insulation


Making a solid case for Green Deal success


Across the UK millions of homes are simply not warm enough, weather tight or thermally efficient. With so many properties not up to standard – and accounting for 43 per cent of the UK’s total carbon emissions – something had to be done. Launched on 1 October 2012, the government’s flagship Green Deal is set to revolutionise the refurbishment and energy efficiency markets, and transform these ageing, draughty buildings into homes fit for the future. Rob Warren, technical manager at Celotex discusses the benefits of installing solid wall insulation


D


escribed as ‘the biggest home improvement pro- gramme since the Second World War’, the Green Deal has an ambition to improve the energy


efficiency of 14 million homes in the UK and cut carbon emissions and energy bills. The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) is part of the Green Deal and promises up to £1.3 billion of energy efficiency and heating measures deliv- ered each year through subsidies given by energy providers. Following the much-publicised failings of the Feed-in Tariff, leading insulation specialists believe that this energy efficiency scheme simply has to succeed for the government to live up to its pledge and be seriously considered as the ‘greenest ever’. It is hoped that the Green Deal will come as a great relief to


an increasing number of UK households struggling with the constant rise in energy prices, as the need to bring these ineffi- cient homes up to standard is clear to see. In fact, millions of properties do not have full double-glazing systems and less than half have an efficient condensing boiler or suitable insulation. It is by improving and upgrading insulation that the Green Deal can deliver significant energy efficiency savings.


Back to basics The need to refurbish and regenerate the nation’s housing stock has become more pressing in recent years considering the increased costs in buying and developing land. Now it’s time to go back to basics and build a solid case for energy efficiency that starts with the building itself. Rather than being seduced by expensive and often unproven technologies, the key is to get the fabric of the building as energy efficient as possible as this will make sustainability achievable in the long term. In line with this, the government’s ambitions with the Green


Deal go beyond the ‘easy wins’ of previous initiatives, which have tended to focus on cheaper loft-lagging and cavity wall insulation funded by energy company subsidies. Somewhat neglected in the past, solid wall insulation – internal and exter- nal – will now receive sufficient attention as part of an inclusive and much wider range of 45 Green Deal measures that include damp-proofing, windows and boilers.


‘By insulating a home’s solid walls, heating costs can be cut considerably as solid walls can lose twice as much heat as a


cavity wall’ Rob Warren, technical manager at Celotex


49


In the UK, there are approximately eight million solid wall


properties – of which only 2 per cent or, 160,000, have been properly insulated. By insulating a home’s solid walls, heating costs can be cut considerably as solid walls can lose twice as much heat as a cavity wall. However, cases of solid wall insulation have been rare in the


past as it was previously considered too complicated and costly when compared to loft lagging or cavity wall insulation. With so few solid wall properties insulated to the required standard, there is exceptional potential for high quality, high impact refurbishments. And with carbon emission savings estimated at ten times those achieved through loft insulation, solid wall insulation will not only reduce the house’s emissions but bene- fits the government, the environment and the homeowners.


Continued on page 51... respond online... search our information archive at www.adfonline.eu


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60