What the programme is like

Our programme is for small groups - ideally around six people. The programme is designed as four two-hour sessions working together to understand their buildings and think about the future, followed by a community engagement event about what you have done and what conclusions you drew. You should expect to hold your four sessions one a week, fortnight, or month, but setting up the follow-on event might take longer.

Here are some of the questions you will think about during the sessions:

• Are we using the right strategy to make people warm and comfortable given how we use our building?

• What does our community need from this building, and does it need changes to serve them better that will affect our heating strategy?

• What kind of heating system should we put in next, and when should we do that?

• Do we need to make changes to the building so that it doesn’t lose as much heat? What would work best, what would it cost, and how can we pay for it?

• Are we using the current heating as efficiently as we can, and would changing the heating controls help?

• Are there things we should do to avoid wasting electricity?

• Does it make sense for us to generate energy on-site?

The programme isn’t like going to a normal meeting. Instead, it is made up a sequence of activities that introduce the concepts you will need to answer these questions. The activities will help you come to agreement about what you want to achieve in the future and make a plan for what to do when.

Important

All groups relying on the support we provide using our Royal Academy of Engineering funding must complete the programme by February 2024. We expect to continue the programme afterwards but cannot guarantee the same level of support.