Web seminar by Carbon Co-op on lowering household carbon footprints
In an effort to address the urgent need for energy-efficient homes, a not-for-profit organisation is organising a webinar to discuss the importance of community-driven retrofitting solutions. The webinar, scheduled for Wednesday, 30 October, between 1-2:30pm, is being led by Jennifer Brennan, Co-founder and Director of the research agency Harlow Consulting.
The webinar aligns with government targets to upgrade as many homes as possible to EPC Band C by 2035. With the government aiming to ensure that all fuel-poor homes are at EPC Band C by 2030, and the UK Green Building Council estimating that at least 15 million homes need to be retrofitted before the end of this decade, the need for effective retrofitting strategies is paramount.
One such strategy is the Levenshulme Area-Based Retrofit scheme, a project being trialled in Manchester. This scheme, led by the Carbon Co-op, has been hailed as an effective community-driven and inclusive approach to home retrofitting. It addresses barriers to home retrofitting by building local capacity and raising awareness through resident and energy champion training.
The Carbon Co-op collaborates within broader projects such as the EBENTO Project UK pilot, which focuses on retrofitting homes in Levenshulme by actively involving residents and training local energy champions to facilitate retrofit uptake and improve monitoring and retrofit project analysis. This community-led approach enhances awareness, knowledge, and trust, which are common barriers in retrofit programmes across the UK.
The webinar will feature speakers including Jennifer Brennan, Architects Hannah Dixon and Julie Maxwell from Progress in Practice, Aneaka Kelly, Citizen and Community Engagement Lead at Carbon Co-op, and Jonathan Atkinson, Co-founder of Carbon Co-op. Tickets for the webinar can be found on the provided link.
While details about the direct impact metrics such as energy savings, retrofit uptake rates, or cost-effectiveness of the Levenshulme scheme were not provided, the collaborative, inclusive methodology noted is consistent with best practice approaches recommended in UK retrofit policy literature for overcoming social and behavioral barriers.
In short, the Carbon Co-op’s Levenshulme Area-Based Retrofit scheme is effective in addressing social and informational barriers by delivering retrofit programmes through community engagement, training, and capacity building, thereby improving retrofit adoption in the UK context. However, precise quantitative evidence on long-term outcomes or comparer performance to other retrofit schemes is not available from the current search results.
With tighter restrictions on 'buy now, pay later' schemes and one in four councils potentially going bankrupt, community-led retrofitting initiatives like the Levenshulme Area-Based Retrofit scheme offer a promising and sustainable solution for upgrading UK homes.
- The Levenshulme Area-Based Retrofit scheme, a community-driven project, is renowned for its inclusivity and effective approach to home retrofitting, addressing barriers by building local capacity and raising awareness.
- In the context of climate-change and the need for energy-efficient homes, community-driven initiatives like the Levenshulme Area-Based Retrofit scheme, which prioritize environmental-science and technology, can offer sustainable solutions for upgrading UK homes.
- The webinar, led by Jennifer Brennan, will discuss the success of the Levenshulme Area-Based Retrofit scheme as a neighbourhood-level solution to the urgent need for energy-efficient homes, aligning with government targets and UK policy recommendations.
