The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) says the dramatic surge in energy prices reinforces the need for a national programme of building retrofits.
BESA’s Head of Technical, Graeme Fox, said:
“Millions of people are now facing real hardship as a result of the soaring cost of gas and electricity, but we do not have a comprehensive plan for addressing a major contributory factor – the poor energy efficiency of our buildings.
“The price of energy has never had a higher profile, but most of the talk about possible solutions either refers to short-term financial measures and adjustments to the tax regime or very expensive technical fixes like renewables and hydrogen. Yet, we can fix energy efficiency relatively quickly and cost-effectively through renovation and refurbishment.”
BESA states that we need to “fundamentally tackle the energy performance” of buildings to avoid energy price rises remaining a major issue, for the occupants of both domestic and commercial buildings.
Fox said: “The government is trying to help by redistributing taxpayers’ money to delay the full impact, but unless we fundamentally tackle the energy performance of both residential and commercial buildings this will simply become a bigger and bigger problem in the years to come.
“We are also in an artificial position because interest rates have been low for so long. The Bank of England has just nudged them up by another 0.25% and they are likely to rise again soon. This, along with higher inflation, will put further pressure on families and businesses who are currently relying on cheap credit to keep their heads above water.”
BESA also welcomed a new report from the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) Select Committee, which has urged the government to invest more heavily in the decarbonisation of heating.
The committee is calling for a replacement for the Green Homes Grant, accompanied by a national consumer awareness campaign that would also explain the importance of energy-efficiency measures to make low carbon heating technologies, like heat pumps, achieve their full potential.
