The award winning Kirklees Warm Zone scheme ran between 2007 and 2010 and was one of the largest scale home energy improvement programmes in the UK.

The Warm Zone adopted an area based approach which is now recognised by The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), The Local Government Association (LGA) and energy companies as a cost effective efficient means of delivering significant home improvements, green skills, job creation and reductions in fuel poverty.

On a house by house, ward by ward basis, Warm Zone contacted every householder to give them the opportunity to make their home warmer and more comfortable and more energy efficient.

Key outputs from the scheme included:

• 165,686 households visited.
• 133,746 energy assessments carried out.
• 111,394 homes referred to the insulation contractor for a technical survey.
• 42,999 properties have had loft insulation installed and 21,473 have had cavity wall installed and in total 51,155 households had measures installed.
• 26,453 fire safety referrals were made and 129,986 carbon monoxide detectors were distributed.
• 16,111 households were referred to benefit and debt advice teams with estimated annual benefit gains of £1,648,115. Confirmed benefit gains where resident was re-contactable and they had made the benefit claim totalled £732,669.

Outcomes and impacts have been wide ranging - providing environmental, social, health and economic benefits for the people of Kirklees. The Kirklees Warm Zone Final Report (PDF:896kb) - is the council's summary report of the development, delivery, outputs and impacts of the Warm Zone scheme.

During 2011 comprehensive evaluation of the scheme has been carried out under the following themes:

Process evaluation - investigates the delivery and management of the scheme, exploring how and why particular inputs, activity, outputs and context related to each other over the schemes delivery.
Warm Zone Process Evaluation Executive Summary (PDF:1mb)
Warm Zone Process Evaluation Report (PDF:2mb)

Economic impacts - the Kirklees Warm Zone Economic Impact Assessment Final Report examines the direct and indirect economic impacts of a number of areas: Job creation, energy saving, health and housing. It provides theoretical return on investment figures based on established methodologies.

Health impacts - independent research carried out by the University of Ulster looking at the health and well being impacts of the scheme, please refer to section 2 of the report which provides a cost-benefit analysis, drawing on recent cost-benefit models that have been applied to tackling fuel poverty.Click here to view the report.

For further information please visit www.kirklees.gov.uk/ warmzone or email environment.unit@kirklees.gov.uk.