The Technology Strategy Board and Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the launch of the scheme which will help homes across 87 sites around the country. The scheme is worth a total of £17 million.

It has also been announced that £150,000 funding has been awarded to the Yorkshire city for refurbishing six social housing properties. The properties will be refurbished according to the government’s Code for Sustainable Homes.

Measures could include double glazing in windows, which can help to reduce heat loss by half and make homes naturally warmer. Insulation will also be a key factor, as well as renewable energy technology which will help residents to save further on energy bills.

Matthew Spittles, who announced the news and is operations director at 2010 Rotherham, was quoted saying that the project will provide ‘health and lifestyle benefits’ as well as cost savings on fuel bills to ‘eventually eradicate fuel poverty’.

Greenwich Council has also been awarded £170,000 thanks to the same scheme. The money will be spent on the same number of properties, though it also includes an effort to show that even older homes can be made energy efficient thanks to work being done on an 80 year old property.

The survey, MOT Your Home, revealed that over three quarters of buyers (76%) now look at energy efficiency as a factor as to whether they should buy a particular home.

Architect and TV presenter, George Clarke, commented on the results, saying ‘it’s reassuring to know that more and more people are taking their home and their carbon footprint seriously’. He also added that people seem to realise that green living brings extra added value, including making homes more valuable and saving money on energy bills.

When it comes to the particular measures that impress buyers the most, loft insulation came in first place. Close behind was cavity wall insulation and double glazing in windows and doors. Double glazing, as well as saving an average of £135 a year on energy bills, has the added bonus of giving the property an upgrade in the way it looks.

Homes that include these energy efficient features will be naturally warmer. Not only does this mean that they will be cheaper to heat, but they will also be more comfortable to live in – staying warmer in cold winter months and cooler on hot summer days.

Energy efficient boilers were also high on the list of concerns for potential buyers, and property owners can visit the Energy Saving Trust to see if they are eligible for money off a boiler upgrade.

Research also suggests that, once people move into a new home, popular improvements include renewable energy generation.

Disused land was used for the project in North Wingfield, and the homes were built by William Davis. The homes constitute two bedroom bungalows designed for the over 55s.

A new resident of the community, Judy Owen, stated that she can’t find fault with anything and that her home is ‘warm, comfortable and environmentally-friendly’.

The development received a grant from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, helping them to install renewable heating systems for maximum energy efficiency. Homes are also made more comfortable with the addition of double glazing in windows, making properties naturally warmer by reducing the heat lost through windows.

These measures will also help to save people a large amount of money on their energy bills, which is especially important after the cold winter the UK has experienced.

Other modern energy efficient features of the properties include storage space for recyclable materials, a charging point for mobility scooters, and a secure space to store bikes.

All of the homes have been built to meet the standards of level for in the Code for Sustainable Homes criteria set by the government. This code states that homes must meet a minimum standard when it comes to energy use and carbon emissions, as well as following rules when it comes to the materials that are used.

More properties built to these standards will help the government meet its high energy efficiency targets for properties in the near future.

A number of energy efficient measures were included to make the property more eco friendly, including loft insulation and an extra fifteen centimetres of thickness added to the interior walls to help keep heat inside the property.

Double glazing was also installed in windows, containing argon gas between the layers of glass to help keep as much heat inside as possible. Added measures include solar panels to help reduce bills and even sell power to the national grid.

On top of utility savings, the property has also already increased in value by £25,000 thanks to these upgrades.

Kevin McCloud, of Grand Designs, said that ‘it is vital that we cut our carbon emissions and meet these targets - and our homes are the obvious place to start.’ He also said that a nationwide program is needed to help improve the wide variety of housing types across the country. The government also needs to find ways to help people with the upfront costs, after which they will benefit from cheaper energy bills.

Over 8,000 people entered into the competition, and five homes were chosen at random to benefit from the upgrades. Runners up will still receive over £5,000 worth of green upgrades, energy consultations and more.

The National Home Improvement Council (NHIC) director, Andrew Leech, said that a total of 50,000 houses are going to have to be retrofitted each year if the government is to meet its carbon reduction targets by 2050.

There are a number of grants and schemes in place to help householders make upgrades to homes, such as by installing loft insulation or upgrading boilers. However, it has been claimed that more must be done to encourage further green home improvements to make residential properties more eco friendly.

One of the possible suggested solutions was to introduce mortgages that require buyers to improve energy efficiency of homes by around 50 percent, or to refuse finance in cases where properties don’t meet minimum standards. Buyers would then be encouraged to install new measures such as energy efficient double glazing in windows or renewable energy systems.

Homeowners could also benefit from the idea, thanks to the fact that energy efficient properties can help to save money on annual energy bills.

