14
COMMENT
Any insulation programme must be delivered without risk to the building fabric and the building occupants’ health and safety
for building occupants and not health and safety risks. Subsequent removal of defective insulation and associated building fabric has an environmental impact in itself.
Transition to electric heating systems The planned decoupling of electricity prices from gas prices is a step in the right direction, and it will hopefully aid in the transition to electric heating systems as well as cooking – the latter has a much smaller impact than heating but it is often never included in formal decarbonisation plans. Homeowners and landlords need incentives to remove gas systems from homes. The plan for consultation with homeowners on how to decarbonise homes will require the Government to be courageous and introduce financial incentives, along with some level of penalties to expedite the necessary transition.
One option may be to establish a minimum EPC rating at the point of sale of a home, accompanied by short-term financial support for energy retrofit works. The buyer would then receive a mortgage that allows for the additional cost of the retrofitted house. Some homeowners may not like such a proposal, but action is non-negotiable given what we need to do as a nation. Air source heat pumps have become the default technology for new houses and the purchaser has no choice of the installed heat pump appearance. Many existing homeowners will not only need financial incentives to install heat pumps but will need awareness of how they operate and the benefits. Some will care about the appearance and the impact it has on the exterior of the home, heat pump manufacturers will need to look to the electric car industry to see how the contemporary appearance can drive sales. Vitruvius may have been referring to well-designed buildings with his words ‘commodity, firmness and delight,’ yet they could equally apply today to heat pumps. Heat pump manufacturers – we need more delight please!
In conclusion
very simple thermal measures which should have been completed by now. The ambition to install those measures in only 300,000 homes is not ambitious. The measures, if installed properly, will provide some financial and comfort benefit to the householders but there are many more homes that need retrofitting. Any insulation programme must be delivered without risk to the building fabric and the building occupants’ health and safety. Previous similar programmes such as CERT, CESP and ECO have resulted in cavity wall insulation being removed due to moisture retention, thermal bridging leaving cold spots that created locations for black mould growth and large scale installation of EPS render systems on apartment blocks that is now being removed as it is deemed a fire risk, post-Grenfell. The wider impacts and risks associated with insulation measures therefore need to be carefully considered and mitigated to ensure there are only benefits
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
It does seem that if the UK is to hit its net zero targets, then the Government will need to do more than is set out in the Powering Up Britain reports, especially when it comes to building performance. More will undoubtedly include policy and legislation and will likely affect political votes, but these are consequences that will have to be accepted as there is no time to stall further – we have been stalling for too long, and it is getting frustrating. Minimum EPC ratings for commercial buildings are driving change and will continue to do so over the next five years. Similar legislation will be needed for the residential sector with financial incentives to support the required retrofitting programme. All of this is possible, and the Government will have to accept the very likely political and financial impacts. It seemingly has no choice but to do so, and to do so very soon.
Andrew Mellor is a partner at PRP Architects ADF MAY 2023
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