Nicola Kennedy of Heero Technologies debunks prevailing myths around retrofitting and explores how technology can help local authorities drive sustainable change at scale, creating a future where every home is energy efficient.
Local authorities have a central role to play in ensuring the UK is on track to meet its net zero ambition of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. However, they face a dual challenge – significantly reducing their carbon footprints while enhancing the living standards of their residents.
Approximately 27 million homes must be decarbonised by 2030, a significant number of which are owned by local authorities, to reduce the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels and to help it meet its objectives. One way to achieve this is through retrofitting; implementing a range of measures to upgrade the country’s existing housing stock to reduce energy consumption and make homes fit for the future.
There are various factors that may complicate decarbonisation – local authorities are generally tight on resources and may see retrofitting measures as being uneconomic, logistically or technically demanding, or as having a negative impact on residents. Additionally, it can be challenging for local authority officers to navigate the complex and ever-changing landscape of energy, climate, and housing, as well as the funding, finance and grants available to help with the retrofitting process.
While these are legitimate concerns, they are generally driven by misconceptions. Luckily, there are several innovative and cost-efficient cleantech tools available to not only debunk these, but to successfully aid local authorities in overcoming the barriers to retrofit, enabling more energy efficient home upgrades at pace and scale.
One of these – a software application developed by Heero Technologies – can streamline the often complex and seemingly disjointed retrofit experience, guiding local authorities through the entire energy retrofit journey and equipping them with the knowledge and tools to make decisions that will make net zero homes a reality.
Broad benefits
The benefit of using an independent energy platform is that it delivers agnostic, bespoke property information that is both personalised and specifically targeted at home energy improvements. For example, it not only highlights specific measures based on their ability to improve the thermal efficiency of a property and to generate energy from renewable sources, but also shows the cost of installation and energy bills savings associated with each suggested measure.
Additionally, the technology offers advice on financing and can ensure that any grant funding local authorities are entitled to is highlighted – a lack of funding remains a key obstacle to retrofit execution – and it recommends vetted and reliable installers.
What’s more, it offers a powerful solution to promote sustainability and engage with local communities as it can be seamlessly integrated into any existing outreach strategies, fostering stronger connections with residents and encouraging active participation in energy-saving initiatives.
Combatting the cost-of-living crisis
By using cleantech to drive retrofitting, local authorities can make meaningful progress in the battle against climate change. However, aside from helping them meet regulatory expectations, retrofits are an excellent way to support tenants amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis – as well as softening the impact of ever-rising utility bills, improving the energy efficiency of homes will improve residents’ standard of living.
In fact, according to Citizens Advice, a large-scale drive to improve the energy efficiency of the homes of 31 million people to a C rating by 2030 will not only cut consumers’ bills by £24bn, but will also save the NHS £2bn, reduce new cases of childhood asthma by 650,000, and prevent 570,000 children and adults developing mental health conditions associated with cold homes.
Considering this, implementing home energy-efficient measures is critical and the impact far-reaching, making the effort and investment well worth it.
Effecting tangible change
Improving domestic energy efficiency and decarbonisation is mission-critical to delivering on the UK’s net zero commitments, making the retrofitting challenge considerable. Overcoming it will depend on ensuring that the right improvements take place in the right properties.
Realistically, considering that the UK has the most inefficient, energy-hungry, and wasteful properties in Europe, there are very few houses in the UK that wouldn’t benefit from some form of retrofit and, while some measures may be more costly than others, there are a host of cost-effective and minimally disruptive options available today.
Cleantech can help streamline the entire process by accurately showing which property-specific energy efficiency measures can produce the biggest gains, what the cost of installation is, as well as what savings can be realised if the suggested improvements are implemented, offering local authorities the opportunity to effect tangible change and progress by drastically improving energy efficiency and making a real difference to their communities and the environment.
Nicola Kennedy is the CEO of Heero Technologies