Leech said that ‘my feeling is that is just around the corner’.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change figures show that carbon emissions from residential property rose in 2008, by 3.2 percent.

The comparison website, uSwitch.com, has said that the firm now offer the lowest energy plan when buying online. The annual cost is around £889, standing at £10 cheaper than the nearest contender, British Gas.

Moneysupermarket.com have also stated that switching to an online fuel direct debit tariff can help to save an average of £325 each year, when compared to standard tariffs paying by cheque or cash. The standard direct debit tariff offered by First:Utility also comes in at around £8 cheaper than British Gas, at £1,074 per year.

uSwitch.com energy expert, Emma Bush, said that this is a great challenge to the dominance of the big six residential property owners, and that First:Utility ‘stands a very good chance of shaking up the market’.

However, it has recently been claimed by Ratedpeople.com that homeowners should be thinking more about ways in which they can reduce their energy bills by making homes more energy efficient. Measures such as double glazing can help to save £135 off annual energy bills, by reducing heat lost through windows. This will also help to protect against future predicted price rises for years to come.

Founder of whatgreenhome.com, Gordon Miller, said that financial incentives will help to encourage the public to take up a number of eco friendly options.

He said that ‘you have got to incentivise people. Lots of people will think: ‘I’m all for this. I want to do my bit for the environment, but not at a cost to myself’.’

The current economic climate has also meant that certain measures, such as renewable energy, have been unrealistic to install. Many homeowners simply do not recognise the financial benefits in terms of energy saving and, when they do, they may not have the money to pay for the improvements upfront.

The government has worked out a trial across 500 homes in England that will allow them to test out cost efficient and effective ways of giving houses ‘energy makeovers’. This will include measures ranging from replacing windows with double glazing to installing the latest energy metres and renewable energy technology.

Homes that participate in the scheme will be given an opportunity to invest in microgeneration and energy efficiency with no upfront costs. Instead, they will repay the costs of the improvements spread across a large period of time – meaning that the costs will be offset by the amount of money saved on energy bills.

Director of the National Home Improvement Council, Andrew Leech, said that in order to meet government targets for carbon emissions, older homes must be completely overhauled. This includes replacing inefficient boilers with A rated models, as well as installing double glazing in windows and insulation in lofts and walls.

Leech said that ‘it is very important to have a boiler which is a high efficiency one, is a high tech boiler [and] which can provide you with 90 to 95 per cent’. Doing so could help to save a large amount on monthly energy bills, especially when combined with other energy saving measures and improvements.

Leech added that gas boilers that were installed as long ago as fifteen years may still be present in many homes across the country. These boilers are only 30 to 40 per cent efficient in terms of how much energy is turned into heat.

Those planning to invest in a new boiler should check to find out whether they are eligible for the current scrappage scheme, which could provide a £400 voucher towards the cost of a new boiler.

theEnergyCrowd have stated that a solar chimney can be fitted to the side of a house, extracting the warm air, spreading it through the house. The chimney itself is double glazed, allowing it to reach temperatures of up to 40 degrees Centigrade. A fan will help the air to circulate around the home, and only works when the sun is shining.

The recent ‘big freeze’ in the UK has meant that households are using double the amount of energy they are used to, according to engineer and founder of theEnergyCrowd, Paul Kruger. He states that this passive solar technology could be a fantastic opportunity for the double glazing industry.

Kruger explained that over 39% of non-transport energy is being used on heating domestic spaces, so this low cost technology could be the perfect way for people to make their homes and energy usage more green.

theEnergyCrowd are also looking into developing technology that will help to keep conservatories cool during the summer. A full working model is planned to be installed sometime this year, working by collecting excess heat and using it to warm the ground around the house.

20,000 homes signed up to the Home Insulation Scheme in the first few weeks of its launch, to make use of the ‘personalised energy saving advice and greener home energy reports’.

The good news for homeowners is that a further 5,500 homes are being referred for discounts on cavity wall and loft insulation, as the government announced that added funding has been given to the initiative.

Next year the Scottish government will be setting aside a further £10 million. Some of this money will also be used on a new scheme, known as a ‘universal access scheme’ which will offer free insulation to around 90,000 homes across the country.

Alex Neil, housing and communities minister, said that ‘Scotland is leading the way on reducing our carbon footprint’ by installing modern measures that will help to meet new ambitious targets. He added that ‘people are being given the opportunity to do their bit for the environment.’

On top of these insulation measures, the Energy Saving Trust also recommends energy efficient UPVC double glazing for those who want to cut the heat lost through their windows in half. This can make homes naturally warmer and more comfortable, as well as dealing with other issues such as noise pollution and security.