A new digital service to help homeowners improve the energy performance of their homes and cut their energy bills has just been launched by the Housing Minister Christopher Pincher.

The idea is to make it easier for landlords and homeowners wanting to buy or sell their property to find an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) assessor. But it’s not all about sales. EPCs are also a really useful tool for helping improve the energy performance of buildings. The Government estimates that by making better use of them, property owners could save around £600 a year each by making improvements such as increasing insulation, or installing double glazing or low-carbon heating.

Buildings are responsible for around 40% of the UK’s energy consumption and carbon emissions. The way our homes are lit, heated and used makes a huge difference to our carbon footprint, so we've all got a part to play in tackling climate change just by the way we behave at home.

So the message is that EPCs are a good thing for homeowners but how do you go about getting one? The answer is that a new online register has been set up in the form of a website that gives easy access to information on more than 27 million energy assessments. It means residents and landlords can easily find an EPC assessor in their area so they can get their own EPC - and hopefully then take action to improve the energy performance of their property.

In tandem with the Green Homes Grant there is a big push going on to help us all get to grips with energy efficiency - and help us pay for it. Whether or not any of this will hit home with property owners is another question altogether, so the Government needs to really push and publicise both these initiatives if it is going to meet its target of net zero emissions by 2050.