Retrofits: is it possible to make 'greening your home' sexy?

A more comfortable home, a slimmer energy bill, more jobs for your community, less oil to import from the volatile Middle East... But in spite of these attractions, people aren’t swarming to green their living space.

Paul King, Chief Executive of the UK Green Building Council, reels off the reasons: 'There’s an upfront capital cost barrier for many people, for a start. And the economic environment is getting more challenging, which means people are even less inclined to spend money. Then there’s the fact that people don’t know who to trust and where to go for reliable advice. It doesn’t help that it’s not a sexy topic, not something people feel excited about. They might be excited about putting a panel on their roof, but solid wall insulation is a bit of a turn-off for lots of people.' And that’s before they get into the practicalities of actually making the change...

This brings us to the intimidation factor. Green retrofits are a challenging process, involving a host of complex and often interrelated decisions. The person in charge has to decide which technologies to use, how to optimise system synergies, what the best financing mechanism is, and who to hire...

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