The Green Finance Institute’s Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of Buildings (CEEB) has released a report to help property owners access decision-useful information to retrofit their homes.
Building Renovation Passports (BRPs): Creating the pathway to zero carbon homes sets out the steps to establish BRPs to play a key role in delivering information to individuals and businesses along the retrofit value chain, accurately mapping the journey to a net-zero property and therefore helping to unlock the level of finance that is needed to fund retrofits at scale.
Already in use in several European countries, Building Renovation Passports (BRPs) contain a digital logbook with information about the property, its operational performance and historic renovations; and a long-term renovation roadmap that identifies future retrofit measures, along with links to contractors and finance options.
Produced in partnership with over 50 members from the retrofit energy, property and finance sectors and fields of data and academia, as well as local authorities and RSLs, the CEEB’s report presents the key recommendations for how to develop a standardised framework to support the introduction of Building Renovation Passports in the UK. It considers the data inputs and outputs required, roles and responsibilities in developing and deploying BRPs, and the cross-sectoral benefits that widespread adoption can unlock.
Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas OBE, Chief Executive, Green Finance Institute, said: “With a funding gap estimated to be as large as £65 billion to decarbonise our homes, we need to ensure there is a way to gather and present accurate, current and granular information about all aspects of a property’s energy use and its roadmap to energy efficiency in one place, giving financial institutions the confidence to offer retrofit funding and the homeowner the knowledge to take it up”
The report’s recommendations form the basis of CEEB member Santander UK’s EnergyFact report, in partnership with CountryWide Surveying Services. EnergyFact is being offered free of charge to existing Santander mortgage customers who are moving property or remortgaging and taking on additional borrowing for home improvements. The report analyses a property’s current energy use and helps customers to understand the steps they could take to reduce this, by altering their behaviour or retrofitting energy efficiency improvements in their home, and save themselves money. The survey also links to tradespeople who could assist with any retrofitting improvements required. Santander is one of the first lenders to offer homeowners a bespoke emissions-lowering roadmap, taking the first major step towards mainstreaming the concept of BRPs.
Brad Fordham, Head of Mortgages, Santander UK, said: “Helping homeowners and landlords to make more informed decisions about improving their own energy efficiency is a key first step towards the Government’s target of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. We’re proud to be supporting this, both through our active role in the Green Finance Institute’s Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of Buildings, and through the launch of our own EnergyFact report today”
The CEEB is inviting feedback from energy, data, retrofit and finance professionals, in order to further develop and publish an industry-backed framework to help introduce Building Renovation Passports in the UK.
