The Heat and Buildings Strategy (& the Lost Ten Years)
Hello to each and everyone who takes time to read our weekly blog from the back pocket of the team here at Get a Greener Home.
It’s been an interesting week: The Heat & Buildings Strategy has been published (more on that later) and there feels like what has been a massive shift in the media coverage of all things sustainable, eco and planet friendly.
Prince William was on hand to help present part of the coverage of the Earthshot prize. This is awarded by the Royal Foundation to 5 winners each year for their contributions to environmentalism, and included prizes for Fix Our Climate and Build a Waste-Free World. It showcased massive innovation from businesses with planet Earth at the heart of their business model. These are new values driving the businesses of tomorrow: people, planet & then profit. It makes for good karma too.
Then there was the start of a series of programmes called Save Money: My Beautiful Green Home presented by Ranvir Singh as she follows families as they turn their homes into beautiful eco houses. You can catch up on ITV player. They added some really interesting and stylish elements to a kitchen including a floor made out of flaxseed and recycled kitchen cupboard doors.
Another programme that aired on BBC at prime time this week was a conspiracy thriller based on the true events of the Climategate scandal of 2009. A team of climatologists at the University of East Anglia discover their work has been hacked by climate change deniers. Not only that, it was then turned into the first big fake-news story EVER. The ‘big wigs’ of massive corporations that stood to lose money carefully and skilfully created the image of climate change as a conspiracy being perpetrated by academic scientists.
Was it this scandal and FAKE news that skewed the public perception of climate change & lost us 10 years to fix and restore the planet?
Other coverage recently in the news: the actions of Insulate Britain. Wether you agree with what they have done/doing or not, they are certainly making waves and getting attention by blocking roads around London at rush hour, much to the dismay of angry commuters. Insulate Britain want a national programe to ensure all homes are insulated to be low energy by 2030.
I feel there needs to be more emphasis on a ‘fabric first’ approach to retrofitting older houses, if your home has a brand spanking new heating system, it seems pretty pointless if you are losing heat through your walls/roof as they are poorly insulated.
The Heat and Buildings strategy that was published this week is hefty with a lack of clear plans on regulations, incentives & support. It has pledged to help households with a (free) £5000 grant to put towards installing a heat pump in their home, with the home owner expected to incentivised enough to pay the extra £10,000 out of their own pocket.
After 2025 all new build houses will have to have heat pumps installed instead of gas fired boilers. I think this is how government will hit their targets for heat pumps. Retrofitting a heat pump in an existing older dwelling is a job and a half. On another note: do you know anyone that can install a heat pump?
The transition to Net Zero represents a huge economic opportunity for the UK. I await with trepidation for both COP26 and Rishi’s Spending Review & Autumn budget to see how we get there.
COP26 will be a massive eye opener: it has already been leaked that some countries will play down the need to move rapidly away from fossil fuels. Nations will be asked at the COP26 summit to make significant commitments to slow down climate change and keep global warming to 1.5 degrees.
At Get a Greener Home we can help you to access FREE funding to update the insulation in your home. This can make it feel instantly less drafty and retain heat for longer whilst helping be more economical on the energy bills.
Drop us a message or call today to start the conversation on how you can make your home cosy this winter.
If you already know you don’t qualify for funding as you are not on benefits or a low income but still want your house updating, we can help by spreading the cost. This can include boilers, windows & doors, insulation and even solar PV in any combination.
Get energy smart and lower your bills in light of the price hike, contact us if you have any questions what so ever.
And a final thought from us this week:
What if we gave more to the world than we took from it?
the Get a Greener Home team