We need more consultants and contractors who are familiar with all the technologies and how they work together, says Paul Braithwaite.
Renewable energy is the order of the day. Cheap natural gas for the last 30 or 40 years has done the UK no favours. The nation should be much further down the energy efficiency road than it is.

But we have to catch up - and quickly - and not because the government and the EU is passing more and more legislation.

For me and for many of you, too, it is all a question of cost. Whatever the government says, we are still in the grips of the biggest recession since probably the end of World War II. If those who talk of a double dip recession are to be believed, then we still have a long way to go.

Richard Percival of Jigsaw FM (see Selling up is the order for Jigsaw installers) is in some cases able to offer a leasing deal which will give hard-pressed businesses the chance to change their old plant for new and make a few quid as well. Reduced emissions and money into the bargain! And tied into this is a maintenance contract which means the kit will be kept in the condition necessary to deliver the savings.

He offers any type of kit and, more to the point, a mix of the technologies needed to keep the cost of energy down. Percival says that increasing he is talking to the financial director as well as the maintenance manager. And this is what is needed.

Take a care home, for instance. The patients will need heating and lighting and lots of hot water. Put a CHP unit in the basement, solar thermal panels on the roof and add controls and you have a good mix of technologies and free (or cheap) electricity and hot water on tap.

An hotel needs the same mix of technologies. A CHP unit offers electricity and hot water on tap. Add photovoltaic units on the roof and there is more free electricity. Add solar panels for more hot water and there is a lot of free or cheap energy. Further, there is the potential from this month to sell any excess electricity back to the grid by way of feed-in tariffs.

A couple of years ago, I visited NG Bailey for a contractor profile. The head office, in a beautiful mansion, had lots of solar thermal panels because the house was also used as a training facility and therefore it needed lots of hot water for the bedrooms and catering.

NG Bailey also uses renewable technologies in its regional offices so that it can demonstrate the potential to clients.

What we need are more consultants and contractors who are familiar with all the technologies - Percival sees this as a must for all his installers and is setting aside a training budget this year for such a purpose - and how they fit together and are capable of installing the complex controls which are necessary to give those who will be using them the necessary control.