The main aim of the Concerto programme is to support communities in introducing low energy building design measures, renewable energy supply measures and polygeneration measures (cogeneration and trigeneration) not only so that these projects can have an impact in themselves, but also so that what is learned on the projects can be replicated across the European Union. The idea of bringing together towns from different parts of Europe is so that the impact on energy solutions of variations in climate, culture, urban form and market conditions can be better understood as well as allowing knowledge to be shared for the wider benefit of the European Union.
The conference was the culmination of a 6 year project and Wattcraft’s role was in presenting lessons learned to feed into a template for future projects, as well as being involved in the peer review of the Almere project. The technologies covered over the duration of the Milton Keynes project (which Rupert Blackstone of Wattcraft has been involved with throughout) have included: biomass heating, biomass combined heat and power, gas-fired combined heat and power, biomethane injection into the mains, ground source heat pumps, building-mounted wind turbines, solar photovoltaics (PV) and low energy building design features including high levels of insulation and air tightness.
The main challenge on the Milton Keynes project was to arrive at a combination of measures that would result in the greatest reduction in environmental impact and dependency on fossil fuels whilst being commercially deliverable. This was addressed partly through the support of funding, but also through careful specification of development requirements and energy service company (ESCo) contractual obligations.