Target 2050: countdown to a low carbon home

“Of the homes we will inhabit in 2050, around 80 per cent are already standing today and these have to be the main focus for carbon-reduction policies.”

Brenda Boardman, "Home Truths", 2007

October 2011 - The Target 2050 homes report is now available, click on the image to view.

It details the method and results of our work over a 4 year period with 248 homes to encourage the take up of energy retrofit measures and the 41 practical case studies show the results on a range of property types

Home surveys are still available in Gloucestershire details here. There is a 50% discount for Stroud District Council area residents

The Target 2050 homes project is one strand of the overall Target 2050 programme developed by Stroud District Council and Severn Wye Energy Agency in 2006. The name Target 2050 is a reference to the UK’s target for reducing emissions by the year 2050 which reflects the long term view taken by the programme.

A critical factor in the perceived need for the Target 2050 homes project was the lack of market penetration of insulation measures for “hard to treat” homes, and renewable energy systems. Local and national programmes support, in the main, installation of the most cost-effective energy efficiency measures, where the combination of low capital costs and high energy savings provide a quick “payback period”. However, the measures categorised as cost-effective in these terms are insufficient to reach the target for 2050, currently an 80% cut in emissions against a 1990 baseline. Further, these measures are not applicable to all homes, including period homes and those with no access to mains gas, and will not therefore deliver affordable warmth for all.

The Target 2050 homes project aims to demonstrate the level of carbon cuts it is possible to achieve in a range of existing homes. Since 2008 we have been working with householders to reduce carbon emissions and share the lessons learned through case studies. Our first group of case study homes was funded by Stroud District Council, later we were able to work with more households in Cheltenham, Gloucester, the Cotswold District, South Gloucestershire and Wiltshire with funding from the South West Councils Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership.