New UK insulation and low carbon heating scheme adds a QA angle

Builders, plumbers, and other tradespeople across England will need a government-backed seal of approval to provide their services as part of the new £2bn Green Homes Grant, which is due to go live at the end of this month.

The new scheme will see the government fund up to two-thirds of the cost of home improvements of over 600,000 homes, supporting over 100,000 jobs in green construction.

Tradespeople must register for TrustMark or Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) accreditation to take part in the scheme, which will cover green home improvements ranging from insulation of walls, floors and roofs, to the installation of low-carbon heating, such as heat pumps or solar thermal systems. Such measures could help families save up to £600 a year on their energy bills, says the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

The government has set out details of the range of measures included and how consumers in England will be able to claim the new vouchers, which are worth up to £5,000 for homeowners. Households on a low income can receive vouchers covering 100% of the cost of the improvements, up to a maximum of £10,000. The solar thermal and heat pump industry bodies welcomed the inclusion of these low-carbon heating options in the scheme.

Heating buildings accounts for around a fifth of greenhouse gas emissions and, due to the age and design of many buildings, the UK’s housing stock is among the least energy efficient in Europe. Energy efficiency was identified as the biggest missed opportunity in energy policy in recent years in this year’s EI Energy Barometer report on the views of UK-based energy professionals.

Dr Rob Gross FEI, a council member of the EI and director of UK Energy Research Centre said: ‘The economic, environmental, and social co-benefits of this have never been clearer. Improved insulation reduces bills and makes buildings more comfortable. It helps meet climate change goals, given today’s homes represent a fifth of emissions, and the vast majority of them will still be around in 2050.’

But the new grants scheme can only be a first step to making the improvements to energy efficiency required. Policy think tank IPPR warned that, whilst the £2bn move is welcome, around £7bn per year of public and private investment is required until 2030 to meet the pace and scale of action needed for both insulation and new low-carbon heating systems for UK homes. IPPR estimates that at least 12mn homes across England alone will need to be fitted with heat pumps and energy efficiency measures such as insulation, over the next 30 years.