As part of its drive for a more sustainable built environment, the UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) is keen to boost energy efficiency by increasing the demand for retrofit measures. With this in mind, they’ve released a report that identifies a set of promising options that look to encourage a wider uptake of energy efficiency measures.
According to the recommendations of the UK-GBC report, homeowners would see a change in the amount they pay in Stamp Duty and Council Tax as part of a new billing system that is dependent on the energy efficiency of a property.
It also acknowledged the potential benefits of reducing V.A.T on the installation of all domestic repair and maintenance work, including replacement glazing.
Considered as strong option for incentivising property renovation, the proposed idea would have a direct impact at the point of sale, encouraging homeowners and architects to invest and incorporate better energy efficent measures moving
forward.
Further analysis predicted that a variable Stamp Duty based scheme could deliver up to 270,000 additional retrofits per year, whilst also contributing £807m to the annual national GDP.
The Council Tax based scheme is predicted to deliver almost one-and-a-half million additional retrofits per year, which would contribute approximately £4.4bn annually GDP.
To get things moving, the UK-GBC have called upon the Government to work with the glazing and building industry to consider the options that have been identified in the report, with a view to identify and implement the solutions that are the most practical, urgently.
Pilkington energiKare™
With 25% of heat in homes escaping through windows there is more emphasis now being placed on ways to save energy in all types of domestic, commercial and public buildings.
Pikington
energiKare™ helps reduce the amount of heat lost through windows whilst still allowing heat energy in. Incorporating Pilkington
K Glass™, the UK’s best-selling low-emissivity product, and Pilkington
Optiwhite™, this intelligent glass unit can offer unique energy saving properties.
Replacing existing single-glazed windows with the highly efficient Pikington
energiKare™ thermally insulated windows, could reduce the amount of energy lost by up to 75% and lower heating bills by up to 20% each year.
Significant savings can also be made by upgrading double-glazed windows that were installed before regulations were tightened in 2002.
To learn more about thermal and energy efficient glazing from Pilkington UK Ltd, please
click here.