From old home to green home: cutting the emissions of Britain’s housing stock

The 'Old Home SuperHome’ network is an initiative from the Sustainable Energy Academy (SEA) to showcase carbon-cutting improvements. The Almonds' property has made it into the small network because it has achieved a reduction of 66 per cent of its domestic carbon emissions through a variety of green refurbishments, including insulation and renewable energy technologies. But the aim of the network is anything but exclusive. The intention of the SEA is to create a network of homes that are local and publicly accessible, within 15 minutes, to almost everyone in the UK.

The SuperHome network is one of a growing number of projects aiming to improve the carbon footprint of Britain’s existing housing stock by either testing out low carbon materials and technologies or by showcasing the benefits to homeowners of greening their homes.

Other programmes include the Government’s £17 million 'Retrofit for the Future', aimed at businesses looking to design and install new technology solutions that can dramatically improve the energy efficiency of UK homes.

The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) and WWF-UK are supporting 'The Great British Refurb’, a nationwide green home makeover initiative fronted by presenter of TV series Grand Design Kevin McCloud.

The Building Research Establishment (BRE), meanwhile, is behind a number of schemes including 'Rethinking Housing Refurbishment’, which aims to provide industry and homeowners with examples of best practice in sustainable housing refurbishment.

So what is driving this rush of green retrofit projects?

In short, it’s the size and 'leakiness’ of the UK’s existing housing stock. According to BRE, the UK has the oldest housing stock in the developed world (one in five homes were built before 1918) and at least 80 per cent of today’s homes will still be standing in 2050. When you add to this the carbon emissions UK homes are responsible for – 27 per cent of the country’s total emissions – you can see that this represents a challenging but enormous refurbishment opportunity for businesses and homeowners.

The Coalition Government’s 'Green Deal’, a programme that will give every homeowner access to finance to increase their energy efficiency and cut household bills, is not expected to come into effect until the end of 2012, but it is already acting as a catalyst for green home refurbishment schemes, as are initiatives such as the recently launched feed-in tariffs, which financially reward homeowners who generate their own electricity, and the expected (but not yet to be confirmed) launch of the Renewable Heat Incentive in April 2011.

Gavin Summerson is project manager of a new nationwide pilot programme testing out a domestic refurbishment standard being developed by BRE. He says the levels of interest from those working in the built environment in schemes such as the one he is running are high.

"Assessors, architects and engineers are all getting on board," he says about the pilot project in which a total of 372 properties, from low-rise flats to Victorian terraced homes, are being assessed against the new BREEAM Domestic Refurbishment standard, which is set to be launched this autumn. 

"There is a lot of learning to be done about what you can retrofit when it comes to different style properties and we are trying to develop something that is simple to use," explains Summerson.

BRE is also behind Rethinking Housing Refurbishment (RHR), a project supported by the East of England Development Agency, which includes transforming a disused Victorian stable block at BRE’s headquarters in Watford into three energy efficient terraced homes.

Another aspect of the RHR scheme is the Centre of Refurbishment Excellence (CoRE), an ambitious multi-functional facility located in a former pottery factory in Stoke-on-Trent and set to open in September. Described as a 'living refurbishment demonstrator’, CoRE will offer R&D facilities, showcase technologies and provide training for innovative retrofitting.

The Government’s Retrofit for the Future, meanwhile, is testing the effectiveness of a range of innovative new low carbon technologies in 87 social housing projects that will be evaluated for their effectiveness over the next two years. Delivered through the Technology Strategy Board’s Small Business Research Initiative, the retrofits will include substantial improvement in insulation, using innovative natural materials to help control moisture levels and heat recovery in high temperature areas such as kitchens and bathrooms.

There will also be an air-tightness strategy, which will see existing vents and chimneys blocked, floors and ceilings insulated, and walls coated with modified plaster.

According to David Bott, director of innovation programmes at the TSB, Retrofit for the Future provides the testbeds needed "to ensure the development of long-term, mass solutions. This initiative has seen the retrofit market come together, with social landlords, local councils, architects and other specialist suppliers developing a range of high performance and cost effective prototype solutions."

Today (June 30), carbon emissions watchdog the Committee on Climate Change published its 2nd progress report to Parliament on the UK’s carbon budgets, warning Britain risks missing its target to reduce emissions by 32 per cent by 2020, as it’s mandated to, unless there was "a step change" in emissions reductions. It called for "significant progress" in, among other areas, the energy efficiency of homes.

Commenting on the report, Paul King, chief executive of the UKGBC says: "There’s no escaping the implications of this report – we need to up our game if we’re to meet our legally binding carbon targets.

"We need a massive programme of refurbishment for our homes, businesses and public buildings, which will not only put us on a cost-effective fast-track to cutting carbon, it will provide much needed employment in the construction and property sector."

The stakes are high, but the range of programmes currently underway to test and showcase the refurbishment of our carbon leaking housing stock are certainly kick-starting the process.