£10m competition for innovative solutions to improve the energy efficiency and performance of housing stock

The Technology Strategy Board is to launch a new £10m competition for innovative solutions to improve the energy efficiency and environmental performance of the UK's housing stock.

The competition, announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, will invite proposals for suppliers to design and install new high performance solutions to dramatically improve the energy efficiency of houses.

The competition, labelled Retrofit for the Future, will be launched in March. Companies will be invited to bid for contracts to work with social housing providers, refurbishing example buildings and evaluating their environmental performance.

Richard Miller, Low Impact Buildings Innovation Platform Leader with the Technology Strategy Board, said 'We have to act now to meet this challenge. The UK has a target for an 80% cut in carbon emissions from buildings by 2050 - yet well over half of the homes we will be living in by then already exist today.

'Current technology does not have all the answers. This demonstration programme will encourage and support companies large and small, giving them fully-funded contracts to develop innovative solutions which can dramatically increase the environmental performance of our existing homes.'

Iain Gray, Technology Strategy Board Chief Executive, said 'In the current difficult economic climate, innovation is more important than ever. This competition is part of our drive to help business meet the major challenges of our day and build new markets through innovative technology.'

The competition and demonstration programme, to be launched in March 2009 under the Low Impact Buildings Innovation Platform, will aim to deliver a minimum of 50 demonstration prototypes and will be managed by the Technology Strategy Board in collaboration with social landlords.