LETI Investment for Impact #3

Aim

LETI are running a 3rd crowdfunding campaign to maintain our impact across the UK. Donate today and help us build a zero carbon future.

LETI was initiated by Clara Bagenal George in 2017, and has since been an active and productive platform for knowledge sharing, collaboration and knowledge dissemination. Since its inception it has continued to grow as contributions from built environment volunteers have expanded its influence and knowledge base, creating an independent beacon for change in our industry.

How much are we trying to raise?

We have set a funding target of £25k for this 3rd campaign. This would cover approximately one year of LETI running costs, but the more we raise, the more we can do before we need to fundraise again.

All donations, large and small, are gratefully received and much appreciated.
Any organisation giving more than £500 and any individual giving more than £50 will be included on LETI’s donor list on our website.

We would also be keen to hear from organisations interested in supporting LETI in other ways such as hosting events or providing publishing services, please contact [email protected] with any offers. 

Our commitment

It is fundamental to the LETI approach that we remain independent. We think that crowdfunding is the best approach for covering our costs as it enables both organisations and individuals to contribute. This philosophy will allow us to remain independent of any vested interest and we will continue to be dedicated to the acceleration of the industry’s efforts towards achieving Net Zero Carbon buildings as soon as possible. We believe that LETI’s collective voice has had a significant impact over the last 6 years and we would like this to continue. If you agree, please support us.

Why we need the funding

In January 2022 LETI was established as a formal financial entity - the Low Energy Transformation Initiative CIC. We are a not-for-profit Community Interest Company and are registered at Companies House. We have a Co-op bank account and are submitting annual accounts to HMRC.

LETI only has one paid member - Lynn Urbanik - who works one day a week providing invaluable support managing our inbox, mailouts, social media postings and much much more! 

All other LETI activities are currently managed purely by volunteers, giving their time both in working hours, but mostly in their own time. It is important to acknowledge that some organisations have given significant amounts of ‘time and advice in kind’ over the last 3 years, allowing space for LETI to grow and evolve and we are very grateful for this. 

We have had no formal funding, organisation sponsorship or income from paid membership (aside from events, where event costs are covered by event sponsors). We keep costs as low as possible but we need to pay for a number of services that facilitate our operations including:

• Zoom to host our very popular webinar series
• Mailchimp to send out regular newsletters
• Website hosting costs
• Travel and catering for events
• Accountancy fees and tax to HMRC
• Lynn’s time (seconded from the Passivhaus Trust)

In 2019 LETI recently ran a Crowdfunder campaign that raised nearly £12k. 

In 2021 we launched a second Crowdfunder campaign that raised over £37k exceeding the target of £25k and keeping us going for longer before another funding campaign.

We are hugely grateful to all the supporters who donated to both campaigns - many are listed on our website: https://www.leti.uk/donate 

What we've done so far

Previous funding has has enabled LETI to have a huge impact over the last 6 years. This includes:

• Publications (all available for free download from LETI website):
  • Hydrogen: a decarbonisation route for heat in buildings?
  • Embodied Carbon Target Alignment, and one pagers
  • Client Guide for Net Zero Carbon Buildings
  • LETI Climate Emergency Retrofit Guide
  • LETI-CIBSE Net Zero FAQs
  • Circular Economy 1-pager
  • Embodied Carbon Case Studies
  • Retrofit vs Rebuild Unpicker
  • Specification and Procurement Guide
  • Operational Modelling Guide
  • Opinion pieces - https://www.leti.uk/opinionpieces 
• Consultation responses
  • MHCLG Future Building Standard 
  • Building Regulations Part F, L and O consultation (2021)
  • Future Building Standard and Future Homes Standard
• Events
  • Roadshow events reached Dublin, Cardiff and Edinburgh in 2023
  • Whole Life Carbon webinar series
• Ongoing work
  • Energy from Waste opinion piece
  • Circular Economy guides and opinion piece
  • Embodied Carbon Primer update
  • Operational Energy Case Studies
  • LETI pioneers year book
  • Retrofit mass housing and non domestic
  • Future Homes Standard and Future Buildings Standard Consultation response

This project successfully funded on 31st January 2024