Retrofit industry task group devises action plan to meet energy efficiency targets

Industry group's action plan highlights barriers to growth of retrofit industry and attainment of UK government's energy efficiency targets.

A new report from an industry group identifies the barriers the UK retrofit industry faces and has created an action plan to remove these barriers to increase growth and achieve the energy efficiency targets set by the Government.

The Energy Efficiency Partnership for Buildings (EEPB), an organisation which works with the industry, Government and the community on all aspects of energy efficiency in buildings, worked with independent charity The National Energy Foundation (NEF) and retrofit businesses, including Saint-Gobain, the world leader in the habitat and construction markets, to review the barriers and potential solutions to Whole House Energy Efficiency Retrofit.

Whilst it is well known that whole house energy efficient retrofit of homes has been shown to improve the energy performance by an average factor of four or within a range of between 65-95% compared with pre-renovation levels, difficult barriers to large-scale take-up and deployment remain.

The EEPB Whole House Energy Efficiency Retrofit Steering Group's report, 'Breaking Barriers: An industry review of the barriers to Whole House Energy Efficiency Retrofit and the creation of an industry action plan', identified 415 financial and non-financial barriers that need to be addressed. These were grouped into eight main categories including economic, performance and political.

Luke Smith, Senior Energy Specialist from NEF, said: "The purpose of this project was to determine barriers to whole house energy efficiency retrofit, understand what the industry and Government needs to do to overcome these challenges, and form a vision for the future. We've worked hard over the past 12 months to develop our two-year action plan, which specifies the working groups needed to implement the programme."

Jade Lewis, Advocacy Leader for Saint-Gobain, added: "At a time of limited growth in the renovation sector, our proposed strategy looks to improve this, which will also help both the industry and Government reach their energy efficiency targets. We are pleased to have been involved in this project and hope that our ideas are considered to help boost the industry and assist the Government in meeting its carbon reduction targets."

The project mainly focused on homes, covering all sectors including social housing, private rented and owner occupied buildings. The study not only looked at current policy instruments, but also potential new ones, always with a long-term view in mind. The group now plans to adopt and implement the two-year action plan. Proposed actions include quantifying the true value of deep retrofit to homes, formally defining and developing the concept of whole home energy improvement plans and working with others in the industry to improve understanding of how best to communicate whole house retrofit to the public.

The report's findings, which come in two parts, can be accessed via links below:

Breaking Barriers: Summary Report

Breaking Barriers: Literature Review

About EEPB

The Energy Efficiency Partnership for Buildings (EEPB) is an impartial membership organisation that facilitates closer working between business, government and community organisations on all aspects of energy efficiency in buildings.

Formerly the well-regarded Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes, this new and reinvigorated Partnership has a broader scope covering domestic and non-domestic buildings. The EEPB hosts a 'hub' for existing buildings, and a neutral platform for dialogue with government about the practical, sensible implementation of energy efficiency policy in the UK.

The EEPB is a not-for-profit organisation and a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Energy Foundation, linking it with one of the longest established bodies of energy efficiency expertise in the UK. Membership of the EEPB is now open to all organisations with a professional interest in energy efficiency of the UK built environment.

For more information on Energy Efficiency Partnerships for Buildings, please visit eepb.org.uk

About The NEF

The National Energy Foundation is an independent charity that has been at the forefront of improving the use of energy in buildings since 1988. It aims to give people, organisations and government the knowledge, support and inspiration they need to understand and improve the use of energy in buildings.

It does this through:

• Providing practical experience and technical expertise, gained from a broad range of real-life challenges.
• Developing insights into closing the gap between expected and actual energy performance.
• Connecting stakeholders and creating forums to drive forward the frontiers of good practice.
• Conceiving, establishing and mainstreaming capacity-building initiatives.
• Helping people and organisations to succeed through the provision of impartial, comprehensive advice.

For more information on The National Energy Foundation, please visit nef.org.uk

About Saint-Gobain

Saint-Gobain creates and delivers innovative and high-performance solutions to enhance our habitat and our daily life.

Saint-Gobain's global strategy is focused around meeting some of the fundamental challenges faced by the world today: reducing energy consumption, limiting our impact on the environment, and creating a new generation of buildings which are safe, comfortable and energy efficient.

In the UK and Ireland, some of the best known and respected companies in the construction sector are part of the Group, including British Gypsum, Isover, Glassolutions, Saint-Gobain Weber, Saint-Gobain Glass, Saint-Gobain PAM, Pasquill, Celotex and Ecophon. Together they offer a range of high performance energy-saving products and solutions to help create a more sustainable built environment.

For more information on Saint-Gobain visit www.saint-gobain.co.uk.