Kevin McCloud launches Grand Designs Great British Refurb campaign
Existing Homes Alliance members have teamed up with Grand Designs TV presenter Kevin McCloud in a nationwide campaign to urge the Government to help people to undertake energy-efficient green refurbishments in their homes.
Kevin McCloud launched the Grand Designs Great British Refurb campaign at Grand Designs Live in London on Saturday 25 April, with backing from the Energy Saving Trust, the UK Green Building Council and WWF.
The campaign urges the UK public to take positive action by signing a petition that will ask the Government to do more to help consumers finance the green refurbishment of their own homes. Twenty seven per cent of carbon emissions come from energy used in the home.
The campaign wants the Government to:
- Offer householders new ways to pay for green refurbishment, which would significantly reduce upfront costs and instead spread them over a longer period of time.
- Provide better financial incentives for householders to refurbish their homes to make them greener and more energy efficient, through substantial government grants, subsidies or tax rebates.
- Ensure installers are qualified and approved to undertake the work.
The Government has conducted a public consultation to seek views on its longer-term ambitions for how we can transform the way we use heat and energy in our homes to achieve an 80 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050. But with at least 80 per cent of homes that will be standing in 2050 already built, our existing homes will need to be radically transformed in order to meet this target.
The ultimate goal of the campaign is to provide a receptive audience for the Government to take action on existing homes.
Kevin McCloud said: "No policy initiative will succeed unless there is an increased appetite from households for energy saving and low-carbon refurbishment – which means getting people excited in their droves. "We have a big challenge to explain why this is all so important; what people can do now and how they can install technologies that have quick pay-backs; how professionals, the Government and the energy industry might help; how consumers can get more politically involved and who they can go to for expert advice."
Kevin McCloud is also hosting a special seminar at Grand Designs Live in London with Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, at 11am on Thursday 30 April in the Grand Seminar Theatre.
The seminar will discuss what we should be doing to make our homes more energy efficient, the barriers people face to green refurbishment, and what Government should be doing to give more help to the consumer.
The public is being asked to sign up to the campaign at Grand Designs Live from 25 April to 4 May, or online at www.greatbritishrefurb.co.uk. Kevin McCloud will deliver all the messages as part of a petition to 10 Downing Street later in the year.
