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Insulating Britain’s poor homes, overhauling the planning system and preventing housebuilders from selling sub-standard homes will cut people’s energy bills and help set the UK on track to net zero greenhouse gas emissions, green building experts tell ministers.
The UK Green Building Council (UKGCB) has drawn up a three-point plan for the government to consider, which will reduce energy waste and carbon dioxide, and will present it to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on Tuesday. The charity has assessed current policies on buildings and found most to be “red-rated”, meaning detailed policy frameworks are missing, flawed or do not put the UK on track to meet net zero.
Building experts are concerned that there are almost no policies in place to encourage and support owner occupiers to decarbonise their homes. Although there are some schemes for low income earners, they are poorly funded and will be slow to reach many people.
“While the government has introduced some funding and initiatives for people in fuel poverty, it reaches a small proportion of households that need attention,” the UKGBC found in its policy assessment.
This is a stark difference, as without help most homeowners are unable or unwilling to undertake the insulation process, which saves an average of £700 a year on bills but involves upfront costs of around £1,000 to £8,000 and some inconvenience to families. happens .
The number of insulation installations in the UK has declined over the past decade, as government support has been withdrawn, and the stop-start nature of policy on the issue has prevented the construction industry from investing in the skills needed to equip a large workforce. founders
Investment in retrofitting homes could create up to half a million new skilled jobs nationwide over the next decade, and save the NHS an estimated £1.4bn a year as more people fall ill from conditions related to their cold homes, which according to the UKGBC, kills around 10,000 people every year. Estimated to be killed.
UKGBC head of policy Louise Hutchins said: “There are still big gaps in policy and we need more ambition. There is a lack of leadership from the government. Yet improving insulation can help people in many ways – fuel poverty and health, and it creates jobs. It ticks a lot of boxes.”
Planning reforms that will encourage the reuse and renovation of existing buildings, rather than the carbon-intensive process of demolishing and rebuilding, will also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the built environment. Buildings are the UK’s second largest single source of emissions after surface transport, so there is no net zero CO2 The strategy can succeed without solving these problems, Hutchins said.
Another serious problem is that even newly built homes are failing to reach the high energy efficiency standards now possible, and homes are still being built with gas boilers instead of heat pumps and without solar panels or electric vehicle charging points.
This represents a widespread and costly failure, as landlords will have to pay to retrofit even newly constructed properties in the future.
The government plans to bring in new rules from 2025 to address this, but the UKGBC says plans to change the rules fall short of what is needed.
UKGBC Chief Executive Julie Hirigoyen said: “Boldly ambitious government policy to decarbonise the built environment is a huge opportunity for the economy and green businesses, yet our analysis shows it is largely missing from the current government’s agenda. In the last year, we have seen baby steps when we need giant leaps.”
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