Funding the affordable decarbonisation of British homes.
The Powering Net Zero (PNZ) Group is facilitating the UK’s transition to net zero by 2050, by funding the affordable decarbonisation of British homes from the commercial demand for transparent, localised carbon credits. We are the only project developer originating carbon credits for decarbonising housing stock and the only developer with projects in local UK communities.
The challenge
Homes are the single largest contributor of carbon emissions from the built environment, accounting for almost a quarter of the UK’s total carbon emissions, and representing the largest barrier to reaching net zero by 2050. The scale of investment needed to tackle this means that unlocking private sector investment will be critical to decarbonising the housing stock.
At the same time, over three million households in the UK are in fuel poverty – and with rising energy prices and a cost of living crisis, this is only projected to get worse. Access to affordable heat profoundly impacts health, comfort, well-being, and productivity, with the Building Research Establishment finding that excess cold in homes costs the NHS £857m a year. Improving the energy efficiency of the housing stock is therefore vital, and there is a clear need for practical and fair financial solutions to the environmental and social challenges posed by poor-quality homes.
Our work
The PNZ Group is helping to tackle this challenge, by providing a route for investment in housing decarbonisation by verifying the emission reductions and social value of housing retrofit projects, and originating carbon credits backed by those reductions.
Our projects are self-financing, with funds raised from the purchase of credits channelled directly back into our retrofitting work, creating a closed-loop system to finance the decarbonisation of homes and supercharge the green energy transition.
In 2022 we launched a pilot of our service, called Retrofit Credits, in association with the Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust (HACT). Twenty-two social housing organisations from across the UK benefited from the pilot, with over 6,700 homes retrofitted through our model. Additionally, using the UK Social Value Bank, our completed retrofit works achieved a social value equivalent to £2.9m annually, including savings to the Exchequer, according to the UK Social Value Bank’s methodology. We are working with nearly 200 housing providers, local authorities, and installers across the UK to provide an urgently needed route to funding a low-carbon housing stock that better serves its residents.
We work with local buyers to fund local projects which deliver benefits in their areas, and our credits measure not just tonnes of carbon reduction, but the social value that warmer, more energy efficient homes deliver for people and communities. In doing so, we help to create more sustainable, resilient communities that support the wellbeing and prosperity of their residents.
Project partner :
Standard
Verra catalyzes measurable climate action and sustainable development outcomes by driving large-scale investment to activities that reduce emissions, improve livelihoods, and protect nature.