Net Zero Week 2022 is officially in full swing!
Businesses and consumers around the world are urged to take action in the fight against climate change. With Net Zero Week, from Sunday 2 July to Friday 8 July, serving as a push in this much needed momentum.
This awareness week speaks directly to people across the UK as challenges are highlighted, expert advice provided, and advice given on how to better understand the goals.
Ultimately, tackling carbon emissions to combat the effects of climate change requires everyone to be on board.
Steve Ellard, Director of Assets and Sustainability at Yorkshire Housing, explains our own journey to Net Zero: “In the UK, 22% of carbon emissions come from homes, so we know that the housing industry has got a big part to play in reaching Net Zero.
“As the government rolled out their own plans in the Future Homes Standard, we’re setting our own goals too.
“Everyone should have a place their proud to call home, a sustainable and quality building that they can afford. That’s why we’re going above and beyond the government plan to lead the sector in tackling climate change.
“We’ve begun reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, three years earlier than the government set out.”
As goals have been laid out with our new build homes in mind, there’s also a focus on our current buildings.
Steve Ellard explains why: “Improving the performance of our current homes has been another area of reflection and one we’re actively working on. It’s incredibly important to us that our current customers can be in a home fit for the future.
“Recent work has included a series of retrofit projects to off-gas properties that focus on air source heat pumps in highly insulated homes – supported by Solar PV panels to further drive down energy usage. We’ll continue to take a fabric first approach and target our worst-first, wherever possible. We also want to be at the forefront of technological advancements around battery storage, smart home tech and hydrogen.”
Steve Ellard explains the importance of this: “Technology is moving at an incredible pace and it is firmly our belief that the solutions to the climate crisis, of which there will be many, have potentially yet to come to market or have even yet to be invented. This is exciting territory and something that drives us to ask questions about everything we do.
“Not only is our focus on significantly reducing carbon emissions and our impact on the environment, but creating warm and affordable homes for our customers.
“Our plans are continuing and every effort is going towards creating a more sustainable environment, quality homes fit for the future, and achieving Net Zero.”
For more information on our own plans towards Net Zero, read here.
