The National Home Decarbonisation Group (NHDG) is for Tier 1 retrofit contractors and energy suppliers delivering large-scale, high-quality home decarbonisation installations in a PAS compliant manner to all tenures of UK housing, directly for the client.
Leading the change to drive large-scale, high-quality home decarbonisation across the UK
What is the National Home Decarbonisation Group?
NHDG members are involved in large-scale social housing frameworks for energy efficiency measures installation and are closely involved in delivering schemes under the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and other projects funded directly by local authorities and housing providers in the UK.
Derek Horrocks chairs the group, bringing forth his expertise from chairing the National Insulation Association. The Secretariat is provided by Gemserv.
Our Impact
The continuation of national and devolved government support for the decarbonisation of roughly 28 million homes across the UK is critical not just for meeting UK net zero targets by 2050, but also to provide the confidence needed to invest in the necessary skills training and employment of the retrofit workforce needed to install these measures.
The industry has seen commitment to retrofit projects diluted or under-funded previously and we believe that central and devolved government needs to receive a strong, positive and consistent message from experienced contractors to confirm the ability of the supply chain to deliver targets.
The core focus of the NHDG is to deliver area-based, large-scale, high-quality retrofit in a PAS compliant manner to all tenures across the UK. This approach has led to the NHDG becoming a respected and trusted partner to government, helping to shape policy and drive the sector to deliver essential decarbonisation targets. The NHDG also provides a forum for the sharing of best practice in technical, operational and strategic collaboration toward the shared goals for UK decarbonisation.
We create impact by shaping and encouraging robust policy frameworks that support the delivery of high-quality home decarbonisation solutions for homes and buildings. Effective implementation of policy is key, and we work collaboratively with our members and policymakers across the UK.
In its first year, the group successfully called for the release of further Social Housing Decarbonisation Funding (SHDF) and has supported the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in multiple policy workshops to help shape scheme policy for SHDF Wave 3. The NHDG members have continued to contribute at roundtables with stakeholders from across the industry including the International Energy Agency, London Councils and the Greater London Authority and have attended numerous discussions with senior civil servants and ministers, clearly indicating the growing presence of the group across the sector.
You can find out more about the NHDG’s activity by visiting our working group pages that focus on our three core pillars:
SKILLS
Working with our strategic partner, The Retrofit Academy, we will lead the development of quality retrofit training across the UK.
INNOVATION
Maintaining the status quo will just not ‘cut it’ in terms of delivering on the UK’s Net Zero targets so the sector must innovate to support significant growth. This group will lead innovation in the sector.
POLICY
Properly shaped, Government support for continued delivery is essential. Too many opportunities have been missed due to large projects not being funded in time. We will work directly with government to make clear the views of the ‘at scale’ delivery organisations across UK.
NHDG Chairperson
Derek Horrocks
Derek is a respected industry leader in decarbonisation, with a passion for improving the sustainability of homes across the UK. He established the National Home Decarbonisation Group (NHDG) in 2023, and actively engages with government to develop new standards and improvements in the sector. His commitment to this sector has been recognised and he was awarded the ‘Unlock Net Zero Climate Champion’ in 2024.
Derek is the chairperson and owner of Sustainable Building Services (UK) Ltd who are a fast growing, major nationwide turnkey solutions provider in the home decarbonisation sector, with 45 years’ experience specialising in energy efficiency, low carbon heating and microgeneration retrofits to the social, private and private rented sectors on a large scale. In addition to the NHDG, he also chairs the National Insulation Association (NIA), a trade body representing members that provide fully accredited and professionally installed insulation solutions to the UK market.
Derek also launched Sustainable Smart Technologies Ltd in 2024, which specialises in providing a state-of-the-art proptech solution for evaluating and monitoring energy efficiency technologies and how they are used in homes to maximise outcomes.
