Mind the Gap: Bridging the void between energy policy as business and social policy as equity

There is a gap between Energy Policy and Social Policy and the question asked by this paper is whether such a gap is inevitable, or might be avoidable, were energy policy to be calibrated to reflect social policy. Post-Covid the EU has experienced an extraordinary increase in energy cost inflation, with associated energy security severely eroded. The value of the case study project and research lies in the belief that with an increased communization of local energy sources, we can support local microgrids, balance out discrepancies in energy performance within architectural conservation areas and promote in society, a culture of understanding of energy use and disuse, attuned to the resource limits within which we need to operate. Fuel Poverty is not a predetermined destiny, if we regard energy reduction as a community endeavour, greater than the instigation of many individual heat pumps. Collective effort is always a greater resource than individual performance.
KEYWORDS: Energy Policy, nZEB, Fabric First, Social Policy, Community Energy