Luton Borough Council

07/11/2023 - Luton's new low-carbon retrofit home open for visits

Visit our retrofit home this autumn and find out how you can reduce energy bills and carbon emissions in your own home.

Luton Council and its airport company Luton Rising have opened a retrofit home in Luton to show homeowners and landlords how they can reduce energy bills and carbon emissions in their own properties.

During the summer, a three-bedroom property in Abbots Wood Road was retrofitted with the following low-carbon and energy-efficient improvement measures:

triple-glazed doors and windows
air source heat pump
solar panels and battery system
snergy-efficient lighting

Together, the measures are expected to save around two tonnes of carbon emissions and around £660 on energy bills at the address each year.

The retrofit home is open this autumn for visitors to see the measures installed and operating, and bookings can be made to visit the house.

The property was opened by Luton North and South MPs Sarah Owen and Rachel Hopkins.

Cllr Tom Shaw, portfolio holder for housing and climate change, said the project is aimed at supporting Luton’s 2040 vision for a net zero town where no-one has to live in poverty.

He said: “The key aims of the project are to help people reduce their home energy bills and help meet our net-zero targets as a town. Landlords, housing providers, private homeowners and students are among those who may be especially interested in visiting.”

Over the coming months, a number of practical solutions designed to reduce heat loss and improve the efficiency of space and water heating will be assessed, and cost and efficiency data gathered.

Working with HACT, the charity of the social housing sector, the scheme will also generate Retrofit Credits: a carbon credits scheme that verifies the emission reductions and social value of retrofit projects and which seeks to unlock additional funding.

Cllr Javeria Hussain, Chair of Luton Rising, said: “There are too many families in Luton living in fuel poverty, including people who are risking their health because they cannot afford to put on the heating. This project offers practical and affordable steps.

“It will also allow us to explore the potential of a locally-based carbon off-setting scheme for Luton and so also supports work aimed at tackling the climate emergency.”

Pictured are Luton MPs Sarah Owen and Rachel Hopkins with Councillors Tom Shaw and Amy Nicholls, the vice chair of Luton Rising, with contractors who helped fit out the retrofit home.