Door-to-Door Energy Audits in the United Kingdom

Homeowners in the United Kingdom may soon be visited by energy efficiency squads going door-to-door across the country. The energy efficiency push comes from government’s Committee for Climate Change, which aims to fix the air leaks common in many British homes and help keep utility costs down.

“I think this could be the biggest single way of getting sign-up – going street by street,” said Conservative climate change minister Greg Barker.

Proponents hope the initiative will improve awareness of home energy usage. One main benefit of the approach is that work can be done on multiple homes on the same street. That will help the program cut down on a lot of travel time and other costs. To date over 40,000 homes have had energy assessments, with 240 in the process of finalizing loans. However, only four homes have finalized green deal plans. The initiative will cost £20 Million to implement, with an expectation of 20,000 homes participating by 2014.

We can attest that grouping energy assessments and efficiency upgrades on one street can be a fantastic cost-saver. Cost savings include less travel time, easier equipment logistics, and fewer labor hours per job because homes on a neighborhood street are all typically built the same year and have similar inefficiencies. We wish the UK good luck with their home efficiency initiative!