With an ambitious Net Zero target set ten years ahead of the Government’s 2050 deadline, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) is aiming to fast-track regional collaboration in energy efficiency retrofit by hosting the Liverpool Retrofit Summit next week.
With 720,000 homes in the region of which 61% are rated EPC D and below, and significant levels of fuel poverty and deprivation, the region faces a considerable challenge.
Focusing on the reality that a 60% reduction in home energy use is urgently needed to get to Net Zero, and also to mitigate the impact on residents of the energy crisis, LCRCA’s Pathway to Net Zero Report for 2022 says:
“Poorly insulated homes disproportionately affect poorer and more vulnerable communities, so it is vital that we target the resource where we need it most.” The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has now secured £60m to retrofit 5,500 of the area’s least energy efficient homes.
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram will open the Liverpool Retrofit Summit on 31 January to kick off three mornings of online presentations, discussion and networking which will help retrofit professionals and local authority staff learn and share expertise to ensure the effective achievement of LCRCA’s home energy efficiency objectives.
Councillor Graham Morgan, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Portfolio Holder for Housing and Spatial Framework, said:
“We are working really hard with our local authorities to retrofit energy saving measures to as many houses as possible, to save people money on their bills, tackle fuel poverty and help the environment, but there is a limit to how much we can do on our own. That’s why bringing people together at events like this is so important but we also need government to pick up the pace so we can roll these programmes out even more quickly.”
“The Combined Authority’s priority is to create warmer homes with reduced energy use to alleviate fuel poverty and provide a just transition to become one of the first regions to achieve net zero carbon emissions,” says Graham Lock of event organiser Low Carbon Homes. “Scaling up home retrofit and behaviour change for energy efficiency will be key to achieving their objectives, so this Summit is all about getting the right people in the room to discuss how to make it happen as soon as possible.”
Speakers will be exploring three key themes, focused on accelerating energy use reduction through multiple approaches and collaboration between private and public sector organisations across the six local authorities that make up the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
On Day 1 Mayor Steve Rotheram will open the summit, followed by North West Net Zero Hub’s James Johnson reflecting on progress to date and LCRCA’s Paul Amann on the Green Skills report.
Day 2 is all about supporting individuals to reduce energy use and save money, introduced by Tracy Gordon from LCRCA on work in the community so far and what more will be done, followed by Dominic Griffiths of energy advice charity Energy Projects Plus and Dr Lisa Newsom of Liverpool John Moores University on the psychology of behaviour change.
On Day 3, the theme will be fresh thinking to achieve faster progress on energy efficiency measures, with speakers on how to support the able to pay through to green finance, collective buying and LCRCA’s work on local heat networks to decarbonise and reduce the cost of heating homes.
The online networking and Q&A format lets attendees participate in the discussion, asking questions and sharing knowledge to enable effective collaboration with other professionals in housing retrofit, local authority project delivery and community engagement.
The Liverpool Retrofit Summit is free to attend online using the dynamic REMO event platform across three mornings from 9am-12pm from Tuesday 31 January to Thursday 2 February, enabling housing providers and local authority staff as well as installers, contractors, consultants and surveyors to drop in from any location to suit their schedules. Q&A sessions with a panel of the morning’s speakers and mingling with peers, speakers and sponsors at the virtual conference tables provide high quality networking without the travel time.
To sign up to attend this free online event, go to https://lowcarbonhomes.uk/events
