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As a result of poor insulation, £1 in every £3 spent heating homes in the UK is wasted - the current trend of focusing on the standards of new build housing fails to address this issue. Green Streets, a year-long social experiment which is being monitored and analysed by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), will demonstrate what can be achieved by households up and down the country in existing homes. While building regulations require all new homes to be 'carbon neutral' by 2016, projections show that by 2050, less than one in four (22%) homes will be 'new' (built between 2007 and 2050 rather than houses we already live in now).

British Gas also revealed new data showing that the poor energy efficiency of London's housing made it Britain's least green city, with Kingston upon Thames its least green borough, while Hull topped the league for energy saving.

Phil Bentley, Managing Director, British Gas, said:
"For every £3 we spend heating our homes £1 is wasted because of poor insulation. And whilst strict standards on new build are needed, most of the energy being consumed is in the ageing homes we live in today. It is making changes in these properties that will give us the biggest carbon emission reductions. I am confident that the 'Green Streets' campaign will show that simple changes can be made to adapt existing homes to help address this problem."

Eight households in each 'Green Street' across eight major UK cities have been selected to show what can be done to reduce domestic CO2 emissions. Each street is being given a budget of £30,000 to spend on domestic energy saving equipment – from energy efficient light-bulbs, to cavity wall insulation, right up to solar panels and heat pumps. The 'Green Streets' – in Manchester, Leeds, London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Plymouth and Southampton - will compete against one another in this unique national energy saving experiment.

The homes that drive down their CO2 emissions the most over the course of a year will be awarded £50,000 worth of energy saving equipment to invest in a local community project. The IPPR will independently monitor the experiment over the year and draw policy lessons based on observing the behaviours and outcomes from the participating households.

The Greenest City
To mark the launch of the campaign, British Gas has also released fresh findings that rank UK's 25 main cities in terms of the 'greenness' of their total housing stock. Overall Hull comes top of the league for energy efficiency, while London comes bottom. Within London, Tower Hamlets homes are the greenest, with homes in Kingston upon Thames the least green.

Matthew Lockwood, Senior Research Fellow for Climate Change at the Institute for Public Policy Research added:
"Industry and Government must learn how to encourage all of us to become more energy efficient in our existing homes. While building legislation has a role, making really big cuts in household emissions means unleashing people's imagination and motivation."

Phil Bentley added:
"When it comes to climate change I believe that people really do want to help, but they don't know what they should be doing. We hope that through Green Streets, we'll show just how much can be done and most importantly what actions prove most effective."