Meeting net zero targets will require an increase in capacity in the construction sector
Climate Change Committee net zero pathway residential buildings emissions abatement (mtCO 2 e)
Net zero is back on the agenda
Net zero policy is a key priority for the new Labour government, with their aim of becoming a ‘clean energy superpower’. As part of their Green Prosperity Plan, they have committed to achieving clean power by 2030, backed by two new bodies to stimulate public and private investment in the form of GB Energy and the National Wealth Fund. In its manifesto the government also set out a warm homes plan, which committed an extra £6.6 billion over the next parliament, in the form of grants and low interest loans, to improve energy efficiency of the housing stock. There is also a commitment to ensure all homes in the private rented sector meet minimum energy efficiency standards by 2030.
Emissions
80
New homes: Energy efficiency and low-carbon heat Existing homes: Low-carbon heat
60
Existing homes: Fabric efficiency
Retrofit of housing will boost improvement and repair activity
Specific details on the warm homes plan are yet to be laid out, but to deliver improved energy efficiency of the housing stock will require a range of retrofit measures including the installation of heat pumps, solar panels, window glazing and wall insulation. A skilled workforce will be required to undertake these interventions. A 2021 Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) study estimated that reaching net zero in Great Britain, largely through retrofit, would require around 350,000 more construction workers than in 2019. 1 Another study by Capital Economics, which focused on the retrofit of historic buildings, estimated that over 100,000 additional workers would be needed to carry out a full retrofit programme of the UK’s housing stock. 2
Existing homes: Behaviour change
40
All homes: Lighting and appliance efficiency
All homes: Electrification of household and garden machinery All homes: Cooking decarbonisation
20
0
2020
2030
2040
2050
1 Construction Industry Training Board, Building Skills for Net Zero (Eunomia: Bristol), 2021 2 Capital Economics, Retrofitting traditional buildings – helping to progress to net zero (Capital Economics: London), 2022
Sources: Capital Economics and Climate Change Committee, ‘Sector explorer’ in The Sixth Carbon Budget Dataset, 2021. Available from https://www.theccc.org.uk/2021/02/01/the- numbers-behind-the-budget-six-ways-to-explore-the-sixth-carbon-budget-dataset/
13
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