Improving
home energy efficiency to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is a communal responsibility shared by homeowners, builders and electricity suppliers, according to one environmental expert.
Gordon Miller is sustainability and communications director for Sustain, a social enterprise which works to raise environmental awareness and which comprises professionals in leisure tourism and residential industries.
He argues that "it's only right and proper" to ask
gas and electricity suppliers to help achieve the aims set out under the carbon emissions reduction target (CERT) scheme.
CERT puts in place certain requirements for suppliers to take action to help improve home energy efficiency in a way that cuts carbon emissions, he notes.
But he adds that utility firms are not the only ones who should contribute towards achieving this - with homeowners and construction industry professionals sharing the responsibility.
"Everyone ... has to take responsibility for improving energy efficiency in homes, reducing CO2 emissions and, in so doing, contribute to the UK's legally binding commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 80 per cent by 2050," he says.
The ambitions outlined under the CERT were revised last month, extending the programme beyond its original end date of March 2011.
Now it is due to last until the end of 2012, with higher targets in place for the energy efficiency improvements that must be made.
In order to achieve these, the Department of Energy and Climate Change is looking at home
insulation as a means of reducing heat loss and improving power profiles nationwide.
Some 3.5 million households are expected to receive insulation as a result, with plans to offset the cost of such improvements through the savings made on energy bills.
As a result, the government claims that no upfront costs should be faced by households who choose to participate in the scheme with the assistance of their energy suppliers.
