The Green Party has taken the next step towards a major plan to make Sheffield’s homes warmer and tackle climate change.
At the Sheffield Full Council meeting on Wednesday 2nd February, Green Councillors will propose a motion “Net Zero Homes for Sheffield”. The motion follows on from detailed research by the Green Party into best practice on retrofitting homes to stop wasting energy.
Cllr Douglas Johnson said,
“With energy bills rising fast and the growing threat of the climate crisis, we need to take effective action to radically reduce emissions and ensure homes are affordable to heat.”
“Green Party councillors are proposing a scheme that has been trialled in Nottingham, Exeter and a number of London Boroughs. Under this radical approach, whole new insulated wall sections, complete with energy efficient windows, and insulated roof sections, complete with solar panels, are constructed in modern factory units. They are then installed much more quickly. This means far less disruption for tenants to get to warmer homes that look good too. than having insulation, windows and heating fitted separately.”
“The system is called Energiesprong after it was pioneered successfully in the Netherlands.
“As well as being a good technical solution to tackling cold homes, it also makes sense financially for both tenants and the Council as a Landlord. Instead of paying high fuel bills, tenants pay a “comfort charge” with a guarantee they will pay no more than what their bills would have cost without improvements.”
Figures from Energiesprong who have already helped a number of Councils with this type of scheme say that the typical energy bill after installation is around £500/year with a comfort charge of a similar amount. So roughly a guaranteed total cost per household of around £1000/yr.
Councillor Johnson pointed out some of the other economic benefits of the proposal.
“Another key benefit of the scheme is the very real possibility of establishing a modern manufacturing facility in Sheffield to construct the roof and wall modules which will be tailor made for each property. This would provide new skilled, worthwhile jobs in the green economy.”
