Heat in Buildings strategy - quality assurance: policy statement

9. Glossary of Terms

The following table explains some of the commonly used terms used in this Statement.

Area Based Schemes

Area Based Schemes are designed and delivered by councils targeting fuel poor areas to provide energy efficiency measures to help reduce fuel poverty.

Business Energy Scotland

Scottish Government's Business Energy Scotland (BES) service provides advice and support to SMEs on energy efficiency and low and zero carbon heating throughout Scotland. It is managed by Energy Saving Trust.

Consumer

Broadly, an individual who purchases, uses or receives, goods or services in Scotland. In the context of this Statement individuals are expected to be primarily home owners and private sector landlords with the provision of energy efficiency and microgeneration (including zero and low carbon emissions heating) goods or services.

GD ORB

Green Deal Oversight and Registration Body manages on behalf of the UK government the authorisation scheme for participants in the Green Deal and is responsible for several functions aimed at providing effective administration and oversight of the scheme. Also see Green Deal below.

Green Deal

The Green Deal was a UK Government scheme launched in 2013-14 that funded energy efficiency improvements through a commercial household loan, this was then repaid as a charge on energy bills.

Home Energy Scotland

Home Energy Scotland is an advice service funded by the Scottish Government and managed by Energy Saving Trust to provide free, impartial advice on energy saving, keeping warm at home, renewable energy, greener travel, cutting water waste and more. Home Energy Scotland's mission is to help people in Scotland create warmer homes, reduce their bills and help tackle climate change.

MCS

The Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) is an industry-led quality assurance scheme, which demonstrates the quality and reliability of approved products and installation companies through effective standards.

Microgeneration

Refers to micro-renewable technologies used for zero/low carbon generation of heat (up to 45kW) and electricity (up to 50kW).

PAS

A PAS (Publicly Available Specification) is a fast-track standardization document – the result of an expert consulting service from BSI. It defines good practice for a product, service or process. It's a powerful way to establish the integrity of an innovation or approach.

Quality assurance

An overarching term which incorporates all the different elements that make up an overall quality assurance framework which in the context of this Statement covers energy efficiency and small-scale renewables work.

Redress

To put right an undesirable or unfair situation.

Retrofit Coordinator

A new role within PAS 2035. The Retrofit Coordinator is responsible for overseeing the project from inception to completion and ensuring compliance with PAS 2035. See Annex A for more details.

Rogue Trader

A supplier (trader) who call uninvited to people's homes to sell goods and/or services but have no regard for the law. They generally target more vulnerable people.

Scam

A fraud or attempted fraud performed by a deceptive individual, group or company in an attempt to obtain data, money or something else of value.

Standards

A standard is an agreed way of doing something. It could be about making a product, managing a process, delivering a service or supplying materials – standards can cover a huge range of activities undertaken by organisations and used by their customers.

TrustMark

The not-for-profit organisation licensed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to deliver the Government Endorsed Standards scheme for the Energy Efficiency, Retrofit and RMI sectors.

Warmer Homes Scotland

A Scottish Government funded scheme that helps people in need to make their homes warmer and cost less to heat. It does this by improving the energy efficiency and heating systems of homes.

Zero emissions heat

A heating system which is located within a building (or its curtilage) and which emits no more than negligible greenhouse gas emissions during normal operation.

This is typically microgenerating heat technologies up to 45kW. See 'microgeneration'.