A series by BEG volunteer Matt Wood. Matt works as an energy consultant for housing retrofit initiative Energiesprong and is also a member of the Bristol Advisory Committee on Climate Change.

1: Introduction

In the current crisis it’s easy to forget that we’re already in the middle of another one – the climate emergency. Although not as immediately life-threatening, we can’t afford to be complacent; addressing it is crucial to our long-term survival.

COVID-19 is creating some incidental environmental benefits by reducing air travel and air pollution, but sudden, enforced change is unlikely to create long-term shifts in behaviour. Lockdown has shown us, however, what a world with cleaner air and increased nature looks like – a world that 91% of people are keen to keep. Once we’re all allowed out again, let’s not miss the opportunity to change our carbon trajectory and carry on enjoying the best of lockdown.

In the meantime, while we’re all stuck at home, let’s talk about what role our homes can play in creating that future.

To meet our national and local net-zero carbon targets (2030 for Bristol, 2050 for the UK), it’s vital that we massively improve the energy efficiency of our homes because energy use in homes accounts for about 15% of our carbon footprint. While wind farms in the North Sea reduce carbon in our electricity, the majority of the energy used in our homes is burning fossil fuel gas for heating. And we can’t just replace gas central heating with electric heaters or pump “green gas” (methane from farm waste and sewage) into the gas network, because the electricity grid won’t handle the additional load and there’s not enough potential green gas to meet current heating demand.

So the first port of call must be improving the energy efficiency of our homes, but I’m not just talking about a bit of extra loft insulation and draught-proofing brushes on the doors. As necessary as those are, we need even more; around a 75% reduction in energy used for heating. On top of that, the majority of us will have to get rid of our gas boilers and install solar panels.

It’s not much of an oversimplification to say that everyone will need to do all of the following, where technically possible, within the next 10-20 years:

• Install more insulation, e.g. under the floorboards, or on the outside or inside of your external walls. This may be quite disruptive.
• Replace your gas boiler with a heat pump (more on what this is later), possibly including taking your floors up to change the radiators
• Put solar panels on your roof

I know your immediate reaction is likely to be that this sounds expensive. Of course, government subsidies will play a part, but I think we also need to reconsider how we think about “cost”. In reality we spend lots of money on our homes anyway, and not everything has to be done at once.

Over a series of posts, I’m going to show you how it’s possible to make your home zero carbon, how to get started and how you pay for it, using my own house as an example.

Here are my top tips to get you started:

1. Start planning now. For most people, it will take several years to do everything. It’s also a great opportunity to do other things to your house, like replacing the kitchen or having new carpets. You may be planning these already, so you can minimise the disruption by doing energy efficiency works at the same time.
2. Work out how you’ll pay for it. I don’t think it’s as expensive as people think (more on this later in the series) but it will involve spending a serious amount of money upfront. You’re likely to have to extend your mortgage or get a bank loan to do a major retrofit. Think about when the best time to do that is, and how it fits with your career and family plans.
3. Keep your end goal in mind at all times. Even if you decide to move house, you’re still going to need to do something to the new house. Most houses need more or less the same kind of work doing to them, so keep in mind what you need to do: solar panels, heat pump, insulation. If you can’t afford it right now, do what you can and take advantage of the opportunity when it comes along.

I hope you find this series interesting and I look forward to showing you around my zero carbon house at Bristol Green Doors (September 12/13 2020, COVID-19 depending).

p.s. some of the things in this series can only be done if you own your house. I know that not everyone can afford to buy a house, and we’ll have other posts on what you can do if you don’t own your home.

Next time: green energy and doing the basics