Buildings and their environment
Projects
We previously covered Practical Tips for this theme, now we want to look at Projects that the town, community groups or businesses can sponsor or participate in, to Build Back Better, and help achieve the carbon net-zero goal that SDC has set for 2030.
We agree with Carbon Co-op that top-down ‘one size fits all’ retrofit schemes have largely failed to deliver, and hence the need for a bottom-up community led approaches.
“Heating and hot water for UK buildings make up 40% of our energy consumption and 20% of our greenhouse gas emissions. It will be necessary to largely eliminate these emissions by around 2050 to meet the targets in the Climate Change Act and to maintain the UK contribution to international action under the Paris Agreement.”
Climate Change Committee, Next Steps for UK Heat Policy, 2016.
Projects
We would recommend that any work carried out on homes is done following an assessment by a suitably qualified practitioner, which must calculate heat loss, air change rates, etc., and make recommendations accordingly. Ideally this would be a ‘whole house’ assessment to ensure any money is spent wisely. In many cases, a householder may decide on a phased plan over several years to achieve their end goals. It is important to understand if grants or other help apply. Severn Wye Energy Agency can assist in many ways, particularly for those on lower incomes needing free advice.
Some of the project ideas suggested so far for Buildings:
Sharing Stories: To build a bank of case studies and videos in the area, demonstrating where good practice has been followed, to help demystify retrofit, domestic solar, heat pumps, etc.. This will benefit local householders daunted by the prospect and needing help. In the future, we hope that home visits can happen again, to help share experiences ‘face to face’. We also need practitioners to share their stories so a knowledge base can be developed locally, with the aim of developing a trusted network.
Raising Profile of Retrofit: Many houses are poorly or insufficiently insulated in the UK and Nailsworth has a lot of old houses. Wasted energy means wasting money and unnecessary carbon emissions. It also raises issues of energy poverty. NailsworthCAN want to raise the profile of retrofit and assist householders wanting to make changes. We want to work with Nailsworth Town Council, Stroud District Council, Severn Wye Energy Agency, and others, in identifying opportunities for retrofit and calling for apprentices and job opportunities to build delivery capacity.
Community Retrofit Scheme: We are interested in complementing private sector providers with Community Retrofit initiatives, helping to train apprentices to undertake retrofit work, under the supervision of qualified Retrofit Coordinators. This could be run as a Community Interest Company (CIC). It could start with identifying opportunities for loft retrofits, where householders are converting lofts to living spaces.
Lobby for Funding: The Chancellor has announced £2 billion for insulation, with vouchers worth up to £10,000 available to some of the poorest families. This is welcome, but can only be a start. There are 11 million ‘hard to heat’ homes in UK, and so we might need £3.5 billion every year for the next 30 years, to meet the Government’s net-zero goals. And this doesn’t cover heat pumps or whatever to replace gas. Our goal will be to lobby for fair finance - such as vouchers and cheap loans - to support lower income familes, and for public buildings like libraries, that support the community.
Promoting Solar PV: To provide support and local links for those wanting to install solar photovoltaic on a roof, or ground mounted.
Promoting Heat Pumps: Provide one form of ‘Renewable Heat’. We want to provide support and local links to those wanting to install an air-source, ground-source, or water-source heat pump. A heat pump is similar to a fridge in being able to move heat from one place to another. A domestic heat pump takes ambient heat from outside the house (derived from the sun’s energy) and concentrates it to deliver space and water heating for homes, even when it is sub-zero outside. One unit of electricity to power a heat pump generates at least three units of heat. Air-source heat pumps, being relatively compact and easy to install, are likely to be a major contributor for decarbonising heating in homes; but we need to counter many myths and misunderstandings surrounding heat pumps. A key issue with these solutions is the funding for upfront costs, and we should lobby to make it accessible to low income homes, especially as we see the retirement of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). Some homes who have either an area of land, or a water source, can consider ground-source or water-source heat pumps, but for the majority of homes, air-source is likely to be the preferred option.
