Be part of a ground-breaking home retrofit pilot in Lewes

OneZero is a group on a mission to make it practical and affordable for as many householders as possible to make their homes super-energy efficient. And it’s looking for homes, streets and communities in Lewes to sign up to its exciting pilot. Co-founder Howard Johns explains more.

It’s a stark moment. Energy prices have jumped massively. Energy supply is being used as a bargaining chip in a war in Europe. Fuel poverty is on the rise. And many of us still live in leaky inefficient homes that add substantially to global warming.

Meanwhile, India is experiencing a deadly heatwave, with no sign of cooling down.

It’s hard to know how to respond to so many complex factors that feel so out of our control.

Taking action at home
For many people in Lewes the response has been to take action at home, in our town. Our success with our community energy company Ovesco, and welcoming home retrofits, is a testament to Lewes’ commitment and desire to address these challenges. But looking around the town there are still loads of homes that haven’t been insulated, haven’t got heat pumps, or solar generation on the roof. Clearly there’s still a challenge in enabling normal homeowners to go on the retrofit journey.

In so many ways, fixing our buildings is the most doable action we can take to significantly reduce climate change and create positive impact. Our buildings contribute nearly 40% of global carbon emissions, and 90% of building-related emissions could be avoided through the use of renewable energy, better insulation, efficient appliances, lighting, and cooling systems. Having buildings that are not spewing pollution and are not too cold also improves health and happiness across the board. Most people don’t really register the fact that localised air pollution is caused in our homes by cooking on gas, and outside by our gas boilers. All of this can badly affect our health.

However, working out what can be done on each individual home, and also how to finance it, is a complex and time-consuming process. Multiple contractors all with a different offering – many only offering one technology – different metrics to indicate what would be best… Understandably, it seems like a minefield to navigate. Not only that, many of the measures offered need capital to make them happen. And loads of people who want to take action just don’t have the money. Often that means people don’t do anything.

Can you relate?

Making retrofit affordable
OneZero are trying to change that. We want to make it so that it becomes a no-brainer to retrofit your home with green technology.

Our mission is to make home energy transformation as affordable as possible, for as many as possible, as quickly as possible. Home energy transformation involves working out how to make your home warmer, more energy efficient, cheaper to run, and better for the planet. It may be that your home needs more insulation, better windows, solar panels or a heat pump – or all of those things. We intend to work out how to make this possible even if you are not able to finance the measures upfront yourself, by offering a range of financing plans, which should enable you to fix your bills, and massively reduce your exposure to future price hikes.

Be part of the OneZero pilot
We’re so proud of the retrofit changes that have already happened in Lewes. And we’re excited to invite you to take part in a pilot for our new venture. Our plan is that OneZero quickly becomes a global business, significantly reducing carbon emissions, and empowering homeowners to make meaningful change. We know that real change can happen from our own home. That’s why we’re piloting here in Lewes first.

We want to turn areas of Lewes into a community green power station that we are all part of, which generates and stores energy locally, and tips the current system on its head.

Do you want to be part of it?

What you need to do
We are looking to gauge appetite for a pilot of this idea in Lewes. Once we reach a critical mass of potential home retrofits, later this year we aim to deliver a project for people – like solar on roofs and heat pumps etc. What we need to understand from you at this stage, is simply whether you are interested in what we are proposing. You can show your interest by filling out this survey: https://airtable.com/shr8XCSCyRXVrEh64

And you can explore more about OneZero here: www.onezero.energy

We would be really grateful if you could share this all with your neighbours and friends too! We are trying to get as many people in Lewes to engage with this mission as possible. We are also keen to hear from people in other areas, to work out what other communities would like to take part in home transformation next. So please do fill in and share!

We’re so excited to go on this journey with you!

Howard Johns, and Team OneZero