A £3 million project is now underway to design a supply chain solution to improve the energy efficiency of the vast majority of the 26 million UK homes which will still be in use by 2050.

The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), a public private partnership tasked with developing 'mass- scale' technologies that will help the UK meet its 2050 carbon reduction targets, is beginning a two- year project to identify ways in which the refurbishment and retrofitting of existing residential properties can be accelerated by industrialising the processes of design, supply and implementation, while stimulating demand from householders by exploiting additional opportunities that come with extensive building refurbishment.

The consortium, which has extensive experience of housing, supply chain re-engineering and refurbishment, will be led by BRE (Building Research Establishment), in collaboration with EDF Energy, Peabody, PRP, Total Flow, UCL and Wates.

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The UK Government sees retrofitting existing homes as a key tool to achieving its 80% CO2 emissions reduction goal for 2050, with housing the single biggest contributor to the nation's CO2 emissions.

The project will develop a top to bottom process: from a method of analysing the most cost-effective package of measures suitable for a particular property, through to how these will be installed with the minimum disruption to the householder. This includes identifying the skills required of the people on the ground as well as the optimum material distribution networks to supply them with exactly what is reduced energy bills and increased asset value of the house, while also delivering value to the companies involved in the supply chain.

Dr David Clarke, ETI's CEO said: "Twenty four per cent of today's CO2 emissions in the UK are linked to energy use in domestic properties. Refurbishing these houses with energy efficiency measures is key to ensuring the delivery of affordable and sustainable energy to domestic and business consumers. Persuading consumers to take-up refurbishment and technology retro-fit opportunities requires us to address the challenge of creating supply-chains and delivery routes which consumers trust and which they consider affordable. With the majority of today's 26 million dwellings expected to still be in use by 2050, the outputs from this ambitious project are absolutely critical to understanding how we can help meet the CO2 reduction targets as set out in the Climate Change Act."

(CD)