Call for ‘dramatic’ home improvements to meet UK climate targets

THE UK’S homes require “dramatic improvements” to meet climate targets, with a national programme of retrofits urgently needed, researchers have said.

A study led by Nottingham Trent University (NTU) trialled a series of options to cut the energy use and carbon emissions from heating and powering more than 460 homes. Installing measures to improve the building fabric, including “wrap-around” insulation for solid walls on older Victorian properties and other houses where appropriate, generated energy savings of 31 per cent to 45 per cent, the research found.

Adding ground source heat pumps – which provide an alternative source of heating and hot water to traditional gas boilers – increased energy savings to 68 per cent, the project on 463 homes in the Sneinton area of Nottingham found.

Overall, the upgrades cut carbon dioxide emissions from the 463 properties by 550 tonnes a year. They also boosted people’s wellbeing, with 86 per cent of the householders involved reporting an improvement in the quality of their home and more than half (52 per cent) saying it was significantly improved.

Occupants reported benefits including warmer homes, cheaper bills, better lighting and ventilation and increased health and wellbeing.

The researchers said a national programme of retrofitting homes with measures such as solid wall insulation, heat pumps and solar panels is urgently needed to meet goals to cut the UK’s carbon pollution to zero overall by 2050.

Professor Anton Ianakiev, of the university’s School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, who led the study, said: “We need dramatic improvements in our housing stock if we are to meet the net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050.”

Housing accounts for a fifth of greenhouse gas emissions, researchers said.