28.069 --> 00:18:30.490 they work. You can, you know, they're standalone, 00:18:30.769 --> 00:18:33.529 cascading, high temperature heat pumps, whatever 00:18:33.529 --> 00:18:35.849 works for your building. But that is still an 00:18:35.849 --> 00:18:39.150 area for development as we move away from those 00:18:39.150 --> 00:18:41.789 fossil fuel heating systems. The connections 00:18:41.789 --> 00:18:44.049 to district heat networks, obviously kind of 00:18:44.049 --> 00:18:46.710 a big move with the zoning regulations coming 00:18:46.710 --> 00:18:48.609 up. We're expecting a lot more kind of urban 00:18:48.609 --> 00:18:50.509 areas to be connecting to those district heat 00:18:50.509 --> 00:18:52.829 networks, which are often the lowest carbon, 00:18:52.890 --> 00:18:55.789 lowest cost kind of form of heat available, but 00:18:55.789 --> 00:19:00.910 also geothermal. hydro. There's a lot in this 00:19:00.910 --> 00:19:04.250 space. I think we're quite open at Salix to explore 00:19:04.250 --> 00:19:06.069 new technologies. We just need to understand 00:19:06.069 --> 00:19:08.630 that those carbon savings can be achieved and 00:19:08.630 --> 00:19:10.509 that there is real evidence for that. Because 00:19:10.509 --> 00:19:13.289 I've seen the email box to your team, to yourself. 00:19:13.490 --> 00:19:16.069 It is vast, isn't it? People are asking those 00:19:16.069 --> 00:19:17.950 questions about technologies. People are really 00:19:17.950 --> 00:19:20.569 hungry for it, aren't they? And ambitious for 00:19:20.569 --> 00:19:24.730 the projects that they want to deliver. So that's 00:19:24.730 --> 00:19:27.130 absolutely fascinating. But in terms of your 00:19:27.130 --> 00:19:31.210 work at Salix and within the public sector, because 00:19:31.210 --> 00:19:34.970 you specifically work on the big projects, can 00:19:34.970 --> 00:19:37.589 I ask, I mean, we've got a great flavour of it, 00:19:37.650 --> 00:19:41.269 but what most inspires you when you come into 00:19:41.269 --> 00:19:44.990 work every day about your work? And then I'm 00:19:44.990 --> 00:19:47.289 going to ask the subsequent question is, what 00:19:47.289 --> 00:19:53.069 can all of us do to be better at this? I think 00:19:53.069 --> 00:19:57.430 what motivates me is working closely with these 00:19:57.430 --> 00:20:01.289 public sector bodies. Often if you've got kind 00:20:01.289 --> 00:20:03.750 of an in -house energy team, there is so much 00:20:03.750 --> 00:20:05.630 passion to get these projects over the line. 00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:09.980 Some projects are headed up by headteachers and 00:20:09.980 --> 00:20:12.059 by people where it's not actually their day job. 00:20:12.119 --> 00:20:14.059 It's something they're putting in extra to access 00:20:14.059 --> 00:20:16.579 this funding and be able to deliver these projects. 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:21.339 So it's the passion, receiving emails of excitement 00:20:21.339 --> 00:20:24.759 about these funding opportunities going through. 00:20:25.539 --> 00:20:28.500 I think the innovation as well, as we just touched 00:20:28.500 --> 00:20:31.519 on, kind of the new technologies. I think everyone's 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:34.039 still learning about how these technologies work. 00:20:34.220 --> 00:20:35.579 You're kind of learning on the job about how 00:20:35.579 --> 00:20:38.740 we can improve things, make things better, and 00:20:38.740 --> 00:20:42.940 kind of seeing the impact of how much carbon 00:20:42.940 --> 00:20:44.779 is actually being saved. We deal with a lot of 00:20:44.779 --> 00:20:49.839 data at Salix, and you're really kind of seeing 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:52.569 projects being delivered. Our previous phases 00:20:52.569 --> 00:20:54.109 of funding, you're seeing projects being delivered 00:20:54.109 --> 00:20:56.549 and annual carbon reports coming in showing how 00:20:56.549 --> 00:20:58.589 much carbon is being saved whilst you're in the 00:20:58.589 --> 00:21:00.490 midst of allocating funding for the next phase. 00:21:00.569 --> 00:21:02.470 So you're seeing every kind of milestone of it. 00:21:02.650 --> 00:21:05.029 And it's just quite an interesting kind of intersection 00:21:05.029 --> 00:21:08.289 to be. And then also we kind of mentioned on 00:21:08.289 --> 00:21:10.670 the societal impact. So getting kids more excited 00:21:10.670 --> 00:21:14.980 about science and engineering. And, you know, 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:17.460 hearing about how the new glazing in a hospital 00:21:17.460 --> 00:21:19.839 is making patients, vulnerable patients, more 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:22.099 comfortable. It's not only just saving carbon, 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:25.740 it's actually having a real impact on these buildings 00:21:25.740 --> 00:21:27.839 that a lot of us use in our local communities. 