Worcester, Bosch Group has welcomed recent proposals from Unison calling for an energy review of homes.

Unison's review proposed the introduction of a free door-to-door assessment for households to identify the remedial works needed for every house to meet minimum requirements. It hopes to save money and reduce the need for fracking.

Martyn Bridges, director of marketing and technical support at Worcester, Bosch Group said: “Unison’s suggested approach has similarities with the Green Deal scheme, especially in the way that both propose that an evaluation of housing stock takes place before subsequent recommendations are made. However, this new proposal differs in that the assessment is free of charge – a feature which may have huge implications for the uptake of renewables.

“One barrier faced by the Green Deal is the overall cost involved in the process. From the call-out of a Green Deal Assessor to the installation of more efficient technology, the process can be an expensive one. Unison’s suggestion is that the call-out is free and that low-income households are able to benefit from free energy enhancing measures, therefore making renewables much more accessible.

Mr Bridges also highlighted the fact that we haven't yet heard who will conduct the free assessment, which would be a costly and time consuming process.

Mr Bridges continued: "Perhaps a golden rule needs to be put in place to ensure at least a minimum requirement standard is met by all.

“My viewpoint is that all homes should have an energy efficiency label applied to ensure the homeowner can see areas which may need to be improved or changed. At present the only time a review takes place is when a property is sold and an Energy Performance Certificate is completed. A regular check would raise awareness of the importance of efficiency and help to change the attitude towards the adoption of more renewable technologies.

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