Existing Homes

27% of our CO2 emissions come from our homes.  The majority of homes that will be standing in 2050 have already been built, so we need radical cuts in energy use and carbon emissions from this sector if we’re to meet our climate change goals.

There is a huge amount of activity in this area by government, by industry and by various NGOs.  This page highlights some of the most significant activity and information.

If you are a homeowner looking for information about how you can improve the energy efficiency of your home, please visit the Energy Savings Trust for further advice and join our campaign with Kevin McCloud – the Great British Refurb.

To read all, click here.

Over summer 2008, UK-GBC teamed up with the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes, the Sustainable Development Commission and the Technology Strategy Board to carry out a wide-reaching industry and stakeholder consultation on reducing carbon emissions in the existing housing stock. The project, with support and co-funding from Government, sought to involve as broad a range of stakeholders as possible. A short report was submitted to Government in October 2008, which was designed to inform the draft Heat and Energy Saving Strategy (HESS), which was out to consultation in May 2009 by the Department for Energy & Climate Change.   Government is also consulted on a  Community Energy Saving Project (CESP), which, it proposed, will target low income households across Great Britain to deliver ‘whole house’ low carbon improvements.  UK-GBC’s role in the development of that document was acknowledged in the executive summary. UK-GBC’s response to the Heat and Energy Saving Strategy is available here.

In the summer of 2009 we launched a second task group focussing on overcoming the barriers to the practical implementation of a “Pay As You Save” (PAYS) scheme for financing the refurbishment of homes. PAYS featured in our ‘Low Carbon Existing Homes’ report. Find out more about the work of the PAYS task group here.

The coalition government has pledged to introduce their version of the Pay As You Save Scheme called the 'Green Deal' for homeowners through the Energy Security and Green Economy Bill which is being formulated by officials now. We expect the Bill to be introduced to Parliament in November 2010.   You can keep up to date with the progress of the Bill on the DECC website here. 

Close information.