INSULATION
MARKET OPPORTUNITIES FOR INSULATION
In its election manifesto, the Labour party clearly signalled its commitment to the UK zero carbon targets. This should mean that retrofitting insulation to the country’s homes will be high on the priority list..
T
he English Housing Survey always makes for alarming reading. The UK has the oldest and least energy efficient housing stock in Europe. We also have ambitious targets to reach zero carbon emissions.
Homes are responsible for around 17% of the total UK carbon emissions2 – almost entirely down to gas heating. If we really want to eliminate carbon emissions, we need to improve the energy efficiency of our homes. Which essentially means retrofitting insulation. That’s according to Leighton Davies, National Sales Director of SIG, who admits that this is not exactly breaking news and that there have been a series of initiatives to try and encourage retrofit insulation. “Most of these have focused on public sector housing where it is easier for Government funding to have a direct impact,” he says. “This may explain why public sector homes are, on average, more energy efficient than privately owned properties and the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund is currently supporting retrofit projects across housing association and council housing.”
Persuading private property owners to invest in retrofit is a bit trickier, Davies adds. “The previous Government’s chosen mechanism
was the Great British Insulation Scheme. If you haven’t heard of that, it’s not too surprising, since take-up of this very complex scheme has been low. The previous Government had also suggested legislation to compel private sector landlords to ensure their properties could at least reach the performance required to obtain an EPC rating of C. This objective was quietly dropped in the run-up to the election.” The Labour Party manifesto talked about introducing new funding to encourage owner- occupiers to invest in better insulation, which will produce opportunity over time. It also contained a commitment to legislate for the Private Rental Sector to bring these properties up to EPC rating C.
“In itself, this presents a big opportunity for the retrofit market. There are around 4.5 million private rented properties in England alone, 21% of which do not even meet the Decent Homes Standard. The average EPC rating for private rental properties is a D. “With this in mind, it’s worth considering the options for retrofit systems in advance of what is likely to be a significant growth area for contractors,” he says.
Cavity Wall Insulation (CWI) is probably the easiest solution, according to Davies, because it’s quick, causes little disruption for the
September 2024
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
homeowner and should have an immediate effect on energy costs. Currently 70% of the homes that are suitable for CWI will have already had it installed. He says: “A recent report from the House of Commons estimates that this still leaves 5.1 million homes with uninsulated cavity walls – 3.8 million of which are considered “easy to treat”1. It’s still an attractive market, but the real growth longer term may come from elsewhere.” Some 8 million homes in the UK have solid walls and many older homes have cavities that are too small to be insulated. For these, Davies says that the options are External Wall Insulation (EWI) and Internal Wall Insulation (IWI). “Only 10% of solid wall properties currently have any wall insulation at all and we are predicting a rapid increase in the use of these systems over the next decade.” He says that retrofit is always going to be the largest potential market, given that new build homes, even with the most optimistic forecasts, will only account for around 2% of the total number in any given year. “Only 38% of properties have 200mm or more of loft insulation. With fuel bills likely to be causing pain this winter, loft insulation is likely to give the shortest pay-back period for homeowners, so demand should be strong. “The Future Homes standard has increased again the level of thermal efficiency required of external walls. For housebuilders, the unwelcome news is that this requirement could lead to wider cavities. Housebuilders never like anything that reduces the living space in their homes, so they will be very keen to find alternative solutions that can maintain the current standard 100mm cavity.” Achieving the required U-values with that 100mm cavity is not impossible. High performance insulation; aircrete inner walls and, particularly, a detailed look at thermal linear bridging calculations can all help. Davies explains that housebuilders will most likely be looking for these solutions. “Our Technical Team is absolutely geared up to carry out the required SAP analysis and U-value calculations that will help provide the most effective insulation options.
“We also have a dedicated Retrofit team ready to answer customer queries and support merchants with the widest range of product and system solutions. SIG as an insulation company, so we have form in this product area.” BMJ
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