CASP Home Energy Project
'Keeping warm, lowering bills, cooling the planet'
CASP’s successful application for funding from the Government’s Community Energy Fund, administered by the Greater South East Net Zero Hub, and has enabled the CASP Home Energy Project to investigate how to make home energy saving improvements easier and more affordable for all.
Nearly 50% of our total energy consumption in the villages is for heating our homes! This is partially due to our dependence on oil boilers for heating, and our older housing stock which may be more difficult to insulate. ​
To increase the uptake of new technology, and to help overcome barriers to home energy improvements, the CASP Home Energy Project aims to look at the barriers to installation of low carbon options in a range of housing types, develop the best options for each, and identify their costs and benefits.
Without funding, making these changes will continue to be on an individual household basis and will therefore be slower than if approached collectively.
To accelerate the installation of zero carbon energy options, the CASP Home Energy Project aims to upskill the community with an understanding of our options, and to work with local installers, investigate economies of scale, and test alternative finance and business models.
Here's how the process works:
1. Understand the housing stock by looking at EPCs, heat sources, building characteristics and age to develop a set of housing “archetypes”.
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2. Engage the community on their home energy use and obstacles to retrofit.
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3. Carry out free retrofit assessments for 6 sample households, recommend suitable energy-saving improvements and estimate their potential impact on energy consumption, comfort and costs.
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4. Develop and test local energy and retrofit business models at a household level and at the community scale. We will map viable funding routes for each archetype including self-funding, grants, and loans. We’ll also consider options for community-led business models that can deliver retrofit services locally.
Get involved and help us help the community!
Project progress update!
February 2026
Our Eco Fair will be the project closing event - join us to find out more!
As we approach the final stages of our Home Energy Project and prepare for our Eco Fair on April 25th, we are excited to share the results of our hard work over the past 10 months.
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After analysing our villages’ housing stock, the Centre for Energy Equality were able to identify 6 ‘archetypes’ of our homes (typical villages homes). In depth assessments have now been carried out on 6 typical homes to produce detailed plans for how they can be made warmer and cheaper to heat.
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Our focus now shifts to making the results of these assessments as useful and actionable as possible for both our villages, and even beyond. We are producing home upgrade pathways that correspond to each archetype, and based on different priorities – whether its cutting carbon, cutting costs, warmth and comfort, or all the above!
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We will be publishing the full results on the website once ready, and sharing them at the project’s closing event: Shipbourne and Plaxtol Eco Fair on April 25th! Join us to discover the ideal home upgrade pathway for your own property, to meet installers, and to speak to advisors in depth. Along with fun for the whole family!
Project Launch Event
June 2025 - Project kick off
On June 28th 2025, we were joined by Communities for Renewables, Centre for Energy Equality and Community Energy Pathways and Councillor Robin Betts for the launch event of the Home Energy Project at Plaxtol Memorial Hall!
We heard about:
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The CASP Home Energy Project
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Easy first steps for home energy saving (the ‘fabric first approach’)
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Affordable, low-carbon, alternative heating systems
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Review of what grants are available
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1:1 energy advice
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Retrofit /home upgrade success stories ​
