Metis has Built a Model for Mass Low-Carbon Retrofit
Tom Woolley argues that the UK has tested retrofit solutions long enough. With Metis’s model successfully proven in Oxfordshire, the country must now deliver fully-funded retrofit at scale.
Proven Success in Oxfordshire
Local authorities and policymakers have long called for innovation to enable home retrofit. According to SMS Products & Strategy Director Tom Woolley, the innovation stage is complete. The partnership between Metis and Oxfordshire County Council has demonstrated that large-scale low-carbon retrofit is technically, financially, and socially viable.
The Challenge of Adoption
The urgent task is to shift from pilot projects to widespread delivery, making retrofit as simple and scalable as a mobile phone subscription. The technologies required for decarbonising homes—solar panels, batteries, and heat pumps—have existed and proven effective for decades, with costs rapidly decreasing.
What’s Missing: A Delivery Model
- The critical barrier has not been the technology but rather the lack of an accessible, affordable, and trusted delivery model for ordinary households.
- Many pilots focused on testing individual technologies instead of refining the process of getting these technologies installed in homes.
- Consequently, progress has stalled, risking the UK missing key Net Zero targets unless proven innovations are scaled up effectively.
Barriers Facing Local Authorities and Households
Both local authorities and households struggle with limited funding, fragmented supply chains, and complex procurement processes. Government funding alone cannot cover the total retrofit cost, while private finance is often excluded due to uncertainties.
"Through its partnership with Oxfordshire County Council, Metis has proven that large-scale low-carbon retrofit works technically, financially, and socially."
"This is the moment to move from pilots to delivery and make retrofit as simple and scalable as a mobile phone subscription."
"Many pilots have focused on testing individual technologies rather than fixing the process that gets them into homes."
Author's summary: Metis’s proven model in Oxfordshire shows that the UK must now scale fully-funded retrofits, overcoming financial and delivery barriers to meet Net Zero goals.
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