New ‘Zero Carbon Homes’ from 2016

In its efforts to make Britain more energy efficient, the government is putting in place measures to ensure that all newly built homes will be ‘zero carbon homes’ from 2016 onwards. Put simply, a zero carbon home is heavily insulated and can generate the energy it uses, perhaps even creating more than it needs.

Those who are lucky enough to buy a zero carbon home could find that their electricity bills cost them nothing – they may even make money by selling excess solar or wind power back to the national grid as part of a new government scheme from 2010.

But for those of us who aren’t looking at buying a brand new home, the government has many measures in place to help keep older buildings more energy efficient.

Most of our homes are known as ‘leaky’ buildings, meaning that there are many ways in which they lose and waste heat. It might be because your windows are draughty, or it could be because your walls are badly insulated.

Some of the governments initiatives include encouraging homeowners to:

• Insulate lofts and cavity walls,
• Install double-glazed windows,
• Use more energy-efficient boilers,
• Install solar panels and wind turbines to generate power, of which any excess can be sold to the national grid.

If you’re planning on living in your traditional, non-zero carbon home for some time (which most of us will be) then taking some of these measures can greatly reduce not only your carbon footprint, but also the size of your energy bills!