The climate change battle is now at a crucial point where sustainable buildings are vital, not only to ensure the long-term safety of the planet, but to help businesses and homeowners navigate surging energy costs. Unfortunately fuel poverty is becoming increasingly prevalent, business energy costs are increasingly challenging and the impact of fossil fuels on our planet is starkly evident.

Eighty per cent of homes in 2045 will be the homes we live in today and therein lies a dilemma: How do we achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2045/50 when most of these homes and some of the of 23,000 new builds typically completed each year still do not feature the essential, integrated, flexible renewable energy technologies which will help us get there affordably?

The rate at which we are switching from dependence on coal, gas and oil may not be fast enough to satisfy climate activists, but new analysis from the International Energy Agency (IEA), published last week shows that global investment in clean energy is now outstripping investment in fossil fuel production.

Pulling on an extra sweater, half filling the kettle to make a cup of tea and religiously turning off the lights are just some of the adjustments we find ourselves making in the face of spiralling energy costs and global warming. With the government’s Energy Price Guarantee Scheme becoming less generous, an ending to the energy bills support scheme for households, and the introduction of the new Energy Discount Schemes for Business (EDSB), we may well collectively take a sharp intake of breath at the thought of even higher energy pricing to come.

Energy prices skyrocketing, rising inflation rates and a potential year-long recession, the immediate economic picture for the UK looks bleak.

With more bad news appearing on our TV screens and front pages every day, consumers and business owners are desperately trying to plan for a difficult few years ahead.