‘The built environment contributes around 40% of the UK’s total carbon footprint… Newly constructed buildings are more energy efficient, but 80% of buildings in 2050 will have already been built, so a major priority is decarbonising our existing stock.’
It’s imperative that energy efficiency measures, renewable energy generation and heating is ‘retrofitted’ into our existing building stock. This will require significant public and private investment but can have a huge impact on the county’s emissions, make our homes warmer, healthier, and cheaper to run, and ultimately improve our energy security.
Retrofitting our buildings will also be a key driving force to a new green economy in the county, with many new skilled jobs needed, including heat engineers, solar installers, insulation installers, retrofit assessors and coordinators. Work is needed to not only continue to retrofit social housing and the public estate, but also support residents to access retrofit information, suppliers and financing that works for them.