Residents and workers in the North of Tyne are being urged to take part in a survey on the future of construction and opportunities related to housing retrofit in our region so that our workforce has the relevant skills to deliver housing decarbonisation to address the climate crisis.
The Energy Democracy Project in conjunction with the North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA) want to hear the views from people across the region about the future of the construction sector in the North of Tyne. While newly constructed buildings are more energy-efficient, it is estimated that 80% of the homes we will live in by 2050 have already been built, so a major priority is decarbonising our current building stock. Retrofitting homes has the potential to create multiple benefits – linking action on climate change with improving current homes and addressing health inequalities as well as creating jobs and supporting local economic regeneration.
The Future of Construction in the North of Tyne Region survey can help inform the NTCA’s work on the potential of the construction sector in our region to generate new, good-quality ‘green’ jobs and the opportunities related to retrofit for our transition to net zero.
Leading the project is Dr Helen Coulson, Just Transition Project Coordinator at the Energy Democracy Project. She said:
“We know from our Just Transition stakeholder interviews that retrofit has the potential to create new local ‘green’ jobs across our region – but we need to ensure that our workforce has the relevant skills to deliver housing decarbonisation. At the moment, there is a shortage of retrofitters, in both professional and trade roles.
“We need homes that keep us warm and help lower emissions. One of the biggest challenges that we face over the next decade is making sure that our homes are fit for the future – and this will entail upgrades to the majority of homes to reach required energy efficiency standards. That is why it is more important than ever to open a space up for citizens to tell us what obstacles they experience when considering retrofitting their home, find out if they are interested in learning new skills or upskilling to work in building retrofit, and what they would like to see the NTCA do to support the retrofitting agenda and help achieve a zero-carbon built environment.
“Getting a comprehensive view of people in the North of Tyne about the opportunities and challenges related to housing retrofit will help to ensure our work will be evidence-based and decision makers locally are aware of what support and actions are needed to address climate change and improve the quality of life of residents.”
The survey is open to everyone who lives in the region, not just those working in the construction industry, so we encourage anyone with an interest in making properties more energy efficient to fill out the survey, have their say, and ensure their voice is heard.
The survey can be found at https://bit.ly/3Y5p6iZ
The information we collect from the surveys will directly inform the North of Tyne Just Transition project and report (to be published later this year).
For more information about the project, please contact the team at helen.coulson@northoftyne-ca.gov.uk and ben@energydemocracyproject.com
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