A LACK of understanding and awareness of environmentally-friendly technologies may be holding back a green homes revolution in Scotland which it is estimated to be worth £8 billion to the nation's economy over 20 years.

An infrastructure programme to expand home insulation and the construction of heat networks would create at least 9,000 jobs across the country, while supporting all homes to be warm, comfortable and energy efficient, says WWF Scotland.

But the environmental group say that better awareness of the technologies, systems and benefits, as well as a clear steer from government, local authorities and businesses would mean that the nation could get to work now on creating jobs and warmer homes. They say transforming how we heat our homes and buildings could be a cornerstone of a just and green economic recovery post-Covid.

WWF says WWF’s green new deal for homes would include bringing all homes up to a minimum standard of energy efficiency by 2030, building many new low-carbon heat networks over the next five years and switching hundreds of thousands of homes from fossil fuel heating to heat pumps by 2030.

Fabrice Leveque, head of policy at WWF Scotland said: "A quarter of people in Scotland are living in fuel poverty. And with more people than ever before working from home, and many of us dreading the high fuel bills that come in each winter, proper investment in energy efficiency and better housing will help cut energy bills, tackle poverty and slash emissions.

“A sustained programme of investment in energy efficiency for our homes would create thousands of jobs, and for every £1 invested, it would deliver £5 back. It would also prepare homes for low-carbon heating systems like heat networks and heat pumps.

However, while Scotland could be on the brink of a heating revolution, lack of awareness about the technologies and their economic benefits may be holding us back, the charity says.

“Scotland already has some great examples of low-carbon heat projects, from innovative heat networks in Stirling to UK-leading insulation programmes that are making low-income households more energy efficient, healthier and warmer. With better awareness of the technologies, systems and benefits, as well as a clear steer from government, local authorities and businesses could get to work now on creating jobs and warmer homes. This would lead to tenants and home -owners reaping the benefits of warmer homes and better air quality," said Mr Leveque.

“We’re also calling for clear ambition from government on deploying tried and tested heat network technology in towns and cities across Scotland. This would give local manufacturers and installers the green light to get to work.”

The Scottish Government launched new cash-back incentives in December 2020 to help householders pay for improving home energy efficiency and low-carbon heating solutions.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The pace of decarbonising Scotland’s domestic and non-domestic buildings has to increase significantly to help end Scotland’s contribution to climate change, which is why we are taking bold, near-term action. As set out in our recently published updated Climate Change Plan the reducing emissions from Scotland’s buildings will involve changing the type of heating in over 2 million existing homes and 100,000 non-domestic buildings by 2045. By 2030 we want to see at least 50% of Scotland’s homes and buildings heated using zero emission heating systems, like heat pumps and heat networks.

“Our Programme for Government has committed to investing £1.6 billion over the next 5 years to transform the way we heat our homes and buildings including making them more energy efficient. This investment will directly support up to 5,000 jobs and will also help tackle fuel poverty.

“Last year we introduced the Heat Networks (Scotland) Bill which if passed by the Scottish Parliament will regulate the sector for the first time helping to secure and accelerate investment in this tried and tested technology. We are also currently consulting on plans for all new-build homes to have zero-emission heating systems from 2024.

“We will shortly publish a draft Heat in Buildings Strategy setting out further detail on our plans and policies to further accelerate the decarbonisation of homes and buildings across Scotland.”