Big turnout for Harrogate College’s retrofit event shows householders’ changing attitudes on reducing CO2 emissions

The attendance at Harrogate’s first-ever retrofit event is being hailed as proof that a recent survey of public attitudes in the town amounts to a trend, not a blip.
By Graham Chalmers
Published 23rd Mar 2023, 14:42 BST
Updated 23rd Mar 2023, 14:42 BST
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The event, hosted by Zero Carbon Harrogate, saw more than 50 homeowners, landlords and builders from the Harrogate area take part at at Harrogate College.

The high level of attendance backs up the findings of a homeowner survey carried out in 2022 across Harrogate District by Zero Carbon Harrogate.

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The results then showed that 94% of respondents wanted to look at ways of reducing their carbon emissions in the home.

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Attendees at the retrofit event at Harrogate College listening to Steve Hall of WT Hall Builders, who gave a builder’s perspective on the house improvement process.Attendees at the retrofit event at Harrogate College listening to Steve Hall of WT Hall Builders, who gave a builder’s perspective on the house improvement process.
Attendees at the retrofit event at Harrogate College listening to Steve Hall of WT Hall Builders, who gave a builder’s perspective on the house improvement process.

But, when asked what people felt the barriers were to make their homes more efficient, the reason most frequently stated was difficulty in finding skilled trades people.

Last week’s retrofit event at Harrogate College sought to address the problem with experts from the construction and housing sectors on hand with the latest information and best practice.

John Kerr, Zero Carbon Harrogate’s Retrofit Programme Manager, said: “It was really encouraging to see so much interest in home retrofit.

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"At Zero Carbon Harrogate we’re committed to helping the district reach its net zero target by 2030 and home retrofit is going to be a really big part of this.

“For homeowners and landlords there’s a financial benefit, too.

"The initial investment in retrofit can be very quickly recouped through energy savings and adda value to your property.”

Among the speakers at Harrogate College were Marcus Wearmouth of Progress Consulting, Steve Hall of WT Hall Builders, who gave a builder’s perspective on the improvement process; and Vincent van der Meulen, from Harrogate Borough Council, who spoke about the council’s own social housing retrofit programme.

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Zero Carbon Harrogate’s survey last year showed the most popular future home improvement people intended to do was to install a renewable energy source such as solar panels and house batteries.

The 30 million homes across the UK account for around a fifth of the nation’s total CO2 emissions with homes in Yorkshire and The Humber the least efficient in the country, according to the English Housing Survey Report 2020-21.

Related topics:Zero Carbon HarrogateHarrogate CollegeCO2 emissionsYorkshire