00:21:27.940 --> 00:21:31.339 So I think that really keeps me motivated. And 00:21:31.339 --> 00:21:33.579 you're learning all the time. Obviously, it's 00:21:33.579 --> 00:21:36.680 a huge learning curve all of the time from all 00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:41.119 of these people and projects. Exactly. And everything's 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:43.440 moving at such a fast pace. There's always something 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:46.940 new. to be learning so yeah and you you sound 00:21:46.940 --> 00:21:50.359 like you're an optimistic person and do you feel 00:21:50.359 --> 00:21:53.759 optimistic generally about the picture that we're 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:56.579 facing in terms of climate change and our huge 00:21:56.579 --> 00:22:00.380 challenges to reach um the targets that we have 00:22:00.380 --> 00:22:04.619 i think in in day -to -day work it's easy to 00:22:04.619 --> 00:22:06.619 forget and just think about what this project 00:22:06.619 --> 00:22:09.220 is achieving what our fans need to achieve and 00:22:09.220 --> 00:22:11.720 you can kind of lose sight of the big picture 00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:16.049 but i think I kind of speak to, you need to be 00:22:16.049 --> 00:22:17.829 optimistic. You need to be realistic and you 00:22:17.829 --> 00:22:20.630 need to be optimistic. You kind of need to avoid, 00:22:20.809 --> 00:22:22.369 I think a lot of young people are feeling kind 00:22:22.369 --> 00:22:26.009 of climate anxiety at the moment and you only 00:22:26.009 --> 00:22:28.089 have to kind of turn the news on to see kind 00:22:28.089 --> 00:22:30.329 of the extreme weather that we're facing across 00:22:30.329 --> 00:22:32.690 the world. And you can kind of catch yourself 00:22:32.690 --> 00:22:34.970 in moments of, are we really going to achieve 00:22:34.970 --> 00:22:36.950 this? What is our future going to look like? 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:40.220 But, you know, we work at the forefront of delivering 00:22:40.220 --> 00:22:42.400 these kind of low carbon technology projects, 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:45.619 removing carbon and direct carbon from the atmosphere 00:22:45.619 --> 00:22:47.980 every day. You can kind of see that impact and 00:22:47.980 --> 00:22:50.039 we are moving in the right direction. We just 00:22:50.039 --> 00:22:52.400 need to carry on the pressure, carry on the education, 00:22:52.500 --> 00:22:54.960 not just for, you know, the younger generation, 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:57.759 but everyone. We need more skilled, you know, 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:00.180 craftsmen and people working, you know, putting 00:23:00.180 --> 00:23:02.579 these boilers in, trades people so that people 00:23:02.579 --> 00:23:04.240 feel comfortable putting an aerosol seat pump 00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:07.670 in their house. And that kind of political incentive 00:23:07.670 --> 00:23:09.930 covered in the media, we just need to carry on 00:23:09.930 --> 00:23:13.589 with that pressure. And I think our team at Salix 00:23:13.589 --> 00:23:15.549 are definitely feeling optimistic about what 00:23:15.549 --> 00:23:17.569 we can achieve if we get all those ingredients 00:23:17.569 --> 00:23:20.230 right. Superb. Thank you very much, because it 00:23:20.230 --> 00:23:23.670 is a very inspiring team over there. And I do 00:23:23.670 --> 00:23:25.569 recommend that people come along to our webinars, 00:23:25.890 --> 00:23:28.490 whether it is scheme launch webinars or decarbonisation 00:23:28.490 --> 00:23:31.150 dialogue webinars, because there is so much learning 00:23:31.150 --> 00:23:35.109 and so much sharing. So thank you very much to 00:23:35.109 --> 00:23:38.789 Becca Waite today for your time. Thank you for 00:23:38.789 --> 00:23:41.329 providing such incredible insight and sharing 00:23:41.329 --> 00:23:43.470 your knowledge and your skills. There can be 00:23:43.470 --> 00:23:45.529 no doubt that climate change is the biggest challenge 00:23:45.529 --> 00:23:48.980 of our time. Today, we must reduce carbon emissions 00:23:48.980 --> 00:23:51.920 to slow global warming. Today, we must act for 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:54.380 tomorrow, adjusting our lifestyles to current 00:23:54.380 --> 00:23:56.700 and future impacts of climate change. Today, 00:23:56.799 --> 00:23:59.240 we must use our collective wisdom to deliver 00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:02.099 on our climate commitments. Today, we work for 00:24:02.099 --> 00:24:04.559 tomorrow's world. Thank you to Becca. Thank you 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:07.640 for your time. Don't forget to subscribe to our 00:24:07.640 --> 00:24:11.079 podcast and send in any views or ideas to our 00:24:11.079 --> 00:24:13.700 email address, which is podcast at salixfinance 00:24:13.700 --> 00:24:17.819 .co .uk. Thank you. You've been listening to 00:24:17.819 --> 00:24:21.140 the Decarbonisation Dialogue, a podcast from 00:24:21.140 --> 00:24:24.920 Salix. For more information about our work and 00:24:24.920 --> 00:24:28.339 to find more content, please visit salixfinance 00:24:28.339 --> 00:24:31.059 .co .uk forward slash podcasts.