Porritt and Healey back 24housing's Retrofit Campaign and Award

Published by Jon Land for 24dash.com in Campaign and also in Housing

24housing helps you get to grips with retrofit with our new campaign and award for 2010, with a series of exclusive interviews, news and expert advice.

To reach targets set by the Climate Change Act 2008, 26 MILLION homes need to be refurbished to near zero carbon by 2050, and we have the support of a whole houseful of serious players in the retrofit arena, all keen to share their knowledge and opinion on the retrofit challenge for social landlords.

This month, environmentalist Jonathon Porritt and Housing Minister John Healey write exclusively for 24housing:

JONATHON PORRITT

Policy-makers in Whitehall sit there scratching their heads about how best to notch up one of those elusive win-win-win success stories: scoring a plus for the economy, a plus for people and communities, and a plus for the environment.

The records since 1997 tell us that this Government is not very good at it. For me, while I was still Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission, it was unbelievably frustrating to see the biggest single win-win-win opportunity overlooked year after year: retrofitting our existing housing stock.

If you look at what they’ve been doing in Germany over the last decade in terms of retrofitting their existing housing stock, you’ll see what I mean.  More than 250,000 new jobs, a massive uplift in skills in the construction industry, substantially reduced bills for tenants and home-owners, and impressive reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases.

You might imagine we’d like a slice of that here in the UK, especially if it enabled us to eliminate the scourge of fuel poverty at the same time.  But despite countless pledges from ministers, the harsh reality is that there will be more people living in fuel poverty in 2010 than there were in 1997. And for a Labour Government, that’s one hell of an indictment.

It’s true that higher energy prices have not helped here, but this still represents a massive policy failure, especially for the 5% of households that are estimated to spend more than 30% of their combined income on energy. According to the most recent English House Condition Survey in 2007, there are 7.7million ‘non-decent homes’ in England, representing around 35% of the housing stock.

Housing associations and social landlords are now absolutely in the frontline when it comes to responding to that challenge – and, happily, there are already many inspiring examples of progress being made on retrofitting and on new build. 

But funding remains a massive problem. It is still very difficult to put the right financing deals in place to take on more ambitious retrofit schemes, especially as the real economies of scale only kick in with schemes involving whole streets (or even whole communities) rather than single dwellings. 

And there’s one more variable that has to be factored in as well as new skills and finance – and that’s human behaviour. Stories abound of flats and houses brilliantly retrofitted to reduce energy consumption only to be thwarted by tenants jacking up the thermostat in the depths of winter so they can carry on wearing their t-shirts! What’s more, the huge increase in electrical and electronic appliances can often offset the gains made in terms of more energy efficient heating and lighting.

No easy challenge.  But this campaign shows exactly what can be done, and why it makes such good sense to get it done right now.

Jonathon Porritt is Founder Director of Forum for the Future, and author of Living Within Our Means and The Standing of Sustainable Development in Government  www.forumforthefuture.org

JOHN HEALEY

Homes account for a quarter of our carbon emissions so if we stand a chance of tackling climate change we need nothing less than a national crusade with everyone able to play their part. There is no plan B and homes must become greener, that's why we must take action on both our existing and new build housing stock.

With the first sites for eco-towns we are creating the world's first zero carbon communities, and through Energy Performance Certificates all prospective buyers and tenants are getting advice on how to reduce lost energy and bills.

Most of the homes people will be living in in fifty years from now have already been built, so it's essential we improve our existing housing stock. The Government is acting to improve the standards of social homes by spending £84million to insulate up to 110,000 homes.

This work is well underway and will help cut carbon emissions and energy bills for thousands of people, often the most vulnerable in society.

I'm pleased to see that 24housing is contributing to this agenda.

John Healey, Housing Minister

24HOUSING RETROFIT BEST PRACTICE AWARD 2010

24housing is inviting you to enter your flagship retrofit projects in our Retrofit Best Practice Award 2010. Now is your chance to share your achievements with the rest of the sector, through 24housing magazine and online at www.24dash.com. The winner will receive a specially-commissioned recycled trophy.

For more details visit:

http://www.24dash.com/news/Campaign/2010-01-04-24housing-Retrofit-Best-Practice-Award-2010-How-to-enter