Planning our future London

Insulating homes should be a top priority as it is the most cost effective way to reduce emissions and save energy bills at the same time.

Council managed buildings should be prioritized in this respect and these shoukd be paid for by the council. Housing/neighbourhood associations could be established and crowd sourcing could supplement council funding along with investment from local businesses and bank partners.

Communal buildings i believe run on CCHP. These should be upgraded to be more efficient if possible. Heat pumps may be more suitable for low rise homes. These should be government subsidized.

It's crucial that councils communicate effectively with key stakeholders  (ie residents) to understand their issues and work collaboratively to implement local solutions. Invite students (e.g. architects, engineers) from local universities to do pro bono work in collaboration with contractors in small, local projects. Local students can provide invaluable insights. Suggesting this as a PhD student at QMUL in tower hamlets - I think there are plenty of missed opportunities for students to make a real impact on their local communities and learn by doing.

I live in a housing coop flat, and we are looking for ways to improve energy efficiency in our properties without needing to raise rents at this difficult time . Actually, there is a strict control over how much we are allowed to put rents up (linked to inflation). We have decided to start by insulating flats, with windows being a large part of the cost of this. Triple glazed windows lose much less heat, and as someone pointed out above, they also radically reduce the noise levels…..my own flat is in a conservation area, so we are not allowed to  change the outward appearance of the buildings, which complicates matters. At a more financially accessible price, even hanging decent curtains with thermal linings can help a lot. We are giving members insulating tape for reducing draughts in doors and windows. 
however, the big Bogey Man is the heating. Gas central heating! We all have it here. Communal heating is not generally wanted, as differing lifestyles and personal taste mean that not everyone wants to live in a hot house, and people who are on shift work (there is a train driver downstairs) need heat at various different  times of day. The council blocks in nearby Gospel Oak (Camden) were infamous for the inflexibility of their communal heating system, with people having to leave windows open 24 hours a day because it was sweltering indoors. Perhaps it’s worth doing our best with insulation to reduce gas/energy costs, and just hope that the clever innovators will find a way to make hydrogen safer for home use, as the same piping could be used. 

• If the government, the population and you went back to research, you would see that there are means of energy and heating totally free of gas emissions and without the need to produce machinery, such as panels or pumps. Please, see Nikola Tesla's free energy research. If today there are fully electric cars, why insist on outdated equipment to heat our homes?
• The challenge in changing the way we heat our homes is in your interest in assuming that there is totally free energy. How do you think electric cars were built? Because an engineer assumed it was possible to switch fossil fuels to electrical energy. Ever heard of waves? How do you think your WhatssApp messages reach you? How is it possible to make chat and video calls to people on the other side of the world? This is just an example of free energy.
• Without a doubt, what is most important in a house is its functionality, with good acoustics, a garden, or access to a good park, security and welcome. London has many old houses designed entirely to kill people (where stairs have narrow steps). Have you thought about it? How much do Londoners drink, and when they get home they have to go up or down stairs that seem more challenging than tightrope walkers? Old houses need to be demolished and build houses for PEOPLE to live with quality, with acoustic walls, good light, good heating, and space for circulation and family interaction. Destroying or reforming inappropriate and even dangerous houses and building more modern and humane ones will even ease the bills of the NHS public health system.
• If we are willing to evolve in technology (AI, robotics, cybernetic control) We should certainly invest in everything we have and the best quality in buildings. Or are we in this rich and prosperous city like London for what?

The last question is clearly slanted in the 'progressive' direction.  It's unrealisticly limited.  There are other things which would make individual areas better and limiting it to your list shows the questionaire bias.  Why did I bother.

No one seems to think of the house (flat, apartment, towerblock) as a machine. All our domestic appliances have had manufacturer energy ratings. B, A, A*
Cars, Planes etc are all considered with there energy use and energy efficencies employed through the continual design and development.

I know there are EPC ratings for buildings, However there seems little obligation, or the standards are so low that new home builders are not required to fit any of this technology.
We have been able to make houses that require minimal if not actually net contribute to the energy supply for decades, Google Passiv Haus
The technology exists.

