news update For all the latest news stories visit www.eibi.co.uk
Chancellor boosts green homes UK homeowners will receive vouchers of up to £5,000 for energysaving home improvements, the chancellor has announced. Rishi Sunak has set out a £2bn grant scheme in England for projects such as insulation as part of a wider £3bn plan to cut carbon emissions. The Treasury said the grants could help to support more than 100,000 jobs. Under the Green Homes Grant, the government will pay at least two-thirds of the cost of home improvements that save energy, the Treasury said. The scheme will launch in September, with online applications for recommended energy efficiency measures, along with details of accredited local suppliers. Once one of these suppliers has provided a quote and the work is approved, the voucher is issued. Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Business Secretary Alok Sharma added that the poorest households could receive up to £10,000 towards costs, and that double glazing would also be covered by the scheme. He continued: “What [the scheme] ultimately means is lower bills for households, hundreds of pounds off energy bills every year, it’s supporting jobs and is very good news for the environment.” The government said about half of the fund - which is due to be spent in one financial year - will go to the poorest homeowners, who will not have to contribute anything to the cost. Better insulation could save some people £600 a year on energy bills, the Treasury said. Sunak said the investment would also help to “kick-start our economy” by creating thousands of jobs and providing business for existing skilled workers, as the UK recovers from the economic shock of coronavirus. “As Britain recovers from the outbreak, it’s vital we do everything in our power to support and protect livelihoods across the nation,” he said. The grants are part of a wider £3bn “green investment” package due to be announced in the chancellor’s summer statement, to support efforts to rebuild the economy after the pandemic. The plan aims to create tens of thousands of new jobs while helping the UK meet its 2050 target of achieving net zero carbon emissions.
COMMISSION OUTLINES POLICY ACTION
Strategies for ‘urgent global action’ The high-level global commission created to examine “new and stronger policy action” for energy efficiency (see EiBI Oct 2019) has published its conclusions. Chaired by (now former) Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar (right), it has presented the International Energy Agency with twelve specific strategies for urgent global action. For each of the policies, Varadkar provides an overview of what is needed to realise that particular strategy: • net zero-energy, water, waste and carbon buildings and homes are an increasing trend in regulations for new buildings, but these cannot happen without proper support and building code updates; • home and building retrofits are very important, since most homes and commercial buildings that will be standing in 2050 have already been built; • cooling is the fastest-growing end use in buildings as its energy demand more than tripled between 1990 and 2018; • smart buildings and homes. Sensors, automated controls, and other smart software can optimise
energy use; • in regions with substantial space and water heating loads, electrification of space and water heating can often reduce both energy use and emissions; • appliance and equipment standards deliver large savings. These standards should be regularly updated and other countries should follow suit; • industrial efficiency. Overall manufacturing energy intensity could improve by 44 per cent between now and 2040 with 70 per cent of the energy savings potential in less energy-intensive manufacturing sectors; • vehicles have substantially
increased in energy efficiency in recent years, driven primarily by ambitious fuel economy standards; • reducing vehicle distance travelled; • the freight sector can save energy through mode switching, providing seamless transitions among various modes as well as the digitisation of logistics; • aviation efficiency and longdistance travel. In aviation, improved engines, operational efficiency by air traffic control, airlines and pilots, and reductions in the amount of travel can cut aviation energy use and emissions by about 50 per cent; and • new electric grid technologies can reduce power losses in the grid via better grid design, smart metering, integration of demand-side management and demand-response interventions and theft prevention efforts can further reduce large losses. The IEA, which regularly describes energy efficiency as “the first fuel”, has pledged to ensure that each government is consistently alerted to these twelve priorities.
Landlord aims to transform property portfolio Property giant British Land is to transform the entire portfolio of its estate to net zero carbon – including developments – by 2030. The company, which manages a property portfolio worth £14.8bn, will create a Transition Fund to drive operational progress and finance the retrofitting of the standing portfolio. It has also committed to roll-out the successful place-based approach to social contribution across the portfolio. As part of the drive to a net-zero carbon portfolio – including development activity by 2030 – British Land will aim for a 50 per cent reduction target in embodied carbon and a further 75 per cent reduction in operational carbon intensity against new 2019 baselines. In addition, from this year all developments delivered to be net zero embodied carbon. The company intends to prioritise retrofit over new build by means of a bespoke Transition Fund resourced by an internal fee of £60 per tonne of carbon, levied on new developments Claimed to be the first of its kind, the fund will accelerate the path to net zero by driving innovation in development, financing the retrofit of the standing portfolio, and supporting customers in transforming their own space to reduce emissions
The strategy follows the conclusion of a successful fiveyear programme for British Land, achieving a 55 per cent reduction in energy intensity and 73 per cent reduction in carbon intensity versus its 2009 baselines, in addition to a 16 per cent reduction in embodied carbon emissions.
06 | ENERGY IN BUILDINGS & INDUSTRY | JULY / AUGUST 2020
EIBI_0720_006-7-8(M).indd 1
10/07/2020 12:33
