Hackney,
13
February
2020
|
08:48
Europe/London

Hackney Light and Power announces free insulation for thousands of homes

People in Hackney are set to be offered free home insulation by Hackney Light and Power, Hackney Council’s publicly-owned energy services company, as it launches its Green Homes programme. 

Hackney Green Homes is the first borough-wide programme in London to offer thermal efficiency measures to privately-owned and rented homes, including cavity, loft and floor insulation. This could lower energy bills for thousands of local residents and significantly reduce the gases produced by heating our homes, which are contributing to the climate emergency.

The programme is also set to trial innovative new renewable heating upgrades, such as hydrogen fuel-cell boilers and air-to-air heat pumps to explore the potential of such technologies to reduce the environmental impact of space heating, which the Committee on Climate Change has been clear is essential if national commitments to net zero emissions are to be met. 

Hackney Light and Power will play a key role in delivering the Council’s ambitious decarbonisation targets set out in the climate emergency motion passed at Full Council in June 2019 - which will see the Council deliver a 45% reduction in carbon emissions relative to 2010 levels across all its functions by 2030, and deliver net zero emissions by 2040, in line with the most ambitious reductions set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Hackney Green Homes is the first programme to be launched by Hackney Light and Power, which will also deliver its first large-scale rooftop solar project this year as part of an ambition to turn Hackney into a leader in clean energy generation. 

Last year, over 210 households in Hackney agreed to install solar panels as part of the Mayor of London’s Solar Together Programme, the highest of any London borough - demonstrating the appetite for energy efficiency measures among Hackney residents.

Cllr Jon Burke, Cabinet Member for Energy, Waste, Transport and Public Realm
Hackney Green Homes is the first programme to be delivered by the Council’s publicly-owned energy services company, Hackney Light and Power, and will provide insulation and other energy efficiency measures to help residents lower bills and tackle the climate emergency by eliminating greenhouse gas emissions.

Hackney Light and Power forms part of the Council’s commitment to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2040, and we’ll soon be launching our transformational programme to generate energy from rooftop solar across the borough.

In passing a climate emergency motion, we not only committed to tell the truth to the public about the scale of the environmental crisis but, crucially, we committed to urgent decarbonisation action across our full range of functions. Whether cleaning up our fleet of vehicles, decarbonising the waste system, cleaning up the energy system, or delivering the largest urban tree planting programme in the country, Hackney Council is demonstrating that not only is urgent action necessary, but that it’s also possible. We want to take the residents of Hackney with us on that journey, and Hackney Green Homes is a clear demonstration of that ambition.
Cllr Jon Burke, Cabinet Member for Energy, Waste, Transport and Public Realm

Residents can sign-up to the Hackney Green Homes programme and access free energy saving advice by emailing shine@hackney.gov.uk or calling 0800 281 768 or 020 7527 6795.

The free insulation offered by the Hackney Green Homes programme is subject to home surveys, terms and conditions, and will be installed on a first-come-first-served basis. It is not means-tested because the Council aims to insulate as many homes as possible in order to significantly reduce carbon emissions across the borough. 

The further renewable heating upgrades, such as hydrogen fuel-cell boilers, air-to-air heat pump or new window glazing will be subject to means-tested eligibility criteria. 

The Green Homes programme is funded by the Energy Company Obligation, the Greater London Authority’s Warmer Homes Fund and Hackney Council’s Carbon Offset Fund.

To find out more, visit www.hackney.gov.uk/hlp-green-homes.