An innovative scheme to cut energy from at least 200,000 homes in the capital by 2012, was kick started by the Mayor of London and London Councils today (Tuesday 10 November, 2009). Boris Johnson launched a series of trials to give up to 10,000 domestic properties a carbon makeover, helping the capital to tackle climate change, save money off bills and create ‘green’ jobs.
From this month, residents in targeted areas within nine boroughs will be offered a free of charge service to include a range of easy to install measures to reduce their energy use. This will include switching to low energy light bulbs and changing to stand-by switches. The aim is to also offer more substantial steps, such as loft and cavity wall insulation, which be subsidised for those able to pay and free for those on qualifying benefits.
The boroughs that will be running the trials are: Croydon, Camden, Lewisham, Harrow, Havering, Haringey, Hillingdon, Kingston, and Southwark.
This programme aims to cover all areas of London, visiting between 200,000 to 500,000 properties by 2012 and 1.2 million domestic properties by 2015 subject to the leverage of additional finances from government and the private sector. Installing the easy measures being offered by 2015 could save 350,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually. By installing further measures, such as loft or wall insulation, reductions of more than 1,200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide could be made by 2015.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson, said: ‘With more than a third of London’s climate change emissions being generated from domestic properties, making our homes more energy efficient is a no brainer. London is crying out for a much more simple, easy to access scheme to help people go green, and these trials will help us create this. The combination of people all taking small steps in their homes, adds up to a massive difference for our efforts to combat climate change. The ambition of these plans to target at least 200,000 homes by 2012 is unprecedented in the capital and will place London at the forefront of a low carbon economy, along with all the benefits for job creation and the environment that this will bring.’
The Mayor and the London Development Agency have committed £9.5million to kick-start the new programme with an aim to reach all areas of London by 2015. Currently a range of organisations offer programmes to reduce home energy use, but the Mayor, together with the London Development Agency, London Councils, the Energy Saving Trust and London's boroughs are working to develop a single scheme that can be rolled out across the capital. This will provide consistency for residents, increase uptake and create green jobs helping the capital meet the Mayor’s target to cut carbon by 60 per cent by 2025. It is hoped that a single programme will significantly boost the potential for the capital to attract millions of funding available from the government through the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) scheme, which came into effect in April 2008, obliging electricity and gas suppliers in the UK to help reduce carbon emissions from homes.
Councillor Sean Brennan, London Councils’ Executive Member for Sustainability, said: ’These trials represent a massive stride towards delivering a low-carbon economy for London. Providing residents with the right advice and tailored support will kick-start our campaign to reduce carbon in the capital – we look forward to reaping the rewards for years to come.’
David Kenington, Head of Energy Saving Trust London, said 'We are very pleased to see the introduction of this programme, in particular the focus on delivering cost effective carbon reduction measures such as loft and cavity wall insulation. London for many years has not received its fair share of CERT funding for insulation measures, due to higher delivery costs in London and practical issues such as parking for installer’s vehicles. However, by using this area based approach, and linking with Energy Saving Trust advice, we see that this will both improve uptake of insulation measures, and provide Londoners with the right advice as to how to move towards a low carbon lifestyle.'
Peter Bishop, London Development Agency Group Director for Design, Development and Environment, said: ‘We need to act to mitigate the impact of climate change. By investing in basic measures in people’s homes, the London Development Agency is looking to help get major reductions in London’s carbon emissions. As this programme grows across the capital, it will make a measurable difference on climate change.’
Households in areas selected to take part in the trials will receive an introductory letter inviting a follow-up visit from a fully qualified and accredited home energy assessor, who will install the energy efficiency measures and provide additional advice to help residents cut energy use. It has been proven that a door to door, personalised approach of this nature considerably increases the level of participation by residents.
Three smaller trials were completed over the summer 2009 in Croydon, Southwark and Hillingdon. These trials reached 817 homes, saving around 500 tonnes of carbon through the introduction of easy measures. It also achieved 286 tonnes of carbon savings from referrals for cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and heating upgrades. London’s homes create a third of London's carbon emissions.
The programme is being developed using the experiences of existing schemes within London and the UK - it will target all housing types including private, rented properties, landlords and social housing.
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A pair of bombings in Pakistan killed at least 13 people and wounded dozens of others Friday, including near an intelligence agency in Peshawar, officials said.
