Retrofits for Brits

Government promises householders green refurbs

Seven million UK homes are to get green makeovers by 2020. The £350 million government initiative, known as the ‘Great British Refurb’, will see insulation and low-carbon technology, such as solar panels and biomass boilers, rolled out to the poorest areas of the country.

Speaking at the February launch, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband described it as a “pay as you save finance” model. Householders will take out a loan to install energy efficiency measures and low-carbon heating technologies, which they then repay as they save on energy bills [see Smart finance cuts carbonfor local schemes already under way].

Funded through a levy on fossil fuels, the scheme will also offer “street to street advice” on “whole house refurbishment”, and aims to make cost-effective energy efficiency measures available to all households by 2030.

Lucy Pedlar, Director of The Green Register, a nationwide network of sustainable building experts, is excited by the initiative, but stressed that the Government must identify the most effective ways to retrofit: “There’s an awful lot of eco-bling out there, which people have bought to show that they’re doing something – stationary wind turbines bolted onto buildings, solar panels in the shade...”. She’s encouraged, however, that Miliband mentioned less sexy things like insulation. She adds that the plan ought to include saving water as well, and therefore the carbon needed to clean and heat it.

A green makeover is planned for ten Bristol homes this summer as part of a demonstration by Refit West. The consortium, led by Forum for the Future and includingThe Green Register, is then scaling it up tothe ambitious target of 1,000 homes by the end of 2011.– Hannah Bullock