Welcome

HeatHack helps the people who run community buildings think about the big picture when it comes to making the best use of their building and the energy they use to heat it. We work with all kinds of community buildings, including churches and heritage buildings, and have particular experience in two much neglected areas: heating controls, which often waste a lot of energy, and forms of heating that don’t rely on heating all of the air in a leaky building.

We currently have three main activities:

  • The HeatHack Programme. A schedule of small group sessions that groups can run that will help them understand their building and come to agreement about what changes to make in it that will serve their mission, ensure they are financially sustainable, and use energy wisely. The programme uses activities and games to bring the community to an agreed high level plan and story about what they want to do and why, a key part of attracting grant funding. It covers everything from checking your heating controls to full retrofit, including options for heating without fossil fuels that are suitable for hard-to-retrofit buildings and ones in occasional use – never forgetting the importance of getting basic maintenance right first. For more information, see the HeatHack Guide Book. The programme is free with printed materials available by post at cost.
An explanation of the HeatHack programme
  • Heating Controls Checks. For groups who expect to be using gas boilers for at least three more years, we can help them review their controls and think about whether a change either to the settings or to the control unit would save energy. This is work we piloted with 7 Glasgow churches thanks to the Glasgow City Heritage Trust and that we are now rolling out more widely.
  • Workshops. We offer 1-3 hour workshops for people from community groups who are interested in what we offer. In these workshops, we show how our materials work to help groups the best decisions, dispel the main misconceptions community groups have that lead to them wasting energy, and explain the major choices that they will have to make. The longer the workshop, the more time the attendees will spend applying the learning to their own buildings. We always tailor our workshops to the needs of the attendees, and small workshops can be highly interactive.
  • Office hours. Anyone using our services, including the free on-line materials, can book a discussion with us using our online calendar. We’ll tell you how you can make a donation but never press you for one.

We are happy to consider whatever you need to make your involvement in a success. Past groups have asked us to facilitate their programme sessions, check their thinking, write easy-to-follow instructions for how to set their heating, take them through consultancy reports, and help them find the right kinds of professionals to take their plans. Please ask. We’re problem solvers and we will do our best.

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