Hello and welcome to the programme. If we are to build back better post-COVID, as per the slogan,

we're going to be doing a lot to get to a net zero carbon emitting future. It's a clear goal,

it's science motivated, and it builds on the sense of collective endeavour and sacrifice that we've accumulated during the pandemic. But to get to

net zero, we have to make our homes net zero, getting rid of gas, putting electricity in its place,

and making the electricity non-carbon as well. It can be done, but there's a lot to do. And we thought

we'd look at the business challenge today. How do you get households

from here to there? Securing consumer take-up of the requisite technology will be quite a task.

Now, before we go into the business challenge, let's hear from a man who has taken it up with

gusto. Barry Hughes and his wife, Pat, moved into their house

at Springfield Meadows in Oxfordshire nine months ago. They had the desire and the money to build a new

home and they decided to make it almost completely zero carbon in a whole lot of different ways.

We thought we'd hear Barry telling us about it. For example,

the house sits on a raised foundation floating on polystyrene to stop heat loss from the floor.

But that's just the start. They build the house with panels. These panels are probably about 300, 350 mill thick,

with infill of hemp and lime, which is great insulation values. The insulation on the roof is probably about foot 18 inches, maybe two foot deep.

So you get a great insulation on the ceiling, so you're living in your own bubble.

And you've got solar panels on the roof?

Yeah, which obviously helps to defray the energy costs.

We're all electric, so the whole house is based on electric.

We have a heat air pump, which generates the hot water,

which heats the underwater pipes in the concrete slab in the floor. So we have under floor heating.

And everything else is electric, cooking, lighting, etc., etc.

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