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Green home improvements 'essential to meeting CO2 goals'
09/03/10
Edited by Tom Bardsley. With around three-quarters of existing residential property expected to still be in use by 2050, having builders carry out green retrofits will be "absolutely critical" to meeting the government's ambitious targets for cutting carbon emissions, an expert has claimed.
Gordon Miller, founder of whatgreenhome.com, was speaking after energy and climate change minister Ed Miliband launched the Warm Homes, Greener Homes strategy, which aims to offer eco-upgrades to seven million households by 2020 through initiatives such as pay-as-you-save.
Mr Miller welcomed the move towards these schemes, which provide long-term loans to cover the upfront costs of green home improvements, as while there is "a lot of appetite" for making eco-friendly upgrades among home owners, the initial costs can make them prohibitively expensive.
"Clearly, retrofitting and bringing the existing homes up to speed is absolutely critical if we are going to meet our own emissions targets and reduce CO2 emissions," he said.
Elsewhere, the Existing Homes Alliance has published its 2010 manifesto, which calls on the government to offer a whole house retrofit to every residential property in the UK by 2030.
