To reach net zero, Scotland must retrofit faster - for healthier homes and lower bills and carbon emissions
It is vital that Scotland’s homes are decarbonised at pace if the country’s target of reaching net zero emissions by 2045 - five years ahead of the rest of the UK - is to be met.
This topic is the focus of a new episode of The Scotsman Sustainable Scotland podcast, in association with social enterprise Changeworks.
The podcast features: Josiah Lockhart, chief executive of Changeworks; Sam Cribb, retrofit strategic development manager at Changeworks; and Rebecca Lovell, senior business model consultant at Energy Systems Catapult, a not-for-profit organisation that works to accelerate the journey to net zero.
Changeworks is committed to driving innovation to make homes more sustainable, building on its 35 years of experience and local retrofit expertise. It is now looking to scale up its impact working with UK-wide partners, such as Energy Systems Catapult, to develop and pilot new business and financial models that make low-carbon living more affordable and accessible to householders.
As part of Changeworks’ recently launched 2025 to 2030 strategic plan, it has an ambitious aim of decarbonising 180,000 homes over the next five years.
A recent poll from Changeworks found that that while 71 per cent of people in Scotland support sustainable energy, 65 per cent are concerned the UK as a whole is not investing quickly enough in sustainable energy, and 83 per cent are very concerned about the steep rise in energy prices continuing
The Sustainable Scotland podcast guests talked about the barriers and solutions to decarbonising Scotland, using examples such as EcoCosi from Changeworks, Scotland’s first end-to-end home retrofit service.
Josiah said: “In Scotland we have some of the least-well performing homes as far as energy is concerned. We're literally sending energy out through our windows, doors and walls.”
Sam added: “Unfortunately, our homes are one of the biggest sources of carbon emissions. About 13 per cent of Scotland’s carbon emissions come from domestic properties. Every home that's better insulated, every heat pump or solar panel that's installed, can provide tangible climate action.”
Rebecca explained that she likes to use the term “living more sustainably” to include the wider benefits that come with decarbonising. “By reducing our energy demand, we can also reduce our energy bills. We can make our homes cheaper to run and warmer. This brings significant health and wellbeing benefits, as well as reducing our environmental impact,” she said.
And progress on decarbonisation has to happen more quickly. “Pace is a big one,” commented Josiah. “In the past year alone we’ve supported around 13,000 homes to decarbonise. This sounds like a really big number, but really it should be 120,000 homes a year if we’re to reach Changeworks’ 2030 target.”
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