Bonfield Review

On 16 December 2016, the long-awaited Bonfield Review, ‘Each Home Counts’ was published.

Originally launched in 2015 by the then-Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in the wake of the failure of the Green Deal, the report has been criticised for numerous delays. The purpose of the review was to examine, and make recommendations, about how consumers can be protected and advised when installing energy efficiency and renewable energy measures in their homes.

There are 27 recommendations included in the review, including:

• There should be a single quality mark for all energy efficiency and renewable energy measures.
• The development of an information hub and data warehouse allowing consumers to access better data relating to their homes, leading to better advice.
• New approaches to engaging with consumers about renewables and energy efficiency through awareness raising at local and national levels.
• Embedding core knowledge into the industry, including building physics, and design stage and consumer interaction connected with the assessment of competence of businesses.
• A robust and joined-up industry-wide compliance and enforcement regime coordinated nationally to include on site monitoring or audits.

In response to the review, Sustainable Homes said:

‘The Quality Mark is a good thing for the industry, but it must have weight. If properly backed by enforcement then it will work. If it leads to quality as in the form of the best Passivhaus schemes then it will work. If it simply becomes a badge for installers to win more work then the Bonfield Review will have been for nothing.’

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), said:

‘The energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors, like the wider domestic building industry, remain largely under-regulated, with too few checks to protect consumers from poor quality builders.

‘The FMB is fully behind the drive for higher levels of consumer confidence …. However, this quality and confidence alone will not be sufficient to drive the quantity of low carbon refurbishment which will be necessary to upgrade the UK’s housings stock and make sure the UK meets its legally binding target by 2050. We also need financial incentives from the Government to encourage home owners to invest in these improvements.’

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

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