Call to win public support for low carbon homes

The Zero Carbon Hub and Energy Saving Trust is calling for a pan-industry marketing plan to promote zero carbon homes and address concerns that they appear experimental and unappealing to the majority of homebuyers.

The ‘Marketing Tomorrow’s New Homes’ report makes a number of proposals to ensure zero carbon homes are not marginalised as ‘green’.

This includes creating an environment of constant innovation rather than radical changes, encouraging a drip-feed of green features across the entire housing stock so that high performing homes become the norm.

According to the report, homebuyers don’t currently understand the zero carbon proposition, they are wary of the political or publicity motivations behind the promotion of green developments, and are unwilling to pay for sustainable features, which they consider expensive and unproven in the broader housing market.

It is vital that we create a positive public perception of new high performing homes

Neil Jefferson

The report also recommends a change of language in how the industry communicates low and zero carbon homes.

Announcing the proposals, Neil Jefferson, chief executive of the Zero Carbon Hub, said: “It is vital that we create a positive public perception of new high performing homes of the future.

"This is a huge challenge that requires industry leadership and resource to achieve. A bad marketing plan or one created in haste may turn-off homebuyers and delay the urgency of these initiatives”.