Energiesprong UK is leading on a new BEIS-funded project to develop and test the technical solutions needed for a seamless end-to-end Comfort Plan management service.
It’s designed to help fund heat pump retrofit enabling greater deployment to achieve the UK’s net-zero goals – and deliver homes where people love to live.
The project is funded by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy through Stream 2 of the Heat Pump Ready (HPR) Programme. The Heat Pump Ready Programme forms part of the £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP), which aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies and processes through the 2020s and 2030s.
As a key solution for decarbonising homes, heat pumps will be critical for meeting the UK’s legally binding commitment to achieve net zero by 2050. The Heat Pump Ready Programme will support the development of innovative solutions across the heat pump sector.
Titled “Integrated Comfort and Billing Service”, the project is led by Energiesprong UK with partners Simble, Carnego and SmartKlub.
Heat pumps can deliver warm and comfortable homes, and energy cost savings of over 50% when deployed as part of a high performance and high-quality retrofit. This creates an opportunity for a 'Comfort Plan' to be offered, which provides guaranteed heating outcomes for occupants in return for a fee (which is no more than the total savings).
This can help to fund the heat pump retrofit enabling greater deployment, and support access to heat pumps through reducing the requirement for upfront capital investment. Residents benefit from warm, comfortable homes for less or no more than they paid before.
This project will finalise the process and technology requirements to offer a seamless end to end Comfort Plan management service, and then develop and test the technical solutions required to enable delivery of this.
Developments in this scheme will be shared with Energiesprong projects in the initial contracted pipeline of 1,550 homes, aiming for solutions to be demonstrated within live projects.
Energiesprong is a Dutch-developed revolutionary whole house refurbishment and funding approach for achieving net-zero homes.
It is designed to unlock zero carbon retrofit at scale, paid for by energy and maintenance savings and delivered by a new high-tech industry with guaranteed actual performance, comfort and costs long term – resulting in warm, affordable, desirable homes for life.
Homes are fully insulated using offsite manufactured wall and roof panels in conjunction with pre-assembled ‘energy pods’ providing low-carbon, high efficiency heating, hot water and renewable energy production.
Emily Braham, Head of strategy and operations at Energiesprong, says: “The energy crisis means that calls for increased energy efficiency are no longer a fringe endeavour. Yet, the question remains – how do we pay for it? This is what we aim to answer with the Energiesprong deep retrofit model.”
“Our heat pump ready project will explore how we can best deliver warm and comfortable homes for occupants while capturing secure revenue income – helping verify the business case and feeding lessons into future projects to enable rapid scale up of heat-pump retrofit solutions.”
The Heat Pump Ready Programme supports the development of innovative solutions across the heat pump sector. The project has been funded under Stream 2, which is designed to support the development of tools, technology and processes to overcome specific barriers to domestic heat pump deployment in the UK.
Energiesprong UK is a non-profit organisation that’s working to create the market conditions needed to unlock whole house retrofit – from aggregating demand and offering technical advice to supporting the supply chain and championing financing and policy change.
It’s using the social housing sector as the launchpad for the successful Dutch-developed Energiesprong model to deep retrofit, with a view to later scale to the private homeowner market. With 165+ pilot homes already delivered, there’s a ~1,500 home pipeline in place.
Carnego Solutions is a specialist in building optimization, smart building analytics, human behaviour change and the use of digital technologies in the built environment. Its Shimmy Shimmy solution continuously monitors performance and compares it to the design intent of the building, presenting data back to residents.
Simble Solutions is a global company that provides smart and nimble Software as a Service (SaaS) technology solutions. Its product SimbleSense is an energy management & Internet of Things platform which enables businesses and residential users to understand and manage their energy use.
SmartKlub partners with cities helping citizens form community energy groups and offers digital platforms to help support these projects.
Please direct all press enquiries to Emmelie Brownlee (emmelie.brownlee@energiesprong.uk)
Photo credit: Carnego
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
This funding has been made available from the government’s £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP) which provides funding for low-carbon technologies and systems. Decreasing the costs of decarbonisation, the NZIP will help enable the UK to end its contribution to climate change.
About the Heat Pump Ready Programme
Funded through the NZIP, the Heat Pump Ready Programme supports the development of innovative solutions across the heat pump sector. Heat pumps are a key solution for decarbonising homes and will be critical for meeting the UK’s commitment to achieve Net Zero by 2050.
Heat Pump Ready is being delivered in 3 Streams:
Stream 1: To design and demonstrate innovative, optimised solutions and methodologies which deliver more cost-effective and high-density deployment of domestic heat pumps.
Stream 2: To support the development of tools, technology and processes to overcome specific barriers to domestic heat pump deployment in the UK.
Stream 3: To facilitate learning and collaboration within and outside the programme, undertaking research and evaluation activities, and disseminating knowledge, evidence, and lessons to key heat pump stakeholders.
More information on the Heat Pump Ready Programme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/heat-pump-ready-programme
