The Builders Merchants Federation, which has been campaigning in support of the Construction Leadership Council’s (CLC) National Retrofit Strategy, has expressed its delight that the consultation document has received widespread endorsement.
50 organisations including representatives of the energy and water sectors are backing the CLC National Retrofit Strategy which sets out a twenty-year blueprint to transform the nation’s housing stock to make it greener and more energy efficient.
Britain’s 28 million homes contribute 20% of the country’s carbon emissions so unless these are retrofitted to make them more energy efficient we won’t achieve a zero carbon economy by 2050. The CLC National Retrofit Strategy is structured into four phases and calls on the Government to invest an initial £5.3bn over the next four years to help kickstart the retrofit market. The benefits of this investment would lead an additional 100,000 new jobs; a saving to the NHS of £1.4bn; and a reduction in householders’ energy bills by as much as £436.
Andy Mitchell, Co-Chair of the CLC Task Force, said: “Given our homes contribute 20% of the nation’s carbon emissions it is essential that we start to retrofit them to make them more energy efficient. With widespread industry support the CLC is calling on the Government to adopt the National Retrofit Strategy to make our homes greener. Our strategy has been fully costed and offers a roadmap about how the Government can create a low carbon built environment by 2040.”
John Newcomb, CEO of the Builders Merchants Federation, and one of the 16 members of the CLC Domestic RMI Working Group who compiled the National Retrofit Strategy, added: “It is extremely encouraging that the wider construction industry, water and energy sectors all agree the need for a Government-backed National Retrofit Strategy. We cannot achieve a zero carbon economy by 2050 if we don’t address the energy efficiency of our existing homes, which make up the vast majority of the UK’s housing stock.
“This strategy is a ready-made solution for a Government that is putting such high emphasis on the success of the COP26 Climate Change Conference taking place in Glasgow in November.”
