Carbon Makeover Trials Launched for 10,000 Homes by the Mayor of London

A new scheme that aims to make more homes energy efficient in London by 1212 has been started this week by the Mayor of London.

Boris Johnson launched trials of the scheme that will involve 10,000 homes to cut down carbon footprints. This will help residents to save money on their energy bills, creating green jobs and cutting down the energy used in the capital.

The services will be free of charge, and will include a number of measures to help them reduce the amount of energy they use. This ranges from simple measures including energy saving light bulbs and other steps to reduce energy.

There will also be bigger steps offered to those living in the homes involved, including loft and cavity wall insulation. These measures will be free to those receiving benefits, and subsidised for others.

There are nine boroughs involved in the trials, including Harrow, Camden, Havering, Croydon, Lewisham, Hillingdon, Haringey, Southwark and Kingston.

Eventually the program will spread across all areas of London, and will work on 200,000 – 500,000 properties by 2012. By 2015 it’s planned to access 1.2 million domestic properties.

Boris Johnson said of the trials ‘with more than a third of London’s climate change emissions being generated from domestic properties, making our homes more energy efficient is a no brainer’.

The new program already involves a sum of £9.5 million from the Mayor and the London Development Agency. It is thought the scheme will also create a number of green jobs, where other energy-saving measures, such as double glazing, will also be in demand.