Energy Efficient Scotland programme: analysis of delivery mechanism

• 1.58m homes to be improved (an average of 66,000 homes per year).
• After ‘early adopters’ install measures, other property owners will be harder to engage with.
• Different parts of domestic market face different challenges.

• N/A.

• SHR to monitor performance and compliance with EESSH2, including minimum standard of EPC D from 2025.

• Ambitious target of maximising number of homes at EPC B by 2032
• Existing delivery strategies have successfully engaged landlords.

• Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) and EESH.
• Monitoring of progress by Scottish Housing Regulator.

• Agency to enforce non-letting of homes at EPC D and below.
• EPC B will require installation of renewable, low carbon energy systems: additional incentives will be required for social landlords to go beyond minimum standards.

• Energy efficiency lower than social rented sector.
• In rented sector, the costs of poor energy efficiency fall on the tenant rather than the landlord (who will be responsible for energy efficiency improvements).

• No minimum standards to date: minimum standard for private rented landlords will be introduced in 2020, with mandatory action by 2030 if insufficient progress.

• Means of monitoring and enforcing minimum standards that are introduced.
• Need to engage house owners in order to achieve targets.
• For rented homes, targeted communications for landlords will be necessary to make them aware of incentives on offer.
• Holistic approach to minimise disruption around installation of measures.

• In 2016, 649,000 households in fuel poverty.
• Fuel poor households to EPC B by 2040.
• However, there are other factors than energy efficiency which drive fuel poverty.

• Warmer Homes Scotland installs measures in fuel poor households. At current annual installation rates, only 16% of fuel poor households will be reached by 2040.

• Significant escalation in Warmer Homes Scotland.
• Robust monitoring framework which identifies all drivers of fuel poverty.
• Campaign to raise awareness of available funds, and more flexibility around funding rules.

• EPC data only available for 15% of non-domestic buildings.
• Likely that huge improvements will be required.

• Various funding schemes available, although uptake has been poor.
• Few regulations that focus on industrial energy efficiency.

• Enforcement required to stimulate action and drive progress.
• Central focal point to drive awareness and uptake.

• Substantial, diverse market required for energy efficiency products and services.
• Many supply chain participants think energy efficiency sector is ‘in decline’.

• Greater coordination between supply chain and consumers to understand future demand.
• Accessibility of contracts to SMEs.
• Promote opportunities for collaboration on district heating projects.

• Increasing engagement and customer ‘pull’ will be critical to success of EES.

• Identify actions to encourage uptake of energy efficiency measures.
• Develop specific approaches for different ‘archetypes’ of householder.
• Discuss complexities of retrofit so they are understood by householders.

• To boost confidence in the programme and secure investment, EES must be a trusted and well respected brand.
• The delivery of high quality services is key to this
• A significant proportion of recent energy efficiency work did not meet installation standards^[35]

• Greater clarity and guidance around the requirements that suppliers need to meet to work under the EES brand.
• Clearer guidance for consumers on what they should expect from suppliers;
• A more consistent and fair redress process for consumers with a single point of contact;
• An overarching standards guidance for all installation types and technologies that is updated in line with best practice, with clearer information on potential unintended consequences; and
• Increased supplier accountability through greater oversight and increased technical monitoring and auditing of installations and sanctions for poor performance.

• Progress against consumption baselines will need to be measured to justify spending of public money and to identify areas for prioritisation.

• Establish a baseline dataset for the non-domestic sector.
• Increase frequency of EPC assessments to ensure accurate dataset is available.
• Designation of responsibility for reporting and monitoring.
• Make data available to stakeholders e.g. Local Authorities to develop delivery strategies, and ensure that it is clearly signposted and validated.

• Foundation of EES will be design and implementation of LHEES by Local Authorities, however many Local Authorities face limited resources.

• Support Local Authorities and build their capacity.
• Facilitate coordination between Local Authorities e.g. around cross-boundary issues.

Theme

The change required

Enforcement

• Ensure all buildings comply with minimum standards across all sectors in a timely manner to ensure EES targets are met.
• Facilitate and remove restrictions for improvements across all sectors.
• Ensure LHEES are developed and implemented in a timely manner.

Engagement and education

• Greater uptake of available support with improvements made ahead of minimum standard deadlines.
• Greater likelihood of consumers implementing improvements beyond minimum standards.
• Owner-occupier more likely to make home improvements without the introduction of minimum standards.
• Increase innovation by encouraging a move away from standard installation techniques.
• Greater competition for public sector contracts, encouraging SMEs to invest in expanding their capacity.

Funding

• Increased ability for holistic, whole-house improvements to reduce the need for multiple visits to achieve EES targets.
• Installations in difficult-to-treat areas and building typologies to minimise divergences between modelled and actual performance improvements.
• Minimise the potential for unintended consequences such as mould growth and health issues.
• Remove funding restrictions to allow levers tackling fuel poverty to incorporate larger-scale energy efficiency improvements to reach EES targets for each home.

Monitoring and data

• Regular monitoring to track the progress of improvements against targets across all sectors to justify funding allocation, support enforcement and identify high priority areas.
• The ability to separate the impact of energy efficiency improvements on fuel poverty from other drivers.
• Create a database of buildings which are exempt from EES targets Improve the consistency, coordination and availability of relevant data for all users.

Coordination and coherence

• A greater awareness and uptake of levers through a central EES advisory body with an overview across all schemes and areas of EES.
• Sharing of best practices and lessons learned between all 32 Local Authorities.
• Increase collaboration between Local Authorities.
• Facilitate and mediate conversations between stakeholders, including Local Authorities and the supply chain.

Capacity building

• Increase the resource capacity of Local Authorities to develop and implement LHEES and responsibilities arising from the EES Programme, including planning.
• Increase the technical support and expertise available to stakeholders, particularly Local Authorities.
• Encourage investment in the Scottish supply chain to ensure there is enough capacity to deliver EES.

Quality assurance

• Ensure there are consistent quality assurance standards and customer protection processes across all EES related schemes.
• Have a greater overview of supplier performance to identify which suppliers are performing well and which ones aren’t.
• Ensure that all products and services delivered under the EES brand are of a high quality.