Sustainable Business

In focus Green Deal 3/4 companies to do that," he says. "We've got 9,500 members across the UK and I am not aware of one of them becoming a Green Deal provider." Furthermore, a recent FMB survey reveals that only 27% of SME construction firms are planning to get involved in the Green Deal at all – even as installers. This has provoked Berry into claims that the Government risked turning a promising scheme into a "damp squib." "The only way a local building company can get involved is by subcontracting to a Green Deal provider, or becoming part of a supply chain like British Gas – they just work for an energy company," he insists. "Our big fear is that the big energy companies like British Gas will just gobble up the market for small builders." This seems to be the worry for a number of organisations including the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC), which generally supports the Green Deal. Its expert on the scheme, Policy and Campaigns Consultant and ex-DECC policy advisor Richard Griffiths, said given time, SMEs would get involved in the Green Deal. However, for Griffiths it was not a matter of whether SMEs would partici- are going Mostly, SMEs ne else's eo to be in som , rather than supply chain rily having them necessa e process th control over ducts they and what pro can use pate in the Green Deal, it was a question of how. Speaking to SB, he says: "The only slightly unfortunate thing is that for the most part, [SMEs] are going to be in someone else's supply chain, rather than them necessarily having control over the process, so they might have limited control over what products they can use if they are installers and over what prices they can charge." Berry is also worried that if SMEs do not get involved in the scheme, there is a risk that larger companies might eat into smaller firms' existing markets. Due to this, and despite Berry's misgivings, he recognises that it is vital SMEs do make their mark on the Green Deal. "The Green Deal is an important means by which to tap into the retrofit market, so we do want SMEs to get involved – it's more work and we desperately need more work in the building industry. As it's set up at the moment it is difficult for SMEs to get involved unless they become part of the integrated supply chain and we'd like to see the Green Deal modified to open it up so that local builders can get more involved in the work," he says. "What we need, and what we are working on is finding a cooperative or conduit." Environmental and energy solutions company Parity Projects might offer just such a solution. It has come up with the idea of the Green Deal Conduit – a network of SMEs involved in the assessment and refurbishment of buildings throughout the UK and owned by its members. Parity Projects managing director, Russell Smith, says: "There are many critics of the Green Deal, and most of them expect the Government to be dumping work in the industry's lap. The construction industry has always had a tendency to wait for work to come to it. In this case we have a new mechanism to drive change and the opportunity is really limited by our imaginations. The Green Deal Conduit has already captured the

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