Top Takeaways
>> New report by leaders in UK housebuilding and energy market call for rapid adoption of cleantech homes for all new-builds
>> Calling for complete phase out of gas as quickly as possible
>> Cleantech homes can reduce bills by 40-100% a year
A new report from the Sustainable Markets Initiative has outlined a bold vision for the future of homes in the UK.
Known as ‘cleantech’ homes, the report emphasises creating fully electrified, energy efficient, reduced carbon new-builds, which also bring added health benefits for its occupants.
The Cleantech homes report is asking for a quick response work when it comes to the phasing out gas and the adoption of more affordable, sustainably built greener homes.
What are Cleantech Homes?
A cleantech home is a new name and concept for an existing idea – to create a new stock of more sustainable homes. And for cleantech homes it starts with the heating system, which is fully electric. These homes don’t have a gas connection and don’t rely on fossil fuels for heating.
A cleantech home can and should go much further than electric heating. There’s a range of other green technologies designed to minimise energy consumption, reduce carbon emissions and create healthier living environments.
The report states that a cleantech home will be ‘net zero ready’. As they are fully electric, they will be zero emissions at the point of use once the grid is supplied with 100% green electricity.
Key features of cleantech homes:
- Heat pumps for heating
- Solar panels for on-site electricity generation
- Battery storage systems to maximise the use of renewable solar energy
- Energy efficient practices
- Smart home technologies for optimised energy management
- Airtight home with enhanced fabrics used for the building itself
The main Goals of the Cleantech Home Report
At its heart, the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) report is a call to action for the UK government. The initiative is asking for three key steps to accelerate the adoption of cleantech homes:
- Set an end date for phasing out gas boilers in new builds as quickly as possible
- Remove green taxes from electricity bills to make electric heating more cost-competitive
- Support retraining programs for low-carbon technology installation and maintenance
What are the benefits of living in a Cleantech home?
The report presents a strong economic case for Cleantech homes making sense financially. According to the SMI, these homes have the potential to:
- Slash energy bills by 40% to 100%, offering substantial savings for homeowners
- Increase property values by up to 16%, making them an attractive investment
- Provide total cost of ownership savings of up to £18,500 over 25 years
For the homeowner, these represent small savings over the short-term that will add up over time. As a new-build property will already come equipped with the technology to achieve these savings, they’ll be putting money back into your pocket straight away.
But it’s not just the money-side where homeowners could benefit. The report presents health benefits that can be achieved too.
For example, internal nitrous oxide emissions are reduced in Cleantech homes thanks to no gas cookers or heating. This reduces asthma and other respiratory illnesses.
It’d be great if this could be coupled with some of the measures in the Zed House Project, another experiment at the University of Salford. This home includes additional features that could benefit health such as plaster that can absorb pollutants and anti-mould paint that can neutralise internal pollution.
Will this cost a lot of money?
But what about for the housebuilder? Won’t cleantech homes cost a lot of money to create?
Yes, there’s no doubt that all of this technology comes with a price, but it’s estimated the extra costs come to less than 2% of the new home’s sale price.
It’s also expected that both heat pumps and solar panel prices will drop by 30-40% over the next decade. With economies of scale in their favour, housebuilders can make this work.
As you’d expect, the economic viability is something that the national housebuilders are looking into seriously. For example, both Barratt Homes and Bellway have built a model home in partnership with the University of Salford at Energy House 2.0 exploring ways to create the most economically viable, mass market green homes.
Other challenges to consider
One of the major concerns is the number of engineers currently available to install key components, such as heat pumps.
There’s a big push for training going on, with companies such as Octopus Energy and Aira upskilling workers in the electric heating space. The report states that over 11,000 heat pump engineers have been trained in the last two years.
The companies involved in the SMI have made commitments to help this acceleration. For example, The Hill Group, a housebuilder in London, has pledged to stop installing gas boilers this year. Rightmove have also said they’ll promote heat pumps in property listings and UK Power Networks are working to simplify grid connections for cleantech homes.
In terms of customer adoption, the majority of people are coming round to green technology in homes with record numbers of solar panels and heat pumps being installed.
Although there are challenges, the transition to cleantech homes could create thousands of new jobs in installation, maintenance, and related fields. It also opens up possibilities for innovation in home design and energy management technologies.
Who’s Behind the Sustainable Markets Initiative?
The Sustainable Markets Initiative was launched in 2020 with the aim of bringing together leaders from various industries to accelerate the transition to a sustainable future.
For this Cleantech homes report, the SMI brought together some of the UK’s most influential businesses in the property and energy sectors. Key contributors include Octopus Energy, Baringa, Rightmove, Lloyds, Bellway, The Hill Group, Savills, Future Homes Hub, Peabody, Pobl, Platform, Rics and UK Power Networks.
This diverse group of experts has combined their knowledge and resources to provide a comprehensive pathway for the future of sustainable housing in the UK.
So, what’s the verdict?
As someone invested in sustainable living, I find the SMI report both exciting and challenging.
The potential benefits of cleantech homes are clear – lower energy bills and a significant reduction in carbon emissions being the two biggest. One, if not both, of these benefits will interest the vast majority of homeowners.
I think the rolling out of green homes for new-builds is an easy win. Whether they’re Cleantech homes, net zero ready or something else, policy can be brought in quickly that mandates housebuilders to adopt certain cleaner practices, all of whom should be expecting changes after the last government’s attempts with the Future Homes Standards.
However, the scale of the transition required is daunting. Are there enough good heat pump engineers for example? Can housebuilders build these homes without adding another £100k onto the asking price for already massively squeezed buyers?
On a wider front, there’s also the challenge of rolling out greener practices for existing homes. Retrofitting is commonplace now but it’s not particularly easy, it’s costly for homeowners and for some there’s a lot of red tape you have to go through. Unless you’re very keen on creating a more sustainable, energy efficient home, it’s enough to put most people off unless new measures are brought in to support this.
Read the full Cleantech Homes report here.
Read more about green homes
