Halfway to Net Zero: How Energy Assessors are making a difference
The United Kingdom is predicted to be halfway to Net Zero, with reported greenhouse gas emissions reduced by 53% between 1990 and 2023.
The reduction in emissions from housing stock, the commitment to achieving net zero carbon aligned buildings, and the role of Energy Assessors are all vital to reducing emissions across the UK.
Recent Data on Emissions
Data from earlier this year shows that the UK greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by a total of 53% since 1990 which is a big step forward towards the UK’s commitment to be Net Zero by 2050.
Some of the most significant reductions came from the electricity supply sector, which serves UK homes and buildings, seeing drop in emissions of 19.6% from 2022-2023 alone, with the last coal fired power station in the UK closing down in September 2024.
Similarly, the emissions from UK Homes fell by 7.3% from 2022-2023, showing that consumers are taking the energy efficiency of their homes more seriously and are looking to low carbon improvements.
UK’s First Methodology for Net Zero Carbon Buildings
In September, a pilot version of the UK’s first cross-industry Standard for net zero carbon aligned buildings was launched. The UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard is a free-to-access technical standard, developed through collaboration among built environment organisations and industry leaders.
This standard allows the construction industry to robustly prove that built assets align with the UK’s carbon and energy goals. Previously, there was no single methodology for defining ‘net zero carbon’ for buildings in the UK.
The pilot version includes details on how a building should meet the Standard and the built environment industry is encouraged to use the pilot version to prepare for the process of verifying buildings as net zero carbon aligned.
This new standard is likely have a positive impact on the UK’s climate goals and further reduce emissions across the built environment.
Why are energy assessors important for reaching Net Zero targets?
Energy Assessors play a vital role in helping homeowners, business owners and landlords understand how energy efficient their properties actually are. Without the role of Energy Assessors – assessing properties for their efficiency and generating compliant Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) – it would be difficult to identify the current energy efficiency of the UK building stock, as well as understand how we can improve it.
The data and recommendations generated from EPCs, and the expert advice Energy Assessors can provide, allow homeowners, business owners and landlords to make informed decisions on how to improve the energy efficiency of their properties, with confidence.
Elmhurst Energy’s Existing Dwellings Manger, Damien Roberts, explains why Energy Assessors are so important in reaching UK Net Zero targets:
“Across our industry, we do see stakeholders that can’t always see the value in the EPC and the data Energy Assessors collect and publish. Elmhurst are working hard to change this, but it is evidently clear from the data published earlier this year, that without the role of Energy Assessors we would not have been able to achieve a 7.3% decrease in emissions across the UK housing stock over that 12 month period.
Without Energy Assessors there would be no indication on how the UK housing and building stock is performing or how much we have been able to contribute towards Net Zero targets.
The statistics reported by the government are positive, but there is still more to be done to incentivise homeowners, business owners and landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their properties, including new grant schemes for renewable technologies, with the results of these schemes hopefully providing further emission reductions in the years to follow.”
How can you make a difference?
As a homeowner, business owner or landlord, it’s important to consider the energy efficiency of your property. Understanding and improving this will not only contribute towards Net Zero targets, but also improve the property’s energy efficiency and make it cheaper to run!
Instructing an Energy Assessor to produce an up-to-date EPC for your property is a great place to start. The Energy Assessor will be able to provide you with a detailed report that will show recommendations for improvement, potential costs savings and the order in which these recommendations should be implemented to maximise cost savings.
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Further Resources:
To read the government press release, click the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-half-way-to-net-zero
To read a recent BBC news article on the last coal fired power station to close, click the following link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c886qd2g80xo
To read BRE Group’s article on UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard, click the following link: https://bregroup.com/news/buildings-to-prove-they-are-net-zero-carbon-with-uk-s-first-agreed-methodology-uk-net-zero-carbon-buildings-standard