The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has dismayed sustainability circles with a report which points out how long it can take to repay the cost of some home energy saving devices.

Its Greener Homes Price Guide says some green solutions for home owners can produce worthwhile cost savings such as the £440 for cavity wall insulation in a terraced house or £2,400 for a detached which could typically save £145 a year. But it contrasts this with solar panels costing £4-5,000 which would, at the time the report was prepared last year, save as little as £24 a year, with a 200 year pay back period.

Energy prices have risen since 2007 and RICS says solar panels will now save between £50 and £82.50 a year, but the payback period would still be 60 to 100 years and such long payback periods would still have to factor in the cost of replacing life-expired panels (not done in the original report) pushing the payback period back above 200 years. Average occupancy of a house is just 16 years.

“We all have a role to play in helping to reduce our carbon footprint, be it through changes to our behaviour or by choosing greener alternatives,” said RICS Building Cost Information Service executive director Joe Martin. “The reality is, however, that most people struggle with the cost, time, and effort it takes to make these changes.”

He said the Guide would give comprehensive information on green upgrades and would protect them from being “duped” into changes that would not save money or would do little to reduce their carbon footprint.“We encourage governments and companies not just here in the UK, but all over the world to continue to invest more in the research and development of green technologies,” he said.

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