App aims to help home owners target net zero
PRINCIPALITY Building Society, in collaboration with Cardiff-based energy tech company Sero, is accelerating the transition to net zero for new and existing mortgage customers.
Using Sero’s Building Passport app, the mutual will look to gain a better understanding of the energy performance and carbon impacts of its existing portfolio, to speed up the development of future green finance products.
The initiative will allow customers to gain a greater understanding of the carbon footprint of their home, how they can make it more energy efficient, and track the progress of the home on its pathway to net zero.
The pilot project will see the use of Sero’s capture app to log data and understand more about each individual home. This data will be used to create a digital Building Passport, which will set out the current building status and set out a clear and attainable route to net zero for each home.
The pilot will initially be rolled out amongst a small group of Principality Building Society employees, before being expanded more widely, with an ambition to be launched to all customers next year.
The aim is that pilot homes will be offered the chance to implement the identified decarbonisation measures through additional borrowing, subject to lending decisions. Sero will supply technical validation of the retrofit works.
The partnership follows the inaugural FinTech Foundry acceleration programme, which saw a cohort of eight companies, including Sero, supported to scale-up
Ben Joakim, head of strategy at Principality, said: “Having known Sero for several years, we were pleased to be able to select them for the Fintech Wales Foundry and work closely with them over the last three months. Beyond our strategic focus on digital, another focus is our commitment to achieving our net zero carbon target as a business. However, we want to go further and have a positive impact for our members.
“So we’re excited to announce the first step in a partnership with Sero to explore how we can support our members to reduce the carbon footprint of their homes, living more sustainable lives. We will work with James, Andy and the Sero team to understand how we can roll this out to our members across Wales over the coming years.”
James Williams, chief executive of Sero, said: “Partnering with Principality is a fantastic opportunity to increase the awareness around net zero and the impact changes to homes can make. As well as knowledge and understanding, access to finance is going to be critical to enable more people to start to take that journey to decarbonising their home.
“By providing each customer with a tailored plan, alongside the necessary data to support access to green finance products, we can begin to ensure that for more and more people, decarbonising their home will become an attainable decision.”