Battle to be greenest borough

Tower Hamlets is the most energy efficient borough in London, according to research out today.

Barking & Dagenham was second in a league table of "green" boroughs, with the City in third place.

Affluent residential areas such as Kensington & Chelsea and Richmond scored poorly while Kingston finished bottom, just below Harrow, Barnet and Camden.

The research, commissioned by British Gas, showed the combined energy efficiency of residents in different UK boroughs, based on an audit of 1.5 million homes in eight cities.

Each household was given an energy efficiency rating determined by the property's location, construction and heating characteristics, taking into account any power-saving measures in place. London as a whole was ranked the lowest city.

British Gas managing director Phil Bentley said: "For every £3 we spend heating our homes, £1 is wasted because of poor insulation.

"While strict standards on new builds are needed, most of the energy being consumed is in ageing homes. Marking changes in these properties will give us the biggest carbon-emission reductions."

The company has launched an "eco makeover" scheme where eight homes in eight streets, including Greenend Road, Chiswick, will be given £30,000 to spend on reducing their combined carbon emissions by using energy efficient light bulbs, cavity wall insulation, solar panels and heat pumps.

The street that achieves the largest reduction will be given £50,000 to invest in community projects.

The independent Institute of Public Policy Research will monitor the experiment over a year and draw policy lessons after observing the behaviour and outcomes of the participating households.

British Gas energy expert Brian Price, who will advise the Chiswick residents, said: "I'm looking forward to helping them save money and do their bit for the environment."

You can see the full results of the research in the table below.