Homeowners distrust energy efficiency advice
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Climate change lobby group the Energy Saving Trust is calling for new standards and training on energy efficiency, after a poll revealed a lack of trust for tradespeople on the subject.
Just one in six British households would trust a tradesperson’s green guidance, according to a poll commissioned by the organisation. And more than half of the 2,362 households surveyed said they would suspect tradespeople’s energy efficiency suggestions as attempts to get extra work.
But more than half of 241 tradespeople surveyed in a second poll said they would offer green advice if they had more information. More than two thirds said they needed clearer explanations of environmental legislation and nearly eight in 10 said they wanted better guidance on expected changes in energy efficiency requirements.
The Energy Saving Trust is using the findings to fuel its Building in the Dark campaign, being launched today. It calls for tradespeople’s green skills gap to be addressed with new quality standards and training programmes.
Philip Sellwood, the organisation’s chief executive, said: ‘Latest figures show that £23.9 billion is spent on repair, maintenance and improvement works on the UK housing stock and some of this work represents a missed opportunity to make green improvements.’
He added: ‘75 per cent of people in the UK believe the best way to improve the energy efficiency of a home is when the builders are in, but until tradespeople have the knowledge, training and skills to be able to offer this expertise as second nature then they will be building in the dark.’
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