It seems like a massive conspiracy (i doubt it really is) that Government is happy keeping us all poor paying bills for heating and light and water (even water can be captured and grey water used to reduce water bills) while energy suppliers and home builders profit.

Sure energy suppliers and developers will be upset if they have less energy to supply and home builders have to up their game (I'd wager they might even lobby agaist it - conspiracy?) but it's what we need, both finacially (who wants to pay bills?) and ecologically as we can't continue wasting energy unecesarilly.
 

Our house of 1926 in Wandsworth has solid walls as do all the surrounding Edwardian and Victorian houses. Improving their thermal efficiency is a real challenge that doesn’t seem to be addressed by national government, local government or the building industry.

as every  time a house is sold it seems to undergo major refurbishment this seems the opportunity that should be used by legislation to improve the thermal efficiency and instal alternative heat sources to gas boilers.

I have looked at changing the heating in our house from gas and concluded we would need to move out for six months whilst the changes were made.

Double glazing Victorian and Georgian buildings with sash windows is expensive and inefficient. Could other window arrangements which are visually compatible be acceptable ? This could be  a good way forward if there is to be any hope of achieving net zero and low carbon homes any time soon. 

There is a fundamental problem here, a lot of the legacy council owned social housing stock is of poor standard and design. It has not been a priority area for investment, particularly in boroughs such as Tower Hamlets and Lambeth. 

The poor quality of these blocks and lack of power of the occupants in addressing the issues has an impact on the social wellbeing which then impacts their mental and physical wellbeing. 

These blocks should be demolished and replaced with well designed buildings. This will come at an increased cost per dwelling but the long term benefits will be significant. 

The simplest solution is to update building standards to include the required energy efficiency performance and allow that to be met naturally during renovations. Let the professionals decide how to meet the standards and stop pushing "soundbite" point solutions. Don't allow non-compliant devices to be sold.

Provide high performance insulation options at volume cost price, making it affordable. As an alternative to taxing more to inflate business profits. Make it so accessible it becomes an obvious choice.

There needs to be some proper planning at scale for insulating buildings, so the work can be economically completed to a high standard. Ideally neighbourhoods at a time. Where is the labour coming from for this large scale work and at what timescale?

Asking people to upgrade to electric cars, heating, hot water and cooking will just push the electricity grid to capacity. Where is the infrastructure planning to match the current unit economics thinking, how does that scale to a macro view?

Installing appliances needs to remain a competitive environment to encourage innovation and create continual increases in efficiencies. People need to be able to make choices that fit their budgets, so repairs remain affordable.

Communal heating in new or existing flats is more efficient and annual running costs can be factored in with renting/buying the property, but there should also be the option to have independent units for those that want to control their costs. A key issue with communal systems is preventing windows being opened with heating on, because its too hot.

The unspoken problem with many of these schemes is whilst City Hall may have large pockets from the inflation busting tax increases and expanding ULEZ, the rest of the population do not. Consider the cost of living for most and instead put the money back to Londoners, reverse your revenue generating schemes.

I have long wanted to be able to make our home (1903 London terrace on three floors) more energy efficient.  We are about to complete the installation of high quality double-glazed windows, and we have replaced all radiators with new, more efficient ones.  An air-source heat pump would be great as an aim, but we’d have a lot to do to make that possible: underfloor insulation; upgrading the very poor wall insulation; installing solar panels (our roof alignment is not ideal) and a storage battery.  These steps will be very expensive, and I am not at all sure how wall insulation can be improved for a house like ours.  I am sure that clear leads and support from government will be vitally important in encouraging these kinds of upgrades.

I guess we all have to be prepared to make sacrifices if we are to face up to the challenges of climate change; that may mean putting up with ugly-looking external insulation, but, were practicable alternatives to become available that would be much better.

All new buildings should be built to the highest environmental standards.  Initial outlay may be higher, but cost benefits will come through over time.  New blocks of flats should be required to provide communal energy facilities, for example, ground-source heat pumps that can provide hot water and power for all dwellings.  Existing estates where communal heating has been decommissioned and where piping and other infrastructure remain, should have those heating systems recommissioned.