Refit West webinar – an update from the front line
Posted on 17 March 2011
What will happen when the UK Government’s flagship ‘Green Deal’ retrofit policy hits the rocky reality of public attitudes and behaviour?
Forum for the Future’s Refit West project in Bristol has been piloting just that with local homeowners in the city.
During UK Climate Week in March, Refit West will be launching their report into the findings and recommendations from their work over the last year, and holding a live webinar on Friday 25th March 2011 to discuss the homeowner journey and experience.
Forum for the Future’s Refit West manager, Ben Ross, and Bristol homeowner, Chris Priest, will be sharing a wealth of experience relevant to developing or delivery of home energy efficiency schemes to the private housing sector, including through the proposed Green Deal.
You canjoin the webinar, hosted by the 2 Degrees Network, here.
Refit West, is a group of organisations in the South West of England including architects, builders, local authorities, and environmental groups, led by Forum for the Future that have been supporting homeowners to increase energy efficiency and reduce their energy bills.
2 responses to Refit West webinar – an update from the front line
Contribute to this article
Bristol city region
Making the West of England the most sustainable city region in the UK and one of the top green cities in the world, with leadership that understands the urgency of the need for profound change to create a sustainable, prosperous future.
Hi
A couple of advance questions for the webinar:
I’ve been really keen to improve my house, but frustrated by the lack of Green Deal finance that can be used in a Pay as you Save way, linked to the property.
1st, what lessons are there for those of us who will depend on finance?
and
2nd, what appropriate measures for old, heard to treat homes, are relevant to us, based on the likely proposals and restrictions mooted for the Green Deal? (I did not think the rumoured £6,500 limited to a few basic measures, are going to help many of us in Bristol?)
thanks
Martin
Hi Martin,
DECC are still confident that the Green Deal is still on track to be launched late 2012. The primary legislation required has been through the Hosue of Lords and is now in the House of Commons. They are also considering secondary legislation and all of the supporitng sturctures such as accreditation. As i heard yeetserday it is quite unusual to be doing all of this concurrently but necessary to meet their schedule.
The figure of £6,500 is considered to be an average investment figure and there is clear understanding that this would not be suffcient for a lot of the more expensive measures such as solid wall insulation. The Energy Company Obligation (ECO), to follow CERT, is expected to support energy efficiency for the fuel poor and hard to treat properties, although this is still very much work in progress. A greater barrier to investment may be the Golden Rule, which states that savings must be greater than repayments on any Green Deal finance.
We have been discussing our findings with DECC and will continue to do so, however, this report will not make any specific recommendations in this regard. We have focused on the homeowner journey and what the customer needs to start, prgress and complete works to their property.
We will follow this report with a paper covering more technical case studies.
Regards
Ben