Warmer Homes Scotland - first annual review

Objective 2 - Climate Change

It is widely accepted that the most cost effective way to reduce carbon emissions and therefore tackle climate change is by reducing demand for energy. Currently, heating accounts for over 55% of the energy used domestically and WHS is therefore ideally placed to make a significant impact on the reduction of energy use from Scottish homes. This objective influenced many of the policy decisions that were taken in the development of WHS including the emphasis on "fabric first" measures included within the contract and the restrictions on certain fuel types.

This review sought to answer the following questions to determine whether or not WHS was succeeding in reducing domestic energy demand and therefore meeting this objective.

• Are we reaching our carbon emission reduction target?
• Do we offer the most suitable measures to respond to climate change challenges?

Whilst the carbon and fuel bill savings reporting structure was not in place during the period of the review, these metrics can be inferred from the analysis based on modelling of measures installed. Table 6 gives a breakdown of the total number of heating and insulation measures installed from September 2015 to March 2016 and from that, Figure 13 demonstrates the key findings.

The average annual fuel bill saving per customer and estimated average SAP points gained suggest that WHS is reducing domestic energy demand and associated carbon emissions. However, this cannot be concluded with certainty based on modelled data. With the reporting structure in place, more accurate data is expected to be available from April 2016.

Recommendation 7 - Carbon and fuel bills savings and the associated impact on energy demand & carbon emission reduction should be a key focus of the 2016/17 WHS review.

Table 6: Breakdown of the total heating and insulation measures installed in the first 6 months

Figure 13: Climate change related findings