A cluster of terraced homes in a UK town will share a single ground-source heat pump network, cutting household energy bills by over 80 percent. The project tackles a specific failure: 10 million UK terraced homes are unsuitable for individual air-source heat pumps due to space and noise constraints, yet only about 7,000 such pumps were installed in the first year of the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme. Individual householder decisions are too slow for the decarbonisation timeline. The solution is a Smart Local Energy System that combines shared ambient-loop ground-source heat pumps, community-owned battery storage, rooftop solar, an electric-vehicle car club, and peer-to-peer power purchase agreements. Residents pay no upfront cost. If the model works, it gives even the smallest local authorities a replicable, non-grant-dependent blueprint for decarbonising the hardest-to-retrofit homes. The wider impact would be on energy infrastructure: reducing peak grid load from electric boilers, enabling community wealth building, and creating local jobs in retrofit and renewable energy—without leaving terraced neighbourhoods behind.
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**Summary**: Net Zero Terrace Streets (NZTS) will produce a place based, whole systems, replicable and scalable model for decarbonisation of mixed-tenure terraced housing. It will support energy transition for left behind communities, reduce bills by over 80%, develop a solution for the hardest to decarbonise homes and provide a model for even the smallest local authorities to adopt to support delivery of net-zero targets. **Problem**: There are 10 million terraced homes in the UK. Many are not suitable for Air Source heat pumps due to space and noise constraints. The community we are focused on is not currently appropriate for heat zoning or centralised solutions and is dependent upon electric boilers, which are expensive to run and cumulatively, place a large load on the grid. This and similar communities rely on unplanned, unphased, and individualistic transition. However, individual homes will not deploy at the speed we need to decarbonise. Failure for uptake in ASHPs and retrofit to date (only approx. 7000 ASHPs in the first year of Boiler Upgrade Scheme), demonstrates that we have yet to find solutions that survive contact with individual householders. **Solution**: NZTS is a Smart Local Energy Solution (SLES) comprising a cluster approach to shared, ambient loop ground source heat pumps (GSHPs), community owned storage, solar photovoltaic (PV) EV car club and charging and local peer-to-peer Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). NZTS will create a non-grant dependent alternative that can allow communities to access affordable, low carbon energy and healthy warm homes, at no upfront cost, reducing bills by over 80%. **Engagement**: Without community acceptance and uptake, critical mass cannot be attained. The approach is led by the community, for the community through a collaborative and co-production process. Community representatives (both elected members and other local leaders) will co-create a whole community approach that embeds change. **Impact**: The model is designed to allow smaller local authorities to participate, overcoming challenges on resource and finance whilst bringing inclusive growth, community wealth building, new jobs, skills and training, improved housing, and the correlated health benefits. It is a phenomenal opportunity for local communities and local authorities. Central to this ethical model is a non-extractive premise that enables a fair transition, both now and into the future as the benefits of smart meters, flexibility and SLES advance.
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