Other Renewable Heat: Provide support for a other viable renewable heat solutions, such as District Heating. This has proven successful in Denmark and there are opportunities to exploit it in the UK.
Lobbying for Green Construction: To scrutinise new building plans to ensure they are consistent with SDC’s own 2030 net-zero goals. We need the support of the town in lobbying political representatives at Town, District, County and Parliamentary levels on new development projects. Buildings should aim to meet good standards for low carbon building, as is being done in the Netherlands (see Resources below), and avoid building on green spaces. This includes commercial developments such as Supermarkets, as much as new housing estates. The importance to recover from the slump cause by Covid-19 should not be a reason for ignore the risks from climate change. All buildings from now on should be consistent with the UK’s Net-Zero 2050 commitments.
Promoting better Water Management: The water from homes and their surroundings during a downpour can make a significant contribution to flooding, and more needs to be done to reduce hard standing as far as possible. Better retention using water butts can also help to reduce stress on water supplies in times of drought too, and also to help comply with soil protection standards. India have used stepwells for nearly 5,000 years to deal with seasonal fluctuations in water, so why can’t the UK become smarter in water management, especially in the face of extremes of flood and drought expected due to global warming?
Working with Local Businesses & Institutions: We will want to work with businesses and public institutions to adopt sustainable building standards, and find opportunities to improve the carbon footprint of their buildings.
Promoting EV Charging: To encourage public and private building to install EV Charging to help support the transition from petrol and diesel cars to Electric Vehicles (EVs).
What are the benefits of these projects?
Carbon Reduction: Keeping homes and other buildings warm by keeping the heat in (retrofit), and by changing the way we heat them (renewable heat), is the single most important thing most householders can do to reduce their carbon footprint..
Local Economy: There are many ways that retrofit and renewable heat could move from being a niche industry to a significant sector, with opportunities for training and apprentices for school leavers, but also cross-training for existing trades.
Fairness: Ensuring low-cost funding for retrofit and renewable heat, to improve access.
Health & Wellbeing: Livable homes in cold winters and heat waves.
Nature Restoration: Better water management by greening the surroundings of buildings will help with nature as well as flooding.
Resilience: Buildings that are livable in winter, can also be made to be livable during the heat waves, which are already more likely, and will be an increasing feature during summer (Met Office) due to global warming.
Resources
Quick Bites
Here we start with a brief introduction to Whole House Retrofit from the Centre for Alternative Technology (1). You can read about myths that surround solar and heat pumps (2), and see a short video from the Climate Citizens Assembly explaining why community-led action on retrofit is important (3), and finally, learn a little of how to do retrofit from the Centre for Alternative Technology (4).
Deeper Dives
Here you can read the opinion piece highlighting the retrofit challenge facing and highlighting some good practice from the Dutch ‘Energy Leap’ programme (1), and for those still unsure about air-source heat pumps (ASHPs) there is a talk and Q&A by Paul Kenny on a trial of 250 homes in Ireland that kept householders warm, even in a -6⁰C hard winter spell - he dispels many myths about ASHPs (2). And lastly, a report from the BEIS Government Department on the estimated costs to complete retrofits (3). The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and the latest annoucement of grants by the Chancellor, can help fund home retrofit.
“Energiesprong, Dutch for 'energy leap', is a standard for whole-house refurbishments and new builds that requires contractors to achieve affordable, year-round comfort for three decades at no extra cost to households …. A compact, fully integrated Factory Zero energy module, which contains an air-source heat pump, hot water tank, solar photovoltaic (PV) inverter and mechanical ventilation, has been connected to the back of each property, and the integrated monitoring kit will keep the energy supplier, landlord and occupant informed about performance with real-time measurements.” (see 1.)
The Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB), in addition to providing a wealth of training, also have a Knowledgebase that includes numbers resources on a wide range of topics.
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