HeatHack has spaces available on their funded Energy Efficiency Programme, which is free for community venues.

Through the programme (funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Ingenious Programme), HeatHack offers community venues a FREE programme to help improve Energy Efficiency and Thermal Comfort. This new programme of facilitated group sessions is designed for community building operators to use to understand what a net zero future holds for their own premises.

The programme is designed to help groups understand energy efficiency and thermal comfort in sometimes difficult buildings, and to think about what their local community needs from the buildings, whether that means changes, and how to make change happen. HeatHack aims to help groups devise a plan for the future, and equip them with the knowledge and confidence to instruct heating engineers and architects with briefs that will get them where they want to be with their community building or venue.

Groups will spend 4 sessions (of 2 hours each) working together to understand their buildings and think about the future. One person will need to facilitate the group using HeatHack’s materials – training for this will be provided in advance. HeatHack’s materials will teach some basic concepts about heating, ventilation, and energy efficiency, and help groups understand what is practical and possible, and give them the time to come to agreement about what they want to achieve.

HeatHack provides the structure for the sessions, but can also adapt the sessions if there are parts which aren’t relevant for groups. The sessions are interactive and designed to help the group understand what they need to know to engage professionals and to come to agreement about how to proceed. Groups should expect to hold your sessions once a week, fortnight or month.

All groups must finish the entire programme by February 2024.

Each group will need one volunteer engineer, preferably from their local community, to take them through some essential concepts and activities that apply to their buildings. This will include useful information about heat transfer, health and safety, and managing complex projects. HeatHack will ask groups to think whether they know anyone from their local community who would be willing to help, but can also try to find one on the group’s behalf if this is not possible.

To register for the programme, please complete the online registration form (linked for your convenience); alternatively, for further information, visit the HeatHack website.