Have you heard? England is completely changing the built environment character

[ColoGI]

Did you know that England has a plan that will change the character of most of the building envelopes in the country?

That's right: in order to meet man-made climate change emissions targets, their building envelopes must become much more efficient and well-insulated. Going into every house from the inside is impossible so they are doing it from the outside.

Whoa - that will change the character of nearly every city, town, and hamlet. How come we haven't been discussing this monumental change?

That's what many are starting to ask:

Four out of five people have not heard of green deal, poll finds
UK government's flagship energy efficiency programme remains largely unknown just days before its launch

Adam Vaughan guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 January 2013 02.00 EST

Four out of five people have not heard of the UK government's flagship programme to transform the energy efficiency of 14m homes, just days before it launches, according to a YouGov poll.

The "green deal", which starts on Monday, is designed to tackle household energy bills – which have risen sharply in recent months – and carbon emissions from homes, which are responsible for nearly one-third of the UK's emissions. It works by offering loans for works such as the installation of solid wall insulation, new boilers and draught-proofing, with the repayments theoretically being outweighed by energy bill savings. The loan is attached to the property rather than the individual.

But the YouGov poll of 5,071 UK energy customers, commissioned by comparison site uSwitch, found 81% had not heard of the green deal. The survey also raises fears that upfront "assessment fees" of £85-£150 could put people off the scheme, with 51% citing cost as the biggest obstacle to making their home more energy efficient.

Greg Barker, the climate minister, told the Guardian the findings were not surprising. "We're right at the beginning of the green deal journey, and the uSwitch report is right to identify there is relatively low consumer understanding around the green deal. It's as you'd expect, as it's yet to be rolled out. I expect that to change over the coming year."

Barker said people should not "expect a big bang". He said: "It's not going to be an overnight success, it's going to build steadily, strongly over the years." But he denied the level of ambition and rhetoric had been watered down for the scheme – which has previously been described by ministers as "a massive economic and job opportunity", the "most ambitious home improvement programme since the second world war" and offering "unprecedented choice".

"Is this transformational? Yes? Is this the biggest home improvement programme since the second world war? Yes? Is it a sea change in how we tackle energy efficiency? Yes," he said.

...

Is it poor communication, austerity, no one cares, some combination??

[dvdneal]

I think a lot of it might just be apathy. Of course I want my house better insulated and I might even recognize that global warming exists and that it's a bad thing, but I think people just don't connect how some government program affect a few million homes relates to their home. Since people think the opportunity is either for "everyone else" or just not something they'll take advantage of than they don't bother remembering that it's out there. That might lead into what Colo just asked, did they communicate the program properly? And I have to ask, not knowing the program well enough myself, is the program just considered politically bad where people won't embrace it?

[hipp5]

I'm confused... is making the changes from the outside a requirement of the program, or is that they're just expecting most people to do that because it's easier?

In Canada we've had similar federal and provincial programs over the years. They'll give you big rebates on insulation, good windows, etc. In my province they partnered with the electric company so you'll also get rebates for switching from electric heat to another heating source (it helps the utility meet their demand-side management targets).

We too have the requirement for an inspection. I believe they would cost $450, but in my province they're subsidised down to $150 by an arms-length organization (Efficiency NS) who is funded by a small fee on our power bills. People cry bloody murder about paying the fee because they feel like they're subsidizing other people saving money. Whenever I hear that I feel like saying, "well get off your lazy ass and have them subsidize you". Plus, I am of the belief that reducing our energy demand, as a society, is ultimately beneficial to all of us in reduced prices and reduced pollution.

[ColoGI]

I'm confused... is making the changes from the outside a requirement of the program, or is that they're just expecting most people to do that because it's easier?

In Canada we've had similar federal and provincial programs over the years. They'll give you big rebates on insulation, good windows, etc. In my province they partnered with the electric company so you'll also get rebates for switching from electric heat to another heating source (it helps the utility meet their demand-side management targets).

We too have the requirement for an inspection. I believe they would cost $450, but in my province they're subsidised down to $150 by an arms-length organization (Efficiency NS) who is funded by a small fee on our power bills. People cry bloody murder about paying the fee because they feel like they're subsidizing other people saving money. Whenever I hear that I feel like saying, "well get off your lazy ass and have them subsidize you". Plus, I am of the belief that reducing our energy demand, as a society, is ultimately beneficial to all of us in reduced prices and reduced pollution.

Your building stock is for the most part newer than England's. When we were in QC, we remarked at how many walls were 6 inches 15 cm thick too. Nevertheless, AIUI the Green Deal plans to retrofit the majority of the 7m building envelopes. The scheduling and planning details I'm not that familiar with, but I do know the austerity gave the politicans an excuse to slow the program. The stories I read in The Guardian make it sound they don't have good leadership at the top.