Abri has developed a roadmap for decarbonising existing homes, aligning to Government guidelines and the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global temperature increases to below 2 degrees Celsius, preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Whilst there remains a number of unknowns in respect of the decarbonisation of the electricity grid, introduction of new technology, and the evolving Government Strategy, the roadmap provides Abri with a high-level timeline for achieving net-zero carbon, whilst acknowledging our strategy will develop over time.
During 2021 our focus will be on running pilot projects, prioritising fabric improvements in order to reduce energy demand, and lowering customers' energy bills, whilst developing solutions to suit a wide range of property archetypes and geographies.
Our roadmap assumes a phased approach to achieving net-zero carbon by 2050:
The first stage will reduce energy demand in existing dwellings by upgrading insulation, including external walls and ground floors. We will engage with our customers in order to raise awareness on actions that can be taken in the home to reduce energy use also.
The second stage will focus on decarbonising heating systems, switching our homes to renewable heat sources, utilising for example heat pump technology, recognising that technological innovation will determine longer-term solutions.
The final stage is to eliminate this residual carbon in order to become net zero. If the grid has been decarbonised by 2050 in line with UK Government targets, then Abri will be net-zero carbon.
Our calculations show that these measures if implemented will eventually reduce the total CO2 emissions from the housing stock from a current base position of approximately 89,559 tonnes CO2 per year to 13,766 tonnes per year, with average carbon emissions per dwelling reducing from approx. 3.12 tonnes CO2 per year to around 0.42 tonnes per year.
Similarly, energy consumed by a typical household would reduce from an average of 15,360 kWh/year to approx. 3,395 kWh/year.
