Grand Designs star Kevin McCloud launches green refurb campaign

Monday, 27 April 2009 5:27 PM

Grand Designs host Kevin McCloud has launched a nationwide campaign to urge people to undertake energy efficient improvements in their homes.

The campaign, launched last Saturday at the Grand Designs Live show in London, is petitioning the UK public to ask the government to do more to help consumers finance green refurbishment in their homes.

The campaign has been backed by the Grand Designs Magazine, the Energy Saving Trust, the UK Green Building Council and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The campaign will provide an audience for the government to take action on existing homes, which Grand Designs say is essential to reach targets of 80 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050.

With at least 80 per cent of the homes which will be standing in 2050 already built, the campaign is specifically targeting existing homes to lift barriers on green refurb.

Mr McCloud said: "No policy initiative will succeed unless there is an increased appetite from households for energy saving and low-carbon refurbishment- which means getting people excited in their droves.

"We have a big challenge to explain why this is important; what people can do now and how they can install technologies that have quick paybacks; how professionals, the government and the energy industry might help; how consumers can get more politically involved and who they can go to for expert advice."

The campaign wants the government to:

Offer householders new ways to pay for green refurbishment, which would significantly reduce upfront costs and instead spread them over a longer period of time.

Provide better financial incentives for householders to refurbish their homes to make them greener and more energy efficient, through substantial government grants, subsidies or tax rebates.

Ensure installers are qualified and approved to undertake the work.

A seminar will be held on Thursday (April 30th), at the Grand Designs Live show, where Ed Miliband, secretary of state for energy and climate change, will be discussing the topic with Kevin McCloud.

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