Retrofit and energy efficiency

If we are to tackle climate change, we need to make our homes greener.
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Our campaign

The UK Government has made a legal commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. In order to achieve this, we need to decarbonise our homes and buildings. There are currently 8 million lofts that need insulating, 5 million uninsulated cavity walls, and 20 million uninsulated floors that need upgrading if we are to reach these targets. This represents a significant area of work for local builders, installing insulation, double glazing and new heating technologies. Public investment is needed to boost this market.

We want to see:

  • A national retrofit strategy that sets out how to upgrade the country’s housing stock to the highest levels of energy efficiency.
  • Investment in upskilling builders to ensure they have the skills to build low carbon homes and retrofit existing homes to a high standard.
  • The bringing forward of the full £9.2 billion pledged in the Conservative Party manifesto to help build the market for energy efficiency improvements.

Got a question?

Speak to our policy team on 020 7025 2934 or send us an email.

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Promoting the message for a Greener Britain

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) linked up with ITN Productions Industry News to produce the ‘Building a Greener Britain’ programme which showcases CLC’s contribution to deliver a zero-carbon built environment at COP26. This partnership programme explores the cutting-edge sustainable methods the sector is adopting. This is presented through the lens of the CLC’s industry-change Construct Zero initiative, which is the campaign to reduce the carbon footprint of the construction industry, in response to the climate emergency.

Building a greener Britain

From the local builder in our communities, to major global companies, everyone in construction has a part to play in tackling climate change. Watch the video and find out more about the CLC’s industry-change Construct Zero initiative.

Our resources

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CITB report: Net Zero and construction - Perspective and pathways

This paper from CITB examines the skills and training needed to deliver the retrofit work under the Construction Leadership Council’s (CLC) National Retrofit Strategy and summarises recent research and evidence.

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Building on our strengths: A market transformation approach to energy retrofit in UK homes

Our joint report with the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (CREDS) investigates what is needed to integrate domestic energy efficiency retrofit into the everyday practices and activities of builders in the repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) market.

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Can more energy efficient homes help the UK achieve net zero?

We are calling for a national retrofit strategy that sets out how to upgrade the country’s housing stock.

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How England's house builders can help to preserve our biodiversity

The forthcoming Environment Bill will require all new house building sites to demonstrate biodiversity net gains.

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Greening Our Existing Homes

This national retrofit strategy sets out the case for a long-term plan to make our existing homes greener and more efficient.

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Building a Greener Britain

Our 2008 report established our commitment to the energy efficiency of homes and the role of SME tradespeople in delivering low-carbon refurbishments in the UK’s existing housing stock.

How we are representing your views

The green agenda is growing in importance right across the UK. As the construction industry contemplates how it will build back better after the coronavirus, it is also thinking seriously about how the future will also be greener.

England

  • As part of our work with the Construction Leadership Council we are leading the recovery from coronavirus in the domestic repair, maintenance and improvement sector. We have developed a National Retrofit Strategy, which now has the support of more than 50 organisations.
  • We wrote a joint letter to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy calling on him to adopt the National Retrofit Strategy, and received a response saying that the strategy had been read.
  • We called for the recovery to be green, and we welcomed the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the Green Homes Grant scheme for England. We provided support for members to secure accredited installer status, although it has now been cancelled.
  • We have written to, and received a response from, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regarding the negative impact of the decision to cancel the Green Homes Grant scheme on SME building firms.
  • We have provided written and oral evidence to Select Committee enquiries on the need for retrofit and spoken at the Conservative Party Conference on the issue.

Northern Ireland

  • Alongside the RICS, FMB Northern Ireland has been working on raising awareness of energy efficiency and home retrofit issues, as well as consulting on an evidence paper from Department of Economy. 
  • Plans for a green build conference are being rescheduled due to the impact of the coronavirus. Sadly due to historic issues around green schemes, the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) as an example, Northern Ireland sits behind all other UK regions in addressing this.

Scotland

  • We played a leading role in the first ever Green Home Festival at the Edinburgh Fringe. At the launch event on Monday 8 August our FMB Scotland Director introduced Patrick Harvie MSP, who opened the festival. Read more about the event in our article FMB Scotland President questions Minister at the launch of the Green Home Festival. 
  • The Climate Change Bill commits Scotland to a target of net-zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2045. In Scotland, the FMB sits on the quality and skills working group of the Energy Efficiency Scotland programme. We have also submitted views to the Scottish Government that a key area for the construction recovery plan for Scotland must include supporting retrofitting and improvements to the quality and energy efficiency of our homes.
  • FMB Scotland and some of our members recently took part in Low Carbon Homes retrofit conference for Glasgow.

Wales

  • FMB Cymru is heavily involved in the development and implementation of a housing retrofit strategy for Wales.
  • We sat on the group that put together the ‘Better Homes, Better Wales, Better World’ report, which put forward a set of recommendations to Welsh Government on the measures required which was published in July 2019. We currently sit on a group tasked with implementing the recommendations.

Key achievements

Latest updates on retrofit

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10 October 2024

100 days of Labour - have the ambitions met with reality? asks FMB

The new Labour Government has set out a range of ambitious plans during its first 100 days in office to drive economic growth through investment in new housing, upgrade existing homes, and to develop a skilled workforce but delivery will be key over the coming months and years if the Government’s plans are to succeed, warns the Federation of Master Builders (FMB)

See more retrofit news

Get involved

Do you want to know more about this campaign or are you an FMB member and would like to get involved? Then please email our policy team.

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