The government’s flagship Energy Bill, announced yesterday, is likely to see a surge in retro-fitting projects of existing buildings to make them more energy efficient.
Plans included in the bill included a scheme that could see companies paid for bringing down their energy consumption. This move is likely to see many companies place a long-term focus on bringing down their energy usage, which will likely begin with amending the energy saving capabilities of their premises.
These works will invariably create opportunities for tradesmen and women of all disciplines – from plumbing and heating engineers, to roofers and insulation installers.
Paul King, the chief executive of the UK Green Building Council, welcomed the building energy efficiency proposals. He said that the energy efficiency of existing building has long been the ‘Cinderella’ of national eco awareness, often falling in the shadow of the much greater focus on green energy generation.
“It’s great to see government bringing forward innovative proposals to reduce energy demand, but of course, it will be critical that they learn lessons from the Feed-In Tariffs debacle and the Carbon Reduction Commitment to ensure that this is done in the right way and provides the certainty industry needs to invest,” he said. “Just as we need to encourage consumers and providers to make the most of the Green Deal, we need to rally behind the Government’s efforts to reduce businesses’ energy demand too.
He added that research carried out by McKinsey, which was cited by the Department for Energy and Climate Change, showed that it is possible for the nation to cut its energy use by 26 per cent by 2030, and that needs to be kept in mind as a perfectly realistic target.
An Energy Demand Reduction consultation was launched at the same time as the bill, which will seek opinions on the matter until 31 January, 2013.