Worcester Bosch - Experts & Thought Leaders

Along with their Coalition members, they have launched a new progress report in Parliament, which calls on Government and industry to work together to ensure the UK is to succeed in decarbonizing its 29 million homes. ‘Home is Where the Heat is – Progress Report’ sheds much-needed light on the importance of customer-first approaches to the home retrofitting industry, by showcasing the real-life experiences of nine households from Tyne & Wear to Pontypool. Increasingly important factor The report focuses on the first three parts of a five-phase process and provides an honest appraisal of some of the stumbling blocks and learnings experienced as they accompanied the nine households on their journey to energy efficiency. Some of the learnings are concerning but well-known, such as the clunkiness of the customer journey, the confusion around funding options, and issue with the supply chain. The report also found that EPCs are becoming an increasingly important factor when buying a home Other insights, especially on Energy Performance Certificates and their bias towards certain solutions like Solar PV rather than newer technologies, and the benefits of digitizing them need urgent action now. The report also found that EPCs are becoming an increasingly important factor when buying a home, more so than public transport, according to NatWest’s Greener Homes Attitude Tracker. Energy efficiency improvement The report also emphasizes the growing public support for energy efficiency, with 68% of homeowners planning to make energy efficiency improvements to their home in the next decade. It also discusses the industry supply chain, and what can be done to unlock the role of SMEs. Delivering a home retrofit every minute until 2050 will not happen by magic. With households now massively in favor of energy efficiency, increased industry momentum to drive this forward, and SMEs standing to gain the most from the growth opportunity it presents, they along with their Coalition members have made five policy recommendations to support energy efficiency delivery this decade: A public information campaign to educate the public on energy efficiency measures. Long-term investment signals to the market, including through local area energy planning. EPC reform to ensure all homes sold by 2033 are rated EPC C and above, while digitizing and regularly updating EPCs to make them more useful. The launch of a ‘Help for Energy Efficiency Scheme’ allowing banks to provide low-interest loans to households to upgrade their properties. The launch of an ‘Energy Saving Stamp Duty Rebate’ leveraging the trigger point of a house sale for the new owner to have a two-year window to invest in energy efficiency and be able to claim it back against its stamp duty. Decarbonise home heating Supporting households up and down the country to act on energy efficiency is essential" Their CEO Carl Arntzen said, “As a Coalition we are working together to drive change and guide the UK’s move to net zero. This latest report shares the lessons we are learning and shines a light on the amount of work and considerations required to decarbonize home heating and ensure the country reaches its net zero 2050 targets.” “We hope that our recommendations are listened to and acted upon by Government and we of course remain committed and available to support the nation’s drive for climate action.” Alison Rose, NatWest Group Chief Executive said, “Supporting households up and down the country to act on energy efficiency is essential, not just in our transition to net zero, but also to help keep energy costs down for the long-term. The Coalition is showing what can be done to deliver greener, warmer, and more comfortable homes for British households in a people-centric manner.” People-Centric manner “But, we can’t shy away from the fact that delivering energy efficiency is hard work. That is why, as well as carving out £10 billion to roll out green mortgages, we are supporting SMEs to play their part in the tremendous growth opportunity that energy efficiency represents and calling on Government and Industry to work together to kickstart a decade of delivery." British Gas announced that it will offer heat pump installations for £4,999" "I look forward to the spring Outcomes Report to see the positive impact that such interventions can have for families from Pontypool to Coulsdon.” To coincide with the publication of the report, British Gas announced that it will offer heat pump installations for £4,999 to help more of its customers to lower their emissions. Delivering energy efficiency Meanwhile, as part of NatWest Group’s pledge of £100 billion to drive climate action and decarbonization before the end of 2025, the bank has committed £10bn to green mortgage lending, lending £2.32bn to around 9,500 homeowners under this commitment already in 2022 through the NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Coutts mortgage brands. Here at Worcester Bosch, they will continue to invest into the research and launch of low and zero-carbon products, and progress with the training of 18,000 installers per year to support the delivery of the energy efficiency agenda. The Coalition will also be publishing an Outcomes Report in the Spring of 2023 to report back on the outcomes of the nine retrofit pilots.

The Sustainable Homes and Buildings Coalition, consisting of NatWest, Worcester Bosch, British Gas, and Shelter, has released its first comprehensive report titled ‘Home is where the Heat is.' The report ‘Home is where the Heat is’ directly engages with consumers, going into clear detail on how the UK can decarbonize homes and buildings across the UK. The aim is to place consumers at the heart of the conversations and ensure they have a better understanding of the technology options available to them, and which are most suitable for their home needs. Achieving a net-zero built environment As part of this, the report recognizes that each consumer journey will be different, due to personal levels of awareness, readiness to act, and the diversity of the UK’s building stock. It lays out six distinct customer pathways, helping every household identify with a particular journey. The report calls for Government and business community to address the challenges to support consumers The pathways will help people and policymakers alike, to better visualize the physical steps and processes to follow to achieve the ambition of a net-zero built environment, while guaranteeing more comfortable homes and buildings. More broadly, the report calls for Government and the wider business community to address the following challenges in order to better support consumers. educating and empowering consumers Carl Arntzen, CEO of Worcester Bosch said, “There is no silver bullet to reach net-zero emissions from home and building heating, it instead requires a mix of technologies working together. For homeowners, it is vital to have an understanding of what would work for their property and what support they can receive." “This is why we are fully in support of the Coalition and its first report. We believe it is a firm step towards educating and empowering consumers and installers to make greener choices when it comes to their home heating." “We look forward to continuing our work with our Coalition partners as we move towards a sustainable future.” Improving energy-efficiency of home Making greener choices in the home can be complex and expensive and there’s no ‘one size fits all’ for customers Lloyd Cochrane, Head of Mortgages at NatWest Group added; “Through our partnerships in the Coalition, we want to drive a better understanding of what can be done across the industry and government to raise awareness among consumers and building owners, provide relevant information and appropriate support. We know that making greener choices in the home can often be complex and expensive and there’s no ‘one size fits all’ for individual customers."  “As the principal banking sponsor supporting COP26 in Glasgow later this year, we want to support customers in making greener choices. This ranges from improving their carbon footprint through our partnership with CoGo, discounts through our green mortgage range and work to ensure customers can understand what they can do to improve the energy efficiency of their home.” The Coalition believes the UK can achieve a net-zero built environment, and this report is the first of many contributions to that ambition.

The Heat and Buildings Strategy has been published which recognizes that to meet net zero, there is a huge decarbonization effort required with how buildings are heated. This presents huge opportunities for jobs, growth and technological advancements, if carried out correctly. However the priority for Government and those like themselves in the industry is to identify how all consumers’ needs can be met. There are still barriers we must overcome that this strategy does not yet solve. resizing radiators Carl Artzen the CEO commented, “Although the Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy does look like a clear indication of ongoing investment, it doesn’t go far enough." A home may need to be adapted to accommodate a heat pump, such as resizing radiators"  “When considering a heat pump there are many factors to assess which are not considered here, such as the property’s suitability. A home may need to be adapted to accommodate a heat pump, such as resizing radiators and making space for hot water cylinders, which carry cost implications. Therefore, the proposed grants may help with the cost to purchase a heat pump, but there will still be a costly investment required from homeowners in existing properties." hydrogen-ready boilers “As for boilers, the strategy does not refer to any legislation behind a boiler ban, so it’s not surprising that there is confusion among installers and homeowners. Whilst it is encouraging to see that hydrogen is still on the agenda and is referred to within the Strategy, it is a shame to see that a decision around hydrogen won’t be made until five years from now. With hydrogen-ready boilers already successfully trialed, they could be a strong alternative to fossil fuel boilers on the market today – yet this strategy seems to omit them." “We are committed to the decarbonization of heating and hot water in the UK and will continue to work with Government and industry to offer a technology agnostic future while educating and inspiring homeowners to make greener choices for home heating.”

Some 38% of greenhouse gas emissions emanate from residential housing, specifically heating and cooling systems. Given the goal of ‘net-zero’ carbon emissions by 2050, new approaches have emerged to achieve that target. Some of the solutions currently being evaluated include the use of hydrogen as a replacement fuel, to store electricity from solar or wind power, or in fuel cells that use an electrochemical process combining hydrogen and oxygen to produce electrical energy and water. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, although pure hydrogen is rare on earth. It can be extracted from water (electrolysis), Alternatively, it can be extracted from natural gas using carbon capture technology to prevent carbon, a by-product, from escaping into the air. Modern terrace houses Whether hydrogen is burned for heat or passed through a fuel cell to make electricity, the only byproduct is chemically pure water. When combined with renewable energies like solar and wind power, hydrogen can be used to store energy as an alternative to batteries; unlike batteries, hydrogen gas can be stored indefinitely. FutureGrid operates three modern terrace houses with gardens in the remote hills of Cumbria Like natural gas, hydrogen is odorless. The distinctive smell currently added to natural gas could also be added to hydrogen to ensure residents quickly notice a leak. In the United Kingdom, FutureGrid operates three modern terrace houses with gardens in the remote hills of Cumbria. The houses provide a preview of a world where hydrogen has taken the place of natural gas. Yellow polyethylene pipes Engineers are testing how Britain’s natural gas pipe infrastructure can be converted from transporting fossil-fuel gas to handling hydrogen. Heating of British homes accounts for about 15% of carbon emissions, which would be eliminated with a transition to hydrogen. Hydrogen is more combustible than traditional natural gas, and its smaller molecules make it more likely to leak. There is a historical precedent for the transition in the United Kingdom. During the 1960s and 1970s, the gas industry converted from town gas (a byproduct of the distillation of coal and oil) to natural gas (mostly methane), which was discovered in the North Sea. The transition to a pipe system that can accommodate hydrogen has arguably already begun in the United Kingdom, where the gas industry is using yellow polyethylene pipes (which do not interact with hydrogen) to replace the metal pipes (prone to become brittle when exposed to hydrogen) in the country’s iron mains network. High-Volume technology Worcester Bosch has developed a hydrogen-fired boiler that could replace natural gas boilers An advantage of hydrogen is that the transition would be undetectable to consumers, who could continue to use boilers to heat their houses, although the fuel would be hydrogen rather than natural gas.  Worcester Bosch has developed a hydrogen-fired boiler that could replace natural gas boilers, but they use a hydrogen blend – 20% hydrogen and 80% natural gas. In the future, converting to all hydrogen would require an hour-long service call and only involve changing a couple of components such as the burner. Hydrogen boilers are currently a niche market; however, a regulatory change mandating their installation could make them a high-volume technology, just as natural gas boilers are today, according to the company. Heat pump technology Skeptics point to the cost of converting a country’s underground gas pipelines to hydrogen. Others suggest that a transition to energy-efficient electric heat pump technology would be simpler, and in fact is already underway. In the heat pump scenario, hydrogen could be used in a fuel cell or to store energy (from solar or wind power) in lieu of batteries. Skeptics point to the cost of converting a country’s underground gas pipelines to hydrogen The Hydrogen House in Hopewell, N.J., has been converted to run exclusively on solar and hydrogen power. Inventor Mike Strizki converted the home with a grant from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and using his own personal funds. It is the first solar-hydrogen residence in North America and operates completely off the grid. The only emissions are chemically pure water and medical-grade oxygen. Medical-Grade oxygen Features include a 40kw solar installation, 20kw backup power, an electrolyzer to generate hydrogen, and a hydrogen fuel cell. The home was designed to allow for the expansion of an electric and/or hydrogen refueling station. The plan is to transform the house into an interactive educational attraction with hands-on demonstrations related to clean and renewable energy. The Vitovalor 300P is a fuel cell heating appliance, made by German manufacturer Viessmann, that uses the principle of cogeneration to generate both power and heat. To do so, the fuel cell requires oxygen and hydrogen (obtained from natural gas in an earlier process). The generation of heat and power is based on an electrochemical reaction between the two elements, also called cold combustion.