Decarbonising your home

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Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK

£1,485,260

Sept. 30, 2020

May 31, 2021

It is widely accepted that to meet UK's Net Zero targets by 2050, we need to significantly reduce carbon emissions.

40% of CO2 emissions are from buildings, with 20% from residential property.

The De-carbonisation of existing residential property will also help "build back better" and greener, from the COVID-19 pandemic. The government is launching a £2bn "Green Homes Grant" in September 2020 to stimulate this economic recovery.

The challenge is how to deliver the volume of retrofit projects, efficiently and effectively?

* Every property and household is unique, demanding bespoke solutions and a holistic "whole house plan"
* Implementing the design and delivery of home retrofits, is costly and slow,
* With too much technical information, it's hard for consumers to obtain clear, simple advice
* Too few design and management professionals, make it slow and expensive.

Existing solutions, to provide consumer data are:

* Mandatory household EPC's (Energy Performance Certificates) giving unclear advice and un-validated costs.
* Professional consultants and software are too expensive and technical for domestic consumers

Previous initiatives didn't generate expected retrofit demand and outcomes, partly because the data were confusing and initial work was expensive, constraining initial decision making on investment strategies.

Our Innovation:

A Data driven solution, using new technology to create an innovative property service and business model.

* Use new technology, to streamline the process and reduce costs, to make data collection and analysis more accessible.
* Reduce the time and cost of surveys, by guiding the consumer to collect the data themselves, (with remote professional assistance by video).
* Novel Business model, using immersive technology to help consumers understand, visualise and plan their own "whole house retrofit plans".
* Creating a consumer oriented software (SAAS) platform, using gamification techniques, to help homeowners make informed decisions.

Purpose of this project is to develop and test a new software platform for consumers. This builds on work already begun, transforming data collection and delivering a remote design service.

The project automates this, creating a new business model, with a Software as a Service (SAAS) cloud based delivery platform.

Pilot studies will assess customer engagement, demonstrating an increase in consumers undertaking sustainable retrofit projects.