I’m feeling quite positive about the coalition and what it could mean for greener homes in the UK.  During the fraught talks on those crucial days post-election as the new coalition was formed, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had plenty of big issues that they disagreed on, not least of all nuclear power.  Despite this, there does seem to be an element of consensus on environmental issues between the parties and they have agreed on policies around a smart grid, renewable energy, electric cars, dropping the third runway at Heathrow and a Green Investment Bank. 
Of most importance to me is the commitment from the new coalition that they will introduce home energy improvements paid for by the savings from lower energy bills. As is apparent from Campaign Director, Simon McWhirter’s pre-election analysis, a Pay As You Save (PAYS) style mechanism for funding low carbon home refurbishment featured in all three political party manifestos ahead of the election (read more about how PAYS would work here) and it is great news that it has made it through into the coalition’s latest statement.  In fact the Tories have been switched on to the massive opportunity to cut carbon emissions and people’s energy bills through PAYS since they first announced their so-called ‘Green Deal’ at a UK-GBC event last April.  
As UK-GBC’s previous report on PAYS highlighted, funding low carbon home refurbishment through PAYS doesn’t require loads of public sector investment to get it off the ground which makes it an easy win for the new government as they struggle to reduce the massive national deficit and cut spending. 
The first announcement on climate change to come from the new coalition was a commitment to cut emissions from government departments by 10% in the next year (a great boost to the 10:10 campaign) so clearly the new administration is switched onto the benefits of energy efficiency.  
We need to see much more detail on the new government’s climate change policies and ideally the coalition must deliver a coherent strategy for tackling emissions from all types of existing buildings, including homes, government buildings  and commercial properties.  With the ministers at the Department of Energy and Climate Change settling into their new positions, let’s hope that the new Secretary of State, Chris Huhne (Lib Dem and former Shadow Environment Secretary), has the opportunity to realise the Lib Dem manifesto vision for a ‘zero carbon Britain’. 

Ellie Austin
Campaigns Officer
UK Green Building Council

This week the Chancellor published the Budget for 2010 which received some pretty mixed reactions. In terms of the green measures, there were a range of announcements including support for the renewables industry, both small and large, some extra cash to help low carbon businesses and green manufacturers, plus some boosts to promote energy efficiency.

For me, the most interesting announcements were around a so-called ‘Green Investment Bank’.  Here at UK-GBC we were very encouraged to hear Government restate their commitment to creating a £2billion Green Investment Bank with a mandate to invest in low-carbon infrastructure.  Essentially Government is proposing that they will invest £1billion themselves which will be matched by the private sector; together the cash will be used to invest in major low-carbon infrastructure projects, particularly in the transport and large renewable energy sectors and should – crucially – be used to leverage further private sector money on a much larger scale. Leveraging capital for hugely complex low-carbon infrastructure is crucial for the renewable future of the UK but we believe the GIB has the potential to bring about a low carbon revolution for homeowners as well. 

We know we need to do something radical to reduce the contribution of our nation’s homes to the UK’s overall carbon emissions: 27% of UK emissions come from the homes that have already been built.  But what practical steps can be taken to reduce emissions? And how can we make this simple so that every home in the UK is at least properly insulated?

Last week the team here at the UK Green Building Council published a new report about the so-called ‘Pay As You Save’ scheme: a financial mechanism to encourage homeowners to refurbish their homes with low carbon measures.   Essentially the idea is that the cost of installing low carbon refurbishment measures in a home is spread out over a long period of time so that savings on a homeowner’s energy bills cover the costs of the work the done – and should leave the householder better off from day one.