Trade bodies set out plans to insulate UK’s solid wall housing stock

At a high level insulation industry event held in August and attended by the leading External and Internal Wall Insulation Companies and Department of Energy and Climate Change, the National Insulation Association (NIA) and Solid Wall Insulation Guarantee Agency (SWIGA) set out their plans to work together and with their members in transforming the residential Solid Wall Insulation (SWI) market in support of the achievement of the Government’s climate change and fuel poverty targets.

The NIA is the leading trade association for insulation including External and Internal Wall Insulation, Cavity Wall Insulation, Loft Insulation and Draught proofing and its members include the major External and Internal Wall Insulation Companies. The SWIGA has been established to develop a new independent guarantee and associated industry quality and standards infrastructure for External and Internal Wall Insulation.

There are currently around 7 million properties in the UK with solid walls which require either external (EWI) or internal wall insulation (IWI). A senior official from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) who attended the event explained that around 2 million of these properties may need to be insulated by 2020 to meet the Governments carbon emissions reduction target and that DECC was keen to work with the NIA and SWIGA to achieve this. He also explained how the Governments new Green Deal will make it easier for people to buy EWI and IWI by spreading the cost of the measures over a period of time.

Neil Marshall, Chief Executive of the National Insulation Association said that there would need to be around a tenfold increase in the amount of EWI and IWI currently being undertaken to achieve this level. He explained that the industry was ready, willing and able to take up the challenge and that the NIA and SWIGA would be working with its members, Government and other key stakeholders to significantly increase the industry capacity whilst ensuring that quality and standards are maintained. This includes the establishment of a new NIA/SWIGA/Stakeholder SWI Working Group to develop a co-ordinated delivery plan to transform the market.

Greg Barker, Minister for Energy and Climate Change, said: “Our plans will give a huge boost to the insulation industry during the economic recovery as we pave the way for the start of the Green Deal. This groundbreaking legislation will allow us to offer consumers the ability to install energy efficiency measures in their homes without any upfront costs or payments. These would be paid back over time through savings on energy bills."