News
Boris Johnson, the London mayor, is basing the new program on a successful one in the metropolitan area of Kirklees. Insulating the lofts [atttics] of London homes will save residents money and help propel the city toward its goal of cutting its carbon emissions by 60% by 2025.
[For more on the Kirklees program, see the Kirklees Warm Zone. This is an EXCERPT: read the whole article here. -Ed.]
By Charles Clover
Boris Johnson, the London mayor, is examining ways of installing insulation in millions of Londoners' homes at no upfront cost, he disclosed today.
The scheme his advisers are looking at is based on that run by the borough of Kirklees in Yorkshire which aims to make tackling climate change extremely easy – to the extent that people come round and empty your attic so that the insulation can be installed.
Kirklees has also installed renewable energy, such as solar panels, solar roofs and ground source heat pumps for its council tax payers at no upfront cost. The scheme is paid for by an interest free loan on people's homes, paid back when they sell them.
In Kirklees, unlike in London to date, the insulation scheme is offered on a street-by-street basis, so there is peer-group pressure to get involved, and the representatives of the council drop by in the evening and at weekends when people are more likely to be in.
The mayor has taken on the same target as his predecessor, Ken Livingstone, of cutting London's carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2025.
Photo credit: Neil Nagler 
