The founder of RetrofitWorks, Russell Smith has provided his stance on the National Retrofit Strategy, as his company has been campaigning for a plan to tackle the enormity of the task ahead when it comes to making the UK’s housing stock greener.
The recently announced Construction Leadership Council (CLC) backed National Retrofit Strategy is a positive step towards making an impactful recommendation to the government for a decisive plan to mitigate carbon emissions in UK housing.
With existing homes using 35% of all the energy in the UK, and responsible for 20% of carbon dioxide emissions, the National Retrofit Strategy plans to upgrade those homes, which is vital to meet the country’s net zero targets.
The plan will help make homes more energy and water efficient, as well as warmer and cheaper to run. This is in line with the UK government’s target to upgrade homes to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C by 2035.
A national retrofit programme will aid recovery in the repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) sector, and provide a joined-up approach to tackling climate change by all parts of the construction industry.
Russell Smith’s thoughts
Russell Smith, who was instrumental in the development of the strategy, said: “When you look at the facts, you understand the importance of addressing the energy efficiency of UK housing: our homes use around 35% of all the energy on the grid, and emit around 20% of the carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to climate change.
“Furthermore, over 80% of those existing homes will still be standing and be occupied in 2050. Building 250,000 new homes a year only adds 1% per year to the stock and reduces domestic emissions by 0.3%. Simply building new zero carbon homes will not get us close to the target; our 28 million existing homes must be made greener.”
Russell continued: “When you consider these facts against the government’s most recent announcement to upgrade as many homes as possible to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C by 2035; reduce our carbon emissions by 68% (based on 1990); and be net carbon by 2050, you can see the importance of getting this right. The Green Homes Grant was the government’s first bid but even with the extension, it is a drop in the ocean. We need to be moving faster and harder.
“The National Retrofit Strategy sets out the case for the UK government to invest and create a long-term policy framework to meet its statutory carbon targets, working in partnership with industry, finance, and other community-based bodies. While we as an industry can deliver the strategy, the government’s involvement is imperative, for critical elements and instilling confidence in the market.
“The systematic approach suggested in the strategy is practical. Like RetrofitWorks’ Plan For Every Home, the suggested Building Passport will outline all the work required for that property to become net zero. This sets clear goals for homeowners and tradespeople, makes budgets clearer, and minimises disruptions.”
Russell added: “The National Retrofit Strategy states we need 500,000 new professionals and tradespeople to tackle this challenge. The government has already backed training for retrofit coordinators and retrofit installers, and the creation of the Green Jobs Taskforce is working on setting the direction for the job market in line with the government’s target for a high-skill, low carbon economy.
“RetrofitWorks has already calculated that we need 35,000 retrofit coordinators to oversee the works needed. This is just one example of the opportunity the RMI sector has for the redirection of skills into good quality green jobs and secured employment. This broadening and deepening activity in energy efficiency and decarbonised systems offers sustainable growth and concurrently achieves significant policy goals as a result.
“We have been campaigning for a plan that will address this massive task since RetrofitWorks was formed in 2014. We are looking forward to working further with the CLC, the Federation of Master Builders and other supporters of this strategy, to determine how the government can adopt the strategy’s recommendations and move forward to create greener and better homes through retrofit.”
