Thread by @GreenAllianceUK

We have positive news today: reinventing house retrofits could cut UK head demand by 40% 🌍🏠 Our very exciting report on the Dutch ‘#energiesprong’ (energy leap) approach is out today. Read it here or follow this twitter thread for its main findings: bit.ly/2WGnbSt 1/12

The UK has some of the least heat efficient housing stock in Europe. In 2017-18, there were an estimated 50,000 excess winter deaths, a figure not seen in over four decades. Heating our homes, inefficiently or otherwise, is also a major source of carbon emissions. 2/12

With over 60% of loft and cavity walls insulated, cheap solutions to #energyefficiency are running out. Current schemes are 3x more expensive than older versions and will at best reduce building emissions by 53%, well below the 80-100% we will require towards 2050. 3/12

#Energiesprong is a new type of retrofit which involves fitting a highly thermally efficient external façade to an existing building. An electric heat pump provides heating on the coldest days, and a solar roof electricity on the warmest. 4/12

At least 11 million homes in the UK are suitable for this approach.
4 million homes converted to #energiesprong standard could hit the 5th carbon budget emission targets, as opposed to the 15 million retrofit measures under a standard approach. 5/12

And retrofitting all 11 million homes could reduce UK carbon emissions by 37 MtCO2, equivalent to taking 17 million cars off the UK’s streets. 6/12

#Energiesprong homes reduce heating demand by up to 90% and can store heat for up to 2 days, potentially reducing demand for gas at peak times by 40%, as well as shifting electricity demand for heating to earlier in the day. 7/12

Over 1,300 net zero energy refurbishments have been successfully deployed in the Netherlands, with over 14,000 in the pipeline. In the UK it has been piloted in Sneinton, Nottingham, where ten 1960s homes were given Energiesprong retrofits in 2017. See photo 👀. 8/12

Householders’ energy bills were subsequently cut by up to 60% and property values rose by an estimated 25%. Tenants in refurbished homes 🏡 provided some pretty positive feedback to @adamvaughan_uk @guardian: theguardian.com/society/2019/j… 9/12

Our report shows #Energiesprong houses can:
✅Provide warm homes: a typical retrofit reduces a home’s total energy demand by 80%
✅Provide jobs: add £11bn to the energy efficiency market
✅Meet 2050 carbon targets...and even triple carbon reductions to 37MtCO2e

We recommend that £120mn is committed to a pipeline of 5,000 energiesprong homes, using a ‘commit and review’ approach to ensure the construction sector delivers on its £35,000 figure. 11/12

And the cost of £75,000 for a current #energiesprong retrofit can be brought down radically with further deployment to £35,000, similar to cost reductions in the #offshore wind sector.