It seems like there have been many reports released recently and it takes a lot of sifting to see how exactly recommendations to government might actually be of benefit or otherwise to the timber and wood products industry.
The Bonfield Review – Each Home Counts: An Independent Review of Consumer Advice, Protection, Standards and Enforcement for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, makes recommendations relating to consumer protection, standards and enforcement, calling on government to back a quality mark for green home improvements.
Originally commissioned in 2015 by former energy secretary Amber Rudd and former communities secretary Greg Clark, it followed the end of the Green Deal – the government’s scheme to improve thermal performance in UK housing stock.
Mr Bonfield said the need for effective home energy improvements stemmed from the fact that 23% of carbon emissions were from domestic properties and that in 2014, 11% of English households were classed as being fuel poor, with around one in five households finding it difficult to meet their heating and fuel costs.
He said the challenge was the retrofit of UK housing stock to meet government ambitions for fuel poverty and carbon reduction and the desire for everyone to live in warm, comfortable and energy-efficient homes.
He said existing ways of reducing energy bills or improving warmth and comfort in homes included adding insulation, changing windows and installing energy-efficient boilers, but he also highlighted the potential of smart energy meters.
Protecting the customer and setting high standards for energy improvement work are the review’s core focus.
A single quality mark for all energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements to the home is the biggest recommendation and builders would need to show that they have been certified by an “approved certification body” to obtain it.
Other key recommendations include a consumer charter which guarantees certain levels of service; a code of conduct for companies that will govern their behaviour and operations; and codes of practice relevant to the installation of each measure to minimise the risk of poor-quality installation.
It also calls for an ‘Information Hub’ to be established to provide impartial advice to consumers, as well as a ‘Data Warehouse’ to enable the provision of practical, authoritative and specific information.
Companies with the new quality mark will use the hub to give information to consumers, allowing them a greater ability to make informed judgements on potential measures to install.
Installers and assessors will demonstrate their compliance with the Codes of Practice and standards and Code of Conduct through an efficient and effective audit regime which has recourse to appropriate sanctions for poor performance if necessary. This will require a higher level of technical monitoring, coordinated at a national level, to ensure consistency and to reduce cost through economies-of-scale.
“The Bonfield review makes a number of sensible recommendations to help restore confidence in the home energy efficiency improvement market, although there is little to benefit manufacturers of energy efficient windows and doors as it stands,” said British Woodworking Federation (BWF) policy & communications executive Matt Mahony.
“The review marks the beginning of a journey and targeting consumer protection is a crucial stepping stone, especially in areas such as cavity wall insulation.
“It is too early to judge whether this journey will gather momentum, and ultimately we could see a distracted government reluctant to make meaningful policy changes, weakened by the failures of the Green Deal, or, hopefully, proactive involvement from both government and industry to solve the problem of a UK housing stock which is amongst the least energy efficient in Europe and contributes to high energy bills and nearly a quarter of our annual carbon emissions.”
Julie Hirigoyen, chief executive at the UK Green Building Council, said the Bonfield Review had produced some welcome recommendations to provide consumers with a quality service when making energy efficiency improvements to their homes.
“However, there is simply not a comprehensive policy framework to assign these consumer protections to. The government must clarify a timetable for improving the energy efficiency of our housing stock and introduce measures to drive consumer demand.
“Rightly, the review highlights that conscientious organisations with the quality mark must not lose work to other organisations which are able to offer cheaper prices because of substandard work or lower quality assurance